Godwick
Encyclopedia
Godwick is a deserted village in the county of Norfolk
. It location was south of Fakenham
between the villages of Tittleshall
and Whissonsett
.
There are over 200 deserted villages in Norfolk
, but most sites have been destroyed by ploughing, the pressures of two world wars or other agricultural uses. Only a few still have impressive surface remains. The earthworks at Godwick are well preserved because the site is grazed by sheep and has never been disturbed. Today it is one of the best surviving examples in the county and the only one open to the public. There is agreement between the owner and English Heritage
over the opening and the management of the site, which is open between April and September from 9:30 am until dusk. On site there are information panels with displays of aerial photographs, maps and interpretation plans of this lost village. The earthworks are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is an offence to disturb the site or use metal detectors without the written permission of English Heritage.
period. By the 15th century Godwick was a small village which was a relatively stable community, but was comparatively poor alongside neighbouring settlements. It was in the 15th century that the village declined sharply. A series of bad harvests, and the difficulty of cultivating the heavy boulder clay soil, eventually proved too much for the dwindling population. In 1428 there were under ten households. By 1508 a survey taken showed that of 18 properties on the north side of the main street, 11 were empty and three had no land holdings attached. The same survey
showed that a church lay to the south and there was also a watermill
with a millpond. By 1595 further decay left Godwick virtually deserted. Its final stages of decay were recorded in an estate map
of 1596 when only three or four houses remained and the church tower had collapsed.
church amongst the rubble. Also still to be seen on the site is a large 13th-century red-brick barn with an elaborate façade, built over the line of the street. During the reign of Charles II
, 200 men were garrisoned there and although access is barred, it is possible to walk round it and enjoy its beautiful windows.
Godwick Manor was the birthplace of Admiral Sir William Hoste
.
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. It location was south of 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....
between the villages of Tittleshall
Tittleshall
Tittleshall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.-Location:The village and parish of Tittleshall has an area of 1376 hectares or . The parish is bordered to the north with the parishes of Raynham and Colkirk, to the west with Wellingham All Saints, to the south with the...
and Whissonsett
Whissonsett
Whissonsett is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is miles south of the of Fakenham, west north west of Norwich and miles north north east of London. The nearest railway station is at Wymondham for the Breckland Line which runs between Norwich and...
.
There are over 200 deserted villages in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, but most sites have been destroyed by ploughing, the pressures of two world wars or other agricultural uses. Only a few still have impressive surface remains. The earthworks at Godwick are well preserved because the site is grazed by sheep and has never been disturbed. Today it is one of the best surviving examples in the county and the only one open to the public. There is agreement between the owner and English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
over the opening and the management of the site, which is open between April and September from 9:30 am until dusk. On site there are information panels with displays of aerial photographs, maps and interpretation plans of this lost village. The earthworks are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is an offence to disturb the site or use metal detectors without the written permission of English Heritage.
Origins
Godwick was first settled in the Anglo SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
period. By the 15th century Godwick was a small village which was a relatively stable community, but was comparatively poor alongside neighbouring settlements. It was in the 15th century that the village declined sharply. A series of bad harvests, and the difficulty of cultivating the heavy boulder clay soil, eventually proved too much for the dwindling population. In 1428 there were under ten households. By 1508 a survey taken showed that of 18 properties on the north side of the main street, 11 were empty and three had no land holdings attached. The same survey
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
showed that a church lay to the south and there was also a watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
with a millpond. By 1595 further decay left Godwick virtually deserted. Its final stages of decay were recorded in an estate map
Estate map
Estate maps were maps commissioned by individual landowners or institutions showing their property, typically including fields and buildings.-Development:...
of 1596 when only three or four houses remained and the church tower had collapsed.
The Village Today
What remains of the medieval village today, consisted of a sunken way running east to west with two other roads running off to the south. Along both sides of the street can be seen banks and ditches separating individual house plots. About ten of these still remain to be seen. The church stood within a similar enclosure in an angle between the streets. At the eastern end of the site, the village street ran along a dam holding back a millpond with a small watermill at the far end. The line of the dam is now covered by farm buildings. In 1981 a remaining part of the church tower survived a collapse. The 13th-century church tower had been raised as a brick and flint folly when the church was pulled down in the 17th century. This folly may well have formed part of a scheme of landscape architecture for the later Godwick Manor. Inspection of the 1981 collapse found evidence of a NormanNorman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
church amongst the rubble. Also still to be seen on the site is a large 13th-century red-brick barn with an elaborate façade, built over the line of the street. During the reign of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, 200 men were garrisoned there and although access is barred, it is possible to walk round it and enjoy its beautiful windows.
The Later Godwick Manor
In 1585, in the middle of the deserted village, Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justice and Attorney General to Elizabeth I, built a fine brick manor house, having purchased the estate in 1580. The ruins of the house, which was E-shaped with an impressive two-storey porch and windows, were pulled down in 1962. Its square outline can just be picked out as slight humps in the grass. It had a walled yard and entrance to the north, and around the hall a pattern of formal gardens and enclosures was laid out.Godwick Manor was the birthplace of Admiral Sir William Hoste
William Hoste
Captain Sir William Hoste, 1st Baronet KCB RN , Royal Navy captain, was the son of Dixon Hoste, rector of Godwick and Tittleshall in Norfolk...
.