Record Details
| NHER Number: | 7118 |
|---|
| Type of record: | Monument |
|---|
| Name: | Testerton deserted village and Church of St Remigius |
|---|
Summary
Testerton is one of a clutch of deserted villages and associated churches within a few kilometres of Fakenham. Testerton currently has only a handful of inhabitants, and the civil parish of Testerton was abolished in 1935 and the lands used to enlarge Pudding Norton, another mostly deserted village. At the beginning of the 17th century the parish had only 18 communicants, and the lord of the manor possessed all of the land in the parish. By the end of that century the church was already very ruined, and at some point after this time the walls were completely removed. What survives of the buildings is the western part of the west tower of the church of St Remigius. East of this the church has been completely ploughed up, and pieces of building material are widely scattered. Aerial photographs in 1977 give a good idea of the outline of the church, which had a rectangular nave and an apsidal chancel. The tower dates to the late 14th or 15th centuries, though the rest of the church is likely to have dated to the 11th or 12th centuries.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 9382 2674 |
|---|
| Map Sheet: | TF92NW |
|---|
| Parish: | PUDDING NORTON, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
|---|
Full description
Testerton.
Ditches at TF 9389 2655 noted by P. Wade-Martins (NAU) on St Joseph aerial photographs of 1961.
Soilmarks at TF 937 268 - light scatter of medieval sherds found by P. Wade-Martins (NAU) 1969.
27 October 1976.
Whole area cultivated; some fields under crop, some ploughed.
In latter no traces of earthworks except perhaps southeast of Testerton House.
In field around church site, wide scatter brick fragments, too small to be dated.
E. Rose (NAU), 28 October 1976.
St. Remigius's Church Ruins (context 1) at 9379 2684.
Only fragment of west tower remains; flint with west window with brick arch, stone frame.
Southwest buttress stone - panelled 14th-15th century?
Recorded as ruined in 1602 (Listed).
E. Rose.
9 September 1977.
Negative cropmarks indicating buried foundations show church had apsidal east end; also indicate division between nave
and chancel. Only vague rectangular faint marks appear of the village plots.
D. A. Edwards (NAU), 11 March 1981.
19th century print in Bolingbroke Collection of Testerton House shows church in background; tower only shows, with north and south walls broken off to east, barrel vault to ground floor, west window with Y-tracery and transom, but these could be late imitation - shown as very thin.
E. Rose (NAU), 16 January 1984.
Mentioned in Domesday and Nomina Villarum 1316, Lay Subsidy of 1329.
OS Records.
R. J. Rickett (NAU), 7 June 1990.
December 1994. Detector finds. [1]
Possible Roman loop, two possible Late Saxon spindle whorls, medieval and post medieval coins and metalwork including early medieval openwork mount.
See list and forms in secondary file.
D. Gurney (NLA), 6 January 1995.
List of aerial photographs in file.
Appropriate section from (S3) in file.
8 May 1998. NLA air photography.
Large square enclosure visible to east of ruined church.
The cropmarks of which appear to be negative, although it may be reversal effect.
S. Massey (NLA), 22 November 2001.
August 2009.
See (S4) for a discussion of the medieval buckle plate found in 1994.
H. White, (NLA), 28 August 2009
30th May 2013. Field Visit.
The site was visited as part of an Environmental Stewardship HLS consultation. The remains of the church are entirely covered in ivy and surrounded by a failing metal fence. Trees are also growing within the fence.
K. Powell (HES), 17 April 2015
Monument Types
- SQUARE ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- SQUARE ENCLOSURE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- TOFT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Associated Finds
- BRICK (Undated)
- UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- SPINDLE WHORL (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
- BOX (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- COIN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- DRESS COMPONENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- FURNITURE FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- HARNESS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- TOKEN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- VESSEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- KNIFE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
- TOKEN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Aerial Photograph: TF9326 E-F,H-M,N-Q,R. |
| --- | Monograph: Bryant, T. H. 1900. Hundred of Gallow. The Churches of Norfolk. Vol VI. pp 172-175. |
| --- | Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1998. TF 9326AA - AB. |
| --- | Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1953. TF 9326AC - AF. |
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 92 NW 6 [4]. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 697. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Pudding Norton [2]. |
| --- | Photograph: 1995. LDL 9-10, Medieval openwork mount.. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Miscellaneous. Pudding Norton. |
| <S1> | Monograph: Muir, R.. 1988. History from the Air.. p.120. |
| <S2> | Article in Serial: Allison, K. J. 1955. The Lost Villages of Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXXI pp 116-162. p 158. |
| <S3> | Monograph: Batcock, N. 1991. The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 51. Microfiche 5:G12. No 105; p 52. |
| <S4> | Article in Serial: Ashley, S. 2009. Lions charged with a cross potent. Central Asian 'shoulder ornament' on a twelfth- century buckle late from Norfolk. The Coat of Arms. 3rd series Vol 5 No 217 pp 1-6. |
Related records - none
Find out more...