NHER 8457 (Building record) - St Catherine's church, Ludham

Decorated church, given new aisle windows, nave clerestory and roof in the 1460s; restored late 19th/early 20th century.
Exceptional 15th century font and rood screen dated 1493. A number of interesting monuments.
Tombstone by Voysey in churchyard. Voysey was an important early 20th century architect; a tombstone marks a grave. Memorial listed Grade II 2004. Church itself listed Grade I (S1). Report (S2), architect's plans (S3), press cutting (S4) and old photograph (S5) in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 17 January 2004.

This is one of the sixty five Norfolk churches selected for (S6).
D. Gurney (NLA), 17 February 2006.

Before March 2007. Dendrochronological Survey.
Dendrochronological analysis was undertaken on samples taken from oak timbers of the west tower roof, but the analysis was not successful with none of the seven samples dated.
See report (S7) for further details.
J. Allen (NLA), 26 March 2007.

June 2008.
£250,000 restoration project was completed. The 150 year old steelworks were cleaned and renovated, and the clock hands were replaced.
See (S8) for further details
H. White, (NLA), 23 September 2009.

Graffiti has been found inside St Catherine’s church, these carvings include an upside-down signature on a pillar, daisy wheel designs which are thought to be the marks of stonemasons and crosses.
See (S9) for further details, and graffiti trail (S10).
M. Langham-Lopez (HES), 9 May 2013.

November 2020 and January 2021. Watching Brief.
Maintained during work to install a new bell-ringing gallery and kitchenette with toilets in the base of the tower.
Removal of the 18th- to 19th-century brick floor within the tower uncovered a make-up layer of mortar, soil and late post-medieval brick rubble. Finds from this deposit included post-medieval clay tobacco pipe stems, post-medieval copper alloy curtain rings and lead waste from hot work. Small fragments of redeposited human bone were also present. Also exposed beneath the brick floor was a small rectangular pad formed from reused later medieval bricks. These had a sooted and oxidised surface, suggesting they were possibly associated with the hot work that had generated the lead waste. A distinct grave cut represented a late burial that had been inserted from the level of the brick floor. No trace of the medieval floor surface appeared to survive. A trample layer of pale yellow mortar debris containing pebbles, chalk pieces and chips of limestone was though encountered below the post-medieval make-up deposit. It is suggested that a sharp western limit to this material potentially represented the former position of a sill-beam, which was associated with a possible post setting. Although no finds were recovered from these earlier deposits and features, the stratigraphic evidence indicates they predated the construction of the present tower – the footings for both of the 14th-century pier bases being cut through thin layers of material that overlay the trample surface.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.108).
P. Watkins (HES), 18 April 2024. Amended 27 April 2024.