Record Details

NHER Number:5894
Type of record:Monument
Name:Site of St Giles' Church, Thetford

Summary

The church that once stood here had Saxon origins and was located at the angle of King Street and St Giles' Lane. The church became a hermitage in 1509. However, an 18th century drawing called it St Egidius and showed the south side with very high-set windows, a Decorated east window and topped with a thatched and tiled roof. At this point it was in use as a wheelwright's shop but documentary sources show that the former church was in use as a barn by 1829. In the 20th century a number of finds have been found here including seven human skeletons and several miscellaneous quern stones.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 8704 8312
Map Sheet:TL88SE
Parish:THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Angle of King Street and St Giles Lane.
(S1) drew it, calling it St Egidius. Shows south side with four very high-set windows, two blank and one cusped, another cusped much smaller as if there had been a lean-to below. The east window is Decorated (14th century). The roof is thatched at the top but tiled at the bottom! He noted it had been a wheelwright's shop for 'some years'.
(S2) wrongly states that it stood on the south side of King Street opposite the lane (But (S1) above confirms correct site). (S2) also
states that it still had a Gothic window in 1829 when used as a barn.
(S3) notes some remains of church visible.

December 1949. In building alterations to Anglian Café.
Seven human skeletons found by workmen. The kitchen is being constructed in St Giles' Church, and it was while clearing rubble away from one of the collapsed church walls that the workmen discovered the skulls.
See (S4) in file (Noted R. R. Clarke (NCM)) - who also notes on card 'misc querns from site of St Giles'.
R.R. Clarke (NCM), 1949.

Photograph by H. Ashley (NMR) 1982 shows a stone block carved with St Andrew's cross in relief (date?) in a wall of the Halifax Building Society (22-4 King Street on this site).
E. Rose (NAU), 3 December 1982.

(S2)'s window information is from a print (negative copy at NAU) showing a large 14th century east window and incidentally confirming (S1)'s siting!.
E. Rose (NAU).

The church became a hermitage in 1509.
Information from A. Davison.
E. Rose (NAU).

(S5) states that there do not appear to be any in situ remains of the church, but the external walls of Halifax Building Society are studded with reused limestone blocks. A depiction of the church by Wilkinson in 1822 shows the church from the east. (S6) cited in (S5) comments that 'it is turned into a barn, the steeple (if there was one) being quite down, and a new gable in its place'. This indicated that the building depicted in the 18th century is a truncated form of the original church, with a new gable at its west end. It seems that the nave (and tower if it had one) was demolished and the chancel converted for use by a hermit in the latter half of the 15th century.
Information from (S5).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 7 August 2008.

Monument Types

  • CHURCH (Late Saxon to Medieval - 851 AD? to 1539 AD?)
  • INHUMATION (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • HERMITAGE (RELIGIOUS) (15th Century to 16th Century - 1450 AD? to 1539 AD?)
  • WHEELWRIGHTS WORKSHOP (18th Century to 19th Century - 1780 AD? to 1900 AD?)
  • BARN (19th Century - 1829 AD? to 1900 AD?)

Associated Finds

  • ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Undated)
  • QUERN (Undated)
  • HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 88 SE 17.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Late Saxon. Thetford.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Thetford.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Photograph: CLK 36-7, 26-7.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Miscellaneous. Thetford.
<S1>Documentary Source: Martin, T. c. 1700-1799. Collections of Church Notes. Norfolk Records Office. 1771.
<S2>Publication: Messent, C. J. W. 1931. The Ruined Churches of Norfolk.
<S3>Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 704.
<S4>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1949. Skulls uncovered at Thetford. 23 December.
<S5>Monograph: Batcock, N. 1991. The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 51. Microfiche 5:G12. No 228; pp 54, 161-162.
<S6>Serial: Blomefield, F.. 1805. An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk.. Vol II. p 75.

Related records - none

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