There are believed to be around 200 lost settlements in Norfolk, England.Tittleshall, Godwick deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 25 October 2015.Welcome to Norfolk Deserted Villages, Literary Norfolk. Retrieved 25 October 2015. This includes places which have been abandoned as settlements due to a range of reasons and at different dates.Deserted settlement, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 25 October 2015. Types of lost settlement include deserted medieval villages (DMVs), relocated or "shrunken" villages, those lost to coastal erosion and other settlements known to have been "lost" or significantly reduced in size over the centuries, including those evacuated during World War II due to the creation of the Stanford Training Area. There are estimated to be as many as 3,000 deserted medieval villages in England.
List of lost settlements This list is of settlements which are known to have been lost and where the location can either be confirmed or is strongly suspected by the use of archaeological or documentary evidence. Settlements where there is less conclusive evidence as to their existence are recorded below this list. Grid references are given where known.
A Settlement nameGrid reference Notes Refs. Alethorpe Deserted medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book. Abandoned in the 16th century, probably due to land being enclosed. Alethorpe deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Algarsthorpe approx. Deserted medieval village. The parish was united with Great Melton in 1476. Site of St Mary Magdalen's Chapel and possible site of Algarsthorpe medieval deserted settlement, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 3 November 2015. Alvington Possible site for Alvington deserted medieval village in Cawston parish. Parish Summary: Cawston, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 30 October 2015.Alvington deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 30 October 2015. Anmer Site of medieval village on the grounds of Anmer Hall. The village appeared in the Domesday Book and a detailed description of it in around 1600 exists.Medieval shrunken village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015.Medieval settlement around Anmer Hall, List entry summary, Historic England. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Appleton Deserted medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book in the modern parish of Flitcham with Appleton. The round tower of St Mary's church is still standing. See also Little Appleton. St Mary's Church and Appleton deserted medieval settlement, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 25 October 2015. Apton Site of village mentioned in the Domesday Book and the Nomina Villarum of 1316. Site of medieval village of Apton, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Arminghall Deserted medieval village in the parish of Bixley. Parish Summary: Bixley, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 4 November 2015.Arminghall deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 4 November 2015. Ashby Village mentioned in Domesday and Nomina Villarum, with 91 tax payers recorded in 1381. Believed to have been abandoned in the 18th century. Ashby Deserted Medieval Village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Ashby, Snetterton Unknown Village mentioned in the Domesday Book but not recorded in the Nomina Villarum of 1316. The precise site is disputed. Possible site of Ashby deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Ashwicken Shrunken medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book. The parish was united with Leziate by the mid-15th century. Parish Summary: Leziate, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015.Shrunken medieval village of Ashwicken, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
B Settlement nameGrid reference Notes Refs. Babingley Deserted medieval village. Possibly the site at which St Felix of Burgundy landed in England in about 630. Babingley deserted medieval settlement and multi-period finds, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Baconsthorpe, near Attleborough Unknown Deserted village mentioned in the Domesday Book and known to be north of Attleborough. Baconsthorpe deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 3 November 2015. Barmer Deserted medieval village site identified from air photography in 1991. Barn at Barmer Farm, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Barningham Town Site of Roman settlement. Roman settlement and multi-period finds, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Barret Ringstead See Ringstead Parva Barton Bendish Site of a deserted medieval village with substantial earthworks remaining. Deserted medieval settlement, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Bawsey Settlement site dating from the Roman to medieval periods with evidence of Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation. The site featured in an episode of the television programme Time Team. A medieval village at Bawsey is believed to have been abandoned by 1517. Driver.L (2008) Bawsey, Norfolk in The Lost Villages of England, pp. 86–87, London: New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd. Available online, retrieved 25 October 2015.Roman, Middle Saxon, Late Saxon and medieval settlement, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Bayfield Deserted medieval village site. The church is ruined and was disused from the 17th century. The village site is now occupied mainly by Bayfield Hall. St Margaret's Church, Bayfield, Letheringsett with Glandford, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Beachamwell Deserted medieval village of Wella. 'Wella' deserted medieval settlement, Beachamwell, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Beeston St Andrew Possible site of deserted medieval village. Site of probable medieval to post medieval enclosure, perhaps the site of Beeston St Andrew church, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Beeston St Lawrence Possible site of deserted medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book and Nomina Villarum. Possibly removed due to emparkment in the 1780s. Beeston St Lawrence deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Belhawe Unknown Deserted settlement within the old parish of Arminghall. The church was dedicated to St Andrew and is now within Bixley parish. Belhawe deserted medieval village, Bixley, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Bickerston Deserted medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book and Nomina Villarum. There were 13 taxpayers in 1329 but just six by 1332. Probably finally abandoned in the 17th century. Bickerston deserted medieval village and ruin of St Andrew's Church, Barnham Broom, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 015-11-03. Bixley Deserted medieval village with only the parish church, the only one in England dedicated to St Wandregesilius, remaining. Possible abandoned due to migration to the nearby city of Norwich. Bixley deserted settlement, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 4 November 2015.St Wandregesilius' Church, Bixley, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 4 November 2015. Boyland Site of deserted medieval village and Boyland Hall. Boyland deserted medieval village and Hall, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Bowthorpe Deserted medieval village. The church was abandoned in the 16th century. Bowthorpe deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 14 November 2015. Brampton Site of a Roman town. Brampton Roman town, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Brancaster The Romano-British vicus associated with the fort of Branodunum. Parish Summary: Brancaster, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Braydeston or Breydeston Site of deserted medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book and Nomina Villarum, with ten households listed in 1428. Site of Braydeston deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Brettenham Site of a Roman town. Roman town and Early Saxon cemetery, Brettenham and Bridgham, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Broomsthorpe Deserted medieval village identified through a series of earthworks. May be the same place as Sengham or possibly the location of Tattersett St Andrew. Close to the site of Coxford Priory. Broomsthorpe Deserted Medieval Village, Historic England. Retrieved 25 October 2015.Broomsthorpe/Sengham or Tattersett St Andrew deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015.Parish summary: Tattersett, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Browston Approximate location of deserted medieval village On the site of Browston Hall. Browston deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Brumstead Possible site of deserted medieval settlement. Possible medieval mill and settlement, Norfolk heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Buckenham Tofts Also known as Buckingham Parva. Mentioned in the Domesday Book and Nomina Villarum. All traces of the medieval settlement were destroyed by the 19th century. The modern village and hall were evacuated by the remaining 73 residents in 1942 and became part of the Stanford Training Area. The area is still controlled for military training by the British Army. Stanford Battle Training Area, Norfolk, pp.88–91 in Driver.L (2008) op. cit.Site of Buckenham Tofts deserted medieval village and St Andrew's Church, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015.Parish Summary: Stanford, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015.Touring the Stanta ghost villages, Eastern Daily Press, 17 June 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Burgh Castle Site of the Roman vicus associated with the fort of Gariannonum. Was in Suffolk until boundary changes in 1974. The site may have later been the location of the Saxon monastery of Cnobheresburg, founded in around 630 by Saint Fursey.Parish Summary: Burgh Castle, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015.Site of Roman vicus, Burgh Castle, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Burgh next Aylsham Earthworks showing the prior extent of the shrunken village of Burgh next Aylsham. Medieval shrunken village and multi-period pottery sherds, Church Lane, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Burgh Parva Deserted medieval village. Deserted medieval village of Burgh Parva, St Mary's Church and multi-period finds, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Bylaugh Possible site of deserted medieval village mentioned in the Domesday Book. The village was shrunken significantly by the 15th century and was probably abandoned soon afterwards. Possible site of Bylaugh deserted medieval village, Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
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