Impressively there are more then 100 ruined churches in the area of Norfolk, but we specifically wanted to scout out the mysterious ruins of St James Church, or Bawsey ruins as they are known. The remains of St James is such an impressive site, very much so for what it once was and the atmosphere here is special and eerie to anyone who greets it. So join us for a wander around Bawsey Ruins.
The remnants of the church are all that is left, from a once thriving and incredible village that had been abandoned from long ago. Interestingly we take ourselves back 1000 years to when the ruins were known as Norfolk’s equivalent of St Michaels Mount. This is pretty funny as it’s hardly a hill, but in Norfolk the land is extremely flat and ironically level.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, the settlement on the hill was probably that called ‘Boweseia’ which translate into an Old English placename meaning ‘Gadfly island’ This was because in the Saxon times it would have been accessed via a causeway, standing on a piece of high ground, surrounded by water on a headland on the estuary of the Gaywood river. It was once part of a thriving fishing village at a time when King’s Lynn would have been in the sea. As the waters retreated the village fell into decline – It was reported that it was helped by a landlord who decided to demolish tenants’ homes to make way for the more profitable sheep and farmlands. It was by the 16th century the ruined church of St James at Bawsey was all that remained of the village and now all that we can discover today.
There was also thought to be a Viking settlement and long before that Iron age one on that little hill. an Anglo-Saxon Grave marker in sitting in King’s Lynn Museum, that helps identify the era from the site and on the next small hill across from there on the other side of the main road is an early Bronze age occupation site and burials were thought to be in use for 100s of years.
Something completely incredible about the site, it that it was featured on time team live and they managed to dig up the remains of a female with a traumatic injury that they believe was from the Viking era, they detail that it would have been from in the 7th and 8th period when Viking attacks on eastern England were increasingly common, it was known very much so that the monastic sites were the ones to be targeted as it was normally at that time in this period of raiding that the raiders would have been after loot, which marries up with some of the archaeological items found here, including many gold coins and other valuables and that would have been something that the Vikings would be searching for.
During the programme, a skeleton of a female was discovered with analysts learning that she suffered a brutal slaughter, by the burial evidence of three sword cuts to the skull. There are theories that this may have been a nun whilst around the area of Bawsey ruins, but in a weird turn of events her demise was more than likely to have been a surgical operation that failed, the detached bone was not from a sword wound, but was actually an attempt to save the woman’s life by a surgical procedure 1300 years ago. It’s mind blowing that we are able to unearth and discover the mysteries below the soil, it’s so incredible that this what we see in front, derelict, small, abandoned roofless ruin has actually thousands of years of history attached to it.
Other incredible finds are that of 15th century tiled floor, various Thetford pottery, a bronze age axe, iron age gold, roman coins and prehistoric flint. Showing us the importance of this site and that the ruins were actually an ancient site with an incredible history and a number of many different people who worked, fought and lived in the village.
The structure itself is Norman, now pretty degraded with large cracks in the tower and corner joints shifting out, it still orders some respect though sitting as it does on a rise in the land surrounded by cows and is visible for miles. The surviving sections of the tower and nave date from the 11-12th centuries, whilst the remaining part of the chancel is around the 14th-15th century. It’s built from local Carrstone, Flint and Limestone and was constructed in the Romanesque style. The church was dedicated to St. James and fell into ruin as far back as 1745.
When the village was deserted and Bawsey was all that was left, the church was still being used for baptisms and burials right up till the 1770s and as you wander around the stone elements you can see some heavily eroded graffiti, dating 1840. One of my favourite parts of the church is being able to still see the tracery around the doors and windows, it gives a small glimpse to what this place may have looked like all them years ago. The zig zag pattern over the tower arches indicate this was from the Norman period.
To get to the ruins, you are able to park up next to the local farm, where you’ll get a shot of the ruins in your sight and walk up the pot holed, rocky road for around 5 minutes till you reach the gates for the site. It’s worth the visit especially in the Kings Lynn area, this hidden gem has a fantastic feeling to it and it’s got a great longstanding history worth your troubles.
I really enjoyed visiting here when you walk around the place you really can feel the history and the different people that would have used this church and site. It’s such a nice walk and a beautiful place, it really is worth the wander and the best kind of adventure that leaves you with mucky boots.
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Till Next Time!
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