Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

Site of St Peter's Church (Ordnance Survey).
Note that aerial photographs show that Ordnance Survey Antiquity symbol at TG 4909 1469 is incorrectly placed.
Correct grid reference as shown.
NAU aerial photographs 15 July 1980 shows a negative cropmark - stated by R. Whimster also to be on 1976 CUCAP's.

(S1) marks 'Ormesby Old Church in ruins'.
(S2) has 'church in ruins'.
(S3) calls SS Peter and Andrew, still in use 1590.
(S4) states 'foundations remain' but this work always has this for demolished churches.

1971.
Charles Green noted foundations removed some years ago.
A manuscript account of a journey by Blomfield which refers to thatched church with ruins of round tower used as barn.
Presumably therefore the lithograph by (S5) dated 1823 marked St Michael showing complete church with tall octagonal tower cannot be St Peter's.
He also draws correct St Michael's Church. (It is not, it is Rollesby. E. Rose (NAU).)
E. Rose (NAU), 6 February 1984.

20 April 1984.
Surface finds on church site.
Fragment of corner of Flemish tile, slightly undercut, clear glaze on white slip. ?1 nail hole. 26mm thick.
Identified by A. Rogerson (NAU).
E. Rose (NAU), 25 April 1984.

1985.
D.A. Edwards (NAU) notes negative cropmark of small rectangle within church outline at junction nave and chancel, but askew to church alignment.
E. Rose (NAU), 28 June 1985.

On (S6) this looks like an earlier apse.
E. Rose (NAU), 9 January 1987.

A drawing by Dawson Turner 1836 (copy in file) shows a double lancet above an ornate piscina and triple sedilia each with an ogee head. There is a priest's door and the nave has two levels of windows - one of the lower seems to be in a Romanesque embrasure.
E. Rose, 8 January 1996.

See (S7).

October 2005. Norfolk NMP.
Cropmarks of St. Peter’s Church at Ormesby St Margaret are visible on aerial photographs (S6, S8-S12). The grid reference for the church has been corrected to TG 4911 1467 following plotting of the cropmarks. This grid reference supersedes the previous location (TG 4913 1468) and that shown by the Ordnance Survey (TG 4909 1469). This is the site of the church of St Peter within the parish of Ormesby St Margaret. The church probably has its origins in the early 12th century and was abandoned at the end of the 16th century (S7). The church is visible as negative cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in 1976 (S6 and S8) and 1980 (S9-S12).
The cropmarks clearly show the plan of the church and different phases of its development. The alignment of the building is not west to east, but lies on a more northwest to southeast axis. It had a round west tower with a diameter of approximately 4m. The nave is rectangular in plan and measures approximately 12m long by 6.5m wide. Three possible buttresses are visible on the north wall of the nave and two on its south. Two phases of the chancel are visible as cropmarks. The largest, and presumably latest, of these is rectangular in plan. It is the same width as the nave and approximately 10m long. Two buttresses are present on both the north and south walls of this chancel. A further two buttresses are visible at its northeast and southeast corners. Within the area of the rectangular chancel is a smaller chancel with an apse. This is presumably of an earlier date and measures about 6.5m long by 5m wide.
Located 10m and 15m to the east of the chancel are cropmarks of two sub-rectangular pits. These are aligned west to east and measure between 1.9m and 2.4m long and 0.6m to 0.9m wide. It is possible that they are graves associated with the church. However, it is unclear why these two graves should show as cropmarks whilst the many other that no doubt exist around the church are not visible. No obvious evidence of a churchyard boundary is visible within the cropmarks.
J. Albone (NMP), 12 October 2005.

August 2014. Geophysical Survey.
A magnetometer survey of this field identified a group of weak negative anomalies that appear to represent the remains of the church tower and the southern side of the nave (albeit lying approximately 5m to the south of the corresponding cropmarks). It is highly likely that at least some of the discrete magnetic responses in the vicinity of the church site represent burials within the churchyard.
See report (S13) and NHER 64678 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 March 2021.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• GRAVE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds

• FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

• SHINE

Sources and further reading

Related records - none

Find out more...

• Parish Summary: Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby (Parish Summary)