This parish summary provides an overview of the large amount of information which we hold about the parish, and only a representative sample of sites and artefacts from each period are mentioned. If you have any feedback on this article please contact us using the link on the left-hand menu or by emailing heritage@norfolk.gov.uk
Alpington is a small irregularly shaped parish located about 8km to the southwest of Norwich. Its southwestern boundary is formed by Well Beck, with the other boundaries following either roads or field boundaries. Modern settlement is concentrated in the northern centre of the parish, where the village of Alpington merges with that of Yelverton. There is a small group of houses on the Alpington/Bergh Apton parish boundary and a number of scattered farms. Little archaeological investigation and metal detecting has taken place in Alpington. As a result, the archaeology of the parish is not well known.
Farmer Andrew Carver, left, and his foreman, John Lester, with a Bronze Age burial urn from Alpington (©Eastern Daily Press)
The earliest evidence for human activity in Alpington has been found in the far east of the parish (NHER 10318). In 1971 a Bronze Age barbed and tanged arrowhead was found on the surface of a field. At the same location two Bronze Age pots, one of which contained a cremation, were found and excavated in 1988. A single Roman coin has been found by a metal detectorist in the east of the parish.
There is some confusion over Alpington’s entries in the Domesday Book. Two entries call the village ‘Appletuna’ or ‘Appletona’, Old English for ‘apple tree farm’. However, two further entries use the names ‘Algamundestuna’ and ‘Alcmuntona’, Old English for ‘Ahlmund’s enclosure’. These may relate to Alpington or to an unknown settlement close by.
Alpington no longer has a church. The site of the medieval church (NHER 9913) is thought to have been located in the centre of the parish, close to Alpington Hall, but nothing survives above ground today. The only recorded medieval artefact from the parish is a 13th to 14th century lead weight found by a metal detectorist. A post medieval lead weight has also been recovered.
Post medieval houses in the parish include Alpington Hall, Old Hall, Meadow Cottage, Dairy Farm House, Avenue Farm cottages and Stacey's Cottage. There are 17th century barns at Alpington Hall (NHER 9922) and Avenue Farm cottages (NHER 22787). Hall Farmhouse is 17th century and later in date and it has an associated 18th century barn. Two brick kilns survive, one of definite and one of possible 19th century date. Quarries for clay and fuller’s earth have been recorded.
David Robertson (NLA), 17 August 2005.
Further Reading
Brown, P., 1984. Domesday Book: Norfolk (Chichester, Phillimore & Co)
Rye, J., 1991. A Popular Guide to Norfolk Place-names (Dereham, Larks Press)