NHER 1592 (Monument record) - Southmere or Summerfield deserted medieval village
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Summary
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Location
| Map sheet | TF73NW |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | DOCKING, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
Map
Full Description
Deserted Medieval Village at Southmere or Summerfield
Mentioned in Domesday Book and the Nomina Villarum.
There were 9 taxpayers in 1329, 14 in 1332, 10 in 1428; and disputes over pasturage in 1591, which may have been a cause of the depopulation of the village.
For maps of village see (S1).
Site of church marked by Ordnance Survey at TF 7479 3850 (1592 context 1) but R.R. Clarke (NCM) said there was no evidence on the ground and suggested that 7481 3839 was nearer the site, as marked on Bryant's Map of Norfolk (S2).
However Ordnance Survey say that their site is marked from Bryant's 'Norfolk Churches' (S3) which claimed that a mound with a yew tree on it stood on the site and produced human bones.
The church was All Saint's and was in ruins in 1554; a priory cell had taken over the church but had been dissolved in 1415 and it had passed to Eaton College in 1436. In 1593 the Dragge of Dry Docking (NRO) noted a cross on the site and another to the north.
Information from HES record card (S5). See also Batcock, 'The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk' (S4).
Amended A. Henderson (HES), 19 March 2025.
6 June 1979. Site Visit.
Site visited by E. Rose (NAU).
It is covered by woods and there is now no yew tree at the Ordnance Survey symbol.
Information from HES record card (S5).
E. Rose (NAU). Amended A. Henderson (HES), 19 March 2025.
Associated Sources (8)
- --- SNF87263 Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Docking.
- --- SNF57204 Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 73 NW 4 [2].
- --- SNF8804 Secondary File: Secondary File.
- <S1> SNF7170 Publication: Mosby, J.E.G.. 1938. The Land of Britain. The Report of the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain - Part 70: Norfolk. figs 22-5. Figs 22-25.
- <S2> SNF4947 Map: Bryant, A.. 1826. Bryant's Map of Norfolk.
- <S3> SNF48274 Monograph: Bryant, J.. 1900. Norfolk Churches..
- <S4> SNF4550 Monograph: Batcock, N. 1991. The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 51. Microfiche 5:G12. No 220; p 54.
- <S5> SNF57722 Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
Site and Feature Types and Periods (4)
Object Types (0)
Related NHER Records (0)
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Record last edited
Mar 19 2025 3:21PM