NHER 1042 (Monument record) - St Mary's Church and Appleton deserted medieval settlement

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Summary

This is the site of the medieval settlement of Appleton, which was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and gradually deserted over the medieval period. St Mary's Church is in ruins, although the round tower is still standing. The church dates back to the Late Saxon period, and contains reused Roman building material. There is a holy well in the churchyard. A chantry chapel of St Katherine was founded here in the 14th century, although no standing remains of it are visible. A 17th century estate map shows a large manor house, surrounded by a double moat, as well as a substantial farmstead to the southeast. The moat and the farm survive as earthworks.

Protected Status/Designation

Scheduled Monument 1020768: Appleton medieval and early post-medieval settlement

Location

Map sheet	TF72NW
Civil Parish	FLITCHAM WITH APPLETON, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

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Full Description

Appleton deserted medieval village and Church.
Church alone scheduled.
Few earthworks of village.
Church has Late Saxon round tower with Roman tile course; remainder of about 1300; ruined site of priory cell.
Site of moated hall and chapel.
Medieval pottery and cropmarks
See (S1) and (S2) in file.
E. Rose (NAU) 5 April 1984

See copy of (S3) in file.
D. Gurney (NLA), 18 October 2000.

April 2003.
Scheduled area extended, see (S4).
M. Horlock (NLA), 14 August 2003.

The village of Appleton is mentioned in Domesday Book, see (S5), and was gradually abandoned over the medieval period. The parish lands were bought in 1602 by Edward Paston, suggesting that the village had almost totally disappeared by the early 17th century. (S3) shows a double moated hall, within a wooded close known as 'Halle Close', and 'Parke Close'. To the southeast of the church and manor house site are the earthworks of a substantial farmstead, shown on (S3).
S. Spooner (NLA) 29 November 2005.

May 2007.
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning the removal of a modern farm ramp.
See (S6).
H. White (NLA), 6 April 2009

April 2008. NMMP Committee visit. Church.
Repairs to the north wall in progress.
The base of the tower includes large quantities of the grey stone which is now known to originate from the Castle Rising area and which was used at the Roman fort at Brancaster, Reedham church etc. It also occurs elswhere in the fabric.
In this instance, the round tower was added to the west wall of the nave of an existing church, as can be clearly seen from inside the tower.
D. Gurney (NLA), 24 April 2008.

Spring 2017
Consolidation of remaining church fabric finally completed under dircetion of Richard Waite. Report on church by S Heywood (HES). For Info see (S7)

Summer 2017
Excavation in the nave to uncover a floriated grave cover and to better mount the Agnes Paston grave cover. On doing the work two further stones came to light: the stone of Thomas Paston and a former headstone cut out of a slab decorated with C11 interlace. See (S8) for monitoring report.
S. Heywood (HES). 21 August 2017.

Associated Sources (21)

--- SNF11561 Aerial Photograph: TF7027 E-H,L-M.
--- SNF43 Designation: [unknown]. Ancient Monuments Form. SAM Record. DNF334.
--- SNF99120 Designation: English Heritage. 1990-2013. English Heritage Scheduling Notification. Notification. DNF334.
--- SNF4550 Monograph: Batcock, N. 1991. The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 51. Microfiche 5:G12. No 35; p 51.
--- SNF7576 Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, B. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. pp 180-181.
--- SNF9008 Photograph: BYJ1-14.
--- SNF99172 Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Miscellaneous. Flitcham with Appleton.
--- SNF87260 Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Roman. Flitcham-cum-Appleton.
--- SNF57722 Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
--- SNF57204 Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 72 NW 2 [4].
--- SNF8804 Secondary File: Secondary File.
--- SNF8807 Slide: Various. Slide.
<S1> SNF97838 Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
<S1> SNF56264 Unpublished Document: Rose, E.. 1984. Building Report.. Building Report.
<S2> SNF99123 Designation: English Heritage. 1994? -2011?. English Heritage Digital Designation Record. Record. DNF334.
<S3> SNF59353 Map: Paston family. 1617. Map of the Manor of Appleton, the property of Sir Clement Paston, by Thomas Waterman junior, from a survey made by Thomas Wright at the request of Edward Paston in 1595..
<S4> SNF59354 Unpublished Document: English Heritage. 2003. Schedule Report.
<S5> SNF58189 Publication: Brown, P (ed.). 1984. Domesday Book: Norfolk. Parts 1 and 2.
<S6> SNF71498 Designation: DCMS. [?]-2016. Scheduled Monument Consent. SAM Consent. DNF334.
<S7> SNF97823 Unpublished Report: Heywood, S. 2017. The church of St Mary, Appleton. Building Report.
<S8> SNF97885 Unpublished Report: Bates, S. 2017. Report on Archaeological monitoring during restoration. St Mary's Church, Appleton.

Site and Feature Types and Periods (10)

Object Types (6)

ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
DOOR (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Related NHER Records (0)

Find out more...(1)

Flitcham with Appleton (Parish Summary)

Record last edited

Nov 19 2025 8:51AM