Ebook: Six Deserted Villages in Norfolk

With contributions from Brian Cushion, George Fenner, Alayne Fenner, Andy Reid, Peter Wade-Martins and David Yaxley. Illustrations by Margaret Mathews, Steven J. Ashley, Brian Cushion, Alan Davison, Hoste Spalding, Susan G. White and David Yaxley. Photographs by Hallam Ashley, Derek A. Edwards and David Wicks.

This companion volume to EAA 14 looks at a further six villages — Rougham and Beachamwell, with surviving earthworks; Letton and Kilverstone, which had earthworks in 1946 when aerial photographs were taken; and Holkham and Houghton, which disappeared under parkland in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The introduction reviews village plans and the causes of desertion, and includes all the deserted sites from EAA 14. A summary of the documentary evidence is followed by a site description, and an architectural description of the church. The early landscape of each village is reconstructed from documentary evidence and early maps.

The final chapter assesses progress in Rural Settlement Studies since Allison’s Lost Villages of Norfolk published in 1955 (Norfolk Archaeology 31). Several recommendations are made for future rural settlement studies, and the necessity for a 'total' approach to the landscape is emphasised.