Alethorpe is one of Norfolk’s lost medieval villages. The village was located within the parish of Little Snoring

Little Snoring

Little Snoring is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is east-north-east of the town of Fakenham, west-south-west of Cromer and north-north-east of London. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham,...

 in mid North Norfolk just to the south of Great Snoring

Great Snoring

Great Snoring is a rural village in North Norfolk by the River Stiffkey, in the east of England. Its population in the 2001 census was 168, a dramatic decrease since 1841 when it was 556 .At the centre of the village is the 13th century St. Mary's Church and the Old Rectory...

 and 2 miles (3.2 km) east-northeast of the town Fakenham

Fakenham

Fakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich....

. The village was finally abandoned in the 16th century and is thought to be the consequence of the land being enclosed by the landlord of that time.

History

The village of Alethorpe is mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 of 1085 where its population, land ownership and productive resources were detailed In the survey Alethorpe is recorded by the name of Alatorp. The land is said to be in possession of the King with Stibbard having land from the King.

Nomina Villarum

Alethorpe was also recorded in the Nomina Villarum

Nomina Villarum

Nomina Villarum was a survey carried out in 1316 and contains a list of all cities, boroughs and townships in England and the Lords of them. The document was compiled for King Edward II...

. These documents were a series of surveys carried out in late 13th and early 14th century which contained a list of all cities, boroughs and townships in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and the Lords of them. The documents were compiled for King Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

. In the surveys Alethorpe is recorded as being a village of Thirty houses in 1272, twelve taxpayers 1329, eleven in 1332, and twelve in 1377. It was recorded that there was ten heads of families in 1496.

The church of All Saints

The medieval church of Alethorpe was called All Saints. The church has not survived. The building was in disrepair and used as a barn by 1602, its demise linked to the depopulation of the village in the 16th century. Nothing can be seen today, though three human skeletons were unearthed in 1962 in what is presumed to be the old churchyard. A tree stands on the site of the church itself. Of Alethorpe, only a few low earthworks remain, possible track ways and a house platform can be seen. Another building, a leper hospital mentioned in documents has also disappeared, though its existence in the first place was not certain.