NHER 562 (Monument record) - Site of St James' Church, Carrow

The site of St James’ Church, Carrow.

According to Blomefield (S1) this church was dedicated to St. James the Apostle and was served by parochial chaplains appointed by the prioress of nearby Carrow Priory, who received “…all the profits”. The 1883 edition of White’s ‘History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk’ (referenced in S2) describes it as a parochial chapel. This church was still in use in 1520 (S1), but had disappeared by the mid 16th century. It was probably demolished at the time of the dissolution of Carrow Nunnery. See (S3) for further details.

No trace of the building survives and its location therefore remains somewhat uncertain. The First Edition O.S 1:500 map of 1883 (S5) annotates the ruins of Carrow Priory church (NHER 58523) as St. James’ Church: an error which has caused a degree of subsequent confusion. According to Rye (S6), Phipson mentioned that the church at the bottom of the ‘great hill’ when he read a paper in 1881 (subsequently published in Norfolk Archaeology, but without this note). The location of the church was clearly still known in the late 18th century as, according to Blomefield, its site was called ‘The Churchyard’ at this time. The field in which the ruins of Carrow Priory lie is also referred to as ‘The Churchyard’ in (S7) - suggesting this church lay in close proximity to the priory. Messent, however, described this church as having “…stood near the junction of King Street and Bracondale” (S2). If this was indeed the case, given the configuration of the old parish boundaries it probably lay to the north of Bracondale, adjacent to King Street. I

It should be noted that the mapped extent of this record reflects only the approximate area in which this church may have lain.

P. Watkins (HES) January 2013 (based in part on information compiled by NCM and NAU staff).