Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

This is the approximate location of the medieval chapel of St Clement, the ruins of which were demolished in 1820.

BACKGROUND

Although now in the parish of Brundall, it was actually associated with the adjacent, now largely deserted, settlement of Braydeston/Brandeston, the original core of which lay approximately 1km to the north-east (NHER 11728), close to its church (NHER 10266). Braydeston was a separate civil parish until it was merged with Brundall in the late 19th century. Blomefield records that the chapel belonged to the Bishop of Norwich's manor of 'Bradston', which extended into Brundall (S1). According to (S2) the chapel was founded by the De Breideston family in the 12th century but few other details are known. It is listed in (S3) as having been a 'chapel at ease' and it is suggested by (S2) that it was built because of the difficulty of travelling to Braydeston's church. This makes sense, given both the distance involved and the fact that the land between the two is bisected by a substantial watercourse known as the Run Dike and an associated band of low-lying wet ground. An article published by F. Johnson [1] in 1926 (S4) summarises some of the available documentary references to the chapel, the earliest of which is an entry in the Norwich Taxation of 1254 (confirming its antiquity). It is noted that in almost all cases the episcopal registers for Braydeston use the formula "…to the rectory and parish church of Braydeston, with the Chapel of Brundale annexed...". An inventory produced in 1368 also serves to demonstrate that it had definitely been a chapel of east rather than a chantry chapel as "…the bier and the font show it possessed full rights…".

THE DEMOLITION OF THE CHAPEL AND ITS PROBABLE LOCATION

It is recorded in (S3) that the chapel was suppressed in 1547, after which it presumably soon fell into ruin. We know little about its original form, although Johnson's article reproduces a painting of the ruins that was included in Dawson Turner's illustrated edition of Blomefield's History (all 39 volumes of which are now held by the British Library). This had been produced by one of his daughters and was apparently copied from a drawing made by a local resident during the early 19th century. By this time it appears that the ruins consisted of little more than one end wall with a single pointed window and two adjoining buttresses.

Our information on the probable location of the chapel and the demolition of its ruins comes primarily from a brief account by H. Daveney published in 1861 (S4). Although the precise location of the chapel building is not known, its approximate position can be established based on the reported discoveries of human remains likely to have come from its graveyard. Daveney describes a sand quarry to the rear of Brundall Station, where regular landslips brought down "…a considerable quantity of human remains". This is almost certainly the long narrow 'sand pit' shown flanking the southern end of Station Road on the Ordnance Survey First Edition Six-inch map (S6). Johnson also notes that he himself had observed human remains within the quarry pit "…forty years ago..." (i.e. during the 1880s). According to Daveney the two adjacent parcels of land to the east were known as 'Lower Chapel Field' and 'Upper Chapel Field'. Within the former and adjacent to the open quarry was a slight depression, which marked the location of "…the original sand pit" - presumably the much more discrete pit depicted on the Brandeston title map (S7). This lay at approximately TG 3296 0803 and extended much further to the east than the later quarry. It was apparently on the 'brow' of this earlier pit that the chapel ruins had stood (although it should though be noted that the relevant paragraph is somewhat unclear - the brow may be that of the field, rather than the pit). In 1820 "...the late proprietor caused the irregularities of the soil to be levelled, and the ruins to be removed". According to the labourer who undertook the work the masonry was removed with great difficulty, but "...the levelling of the soil was an easier task, the brow with the mounds being easily hurled into the adjacent sandy hollow". It is recorded that a considerable quantity of human remains were 'laid bare', as were a number of 'urns' - all of which apparently contained ashes. Those that remained intact were taken by a local resident and used to ornament his garden walks. Johnson would later report that he had also heard talk of one or more stone coffins having been found, including one that ended up being utilised as a cattle trough on the landowner's farm at Strumpshaw. Despite making various enquiries he was unable to locate either these coffins or the surviving cinerary urns.

It has been reported that a ‘number of skulls’ were found by local schoolboys to the east of this site around the turn of the last century, presumably during building work (see NHER 10266). These were potentially from the cemetery associated with St Clement’s Chapel, although the situation is complicated by the fact that a burial of probable Early Saxon date was discovered at the same location in 1932 (NHER 10266). The dating of this burial seems reliable (being aligned north-to-south and accompanied by iron weapons) so this is further evidence that St Clement’s Chapel lay on the site of an earlier burial ground.

The above information is summarised on records cards (S8), (S9), (S10) and (S11). As noted by [2], mention on (S10) of human bones found 'circa 1885' is almost certainly a reference to the remains Johnson reports observing around this time in (S4).
The 'urns' are also mentioned in (S12), due to the possibility they represented the remains of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery on the same site.

Amended and expanded by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2021 [3].

RECENT DISCOVERIES

November 2003. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site to west of 13 Station New Road.
Single undated burial uncovered beneath remains of 20th-century house at TG 3298 0801. Disarticulated remains also recovered.
See report (S13) and NHER 39832 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2021.

2010-2012. Excavation.
Excavation of area to west of 13 Station New Road, centred on burial uncovered in 2003.
This work uncovered an additional 258 burials, all of which were aligned east-to-west.
Analysis of these remains is ongoing but preliminary radiocarbon dating indicates they were almost certainly associated with the medieval chapel. A substantial east-to-west aligned ditch appears to have marked the southern boundary of the cemetery and it is possible that the excavation also identified its northern limits.
See NHER 39832 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2021.

Monument Types

• CREMATION (Early Saxon - 410 AD to 650 AD)
• CHAPEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds

• POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• POT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

Related records - none

Find out more...

• Parish Summary: Brundall (Parish Summary)