Record Details

NHER Number:1592
Type of record:Monument
Name:Southmere or Summerfield deserted medieval village

Summary

This is the site of the deserted medieval village of Southmere or Summerfield. The church of All Saints was in ruins by the mid 16th century, and no remains have survived.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TF 7478 3845
Map Sheet:TF73NW
Parish:DOCKING, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Mentioned in Domesday Book and the Nomina Villarum.
There were 9 taxpayers in 1329, 14 in 1332, 10 in 1428; and disputes over pasturage in 1591, which may have been a cause of the depopulation of the village.
For maps of village see (S1).

Site of church marked by Ordnance Survey at TF 7479 3850 (1592 context 1) but R.R. Clarke (NCM) said there was no evidence on the ground and suggested that 7481 3839 was nearer the site, as marked on (S2).
However Ordnance Survey say that their site is marked from (S3) which claimed that a mound with a yew tree on it stood on the site and produced human bones.
The church was All Saint's and was in ruins in 1554; a priory cell had taken over the church but had been dissolved in 1415 and it had passed to Eaton College in 1436.
See (S4).
In 1593 the Dragge of Dry Docking (NRO) noted a cross on the site and another to the north.
Site visited by E. Rose (NAU) 6 June 1979.

It is covered by woods and there is now no yew tree at the Ordnance Survey symbol.
E. Rose (NAU)

Monument Types

  • CELL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • CROSS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 73 NW 4 [2].
---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 - Medieval. Docking.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Publication: Mosby, J.E.G.. 1938. The Land of Britain. The Report of the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain - Part 70: Norfolk. figs 22-5. Figs 22-25.
<S2>Map: Bryant, A.. 1826. Bryant's Map of Norfolk.
<S3>Monograph: Bryant, J.. 1900. Norfolk Churches..
<S4>Monograph: Batcock, N. 1991. The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 51. Microfiche 5:G12. No 220; p 54.

Related records - none

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