The Ruins of Kempstone St Paul - Saxon Settlement Lost in the Fields - now only the church survives!

Kempstone is the site of a former medieval settlement which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. A small Roman town or village is believed to have once existed here but now only the church remains. Kempstone St Paul is a ruined late Saxon, medieval and later parish church. The chancel was added during the 14th century and the tower was built in the 15th century. Various alterations and additions were also made during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1820 the parishioners of Kempstone raised the funds for a new bell to be installed and by 1850 the population of rural Norfolk reached its peak. However after this time many rural villages began to suffer as people began to relocate to major towns. Sadly this church along with many others in Norfolk fell into deterioration as there was neither the will or the means available to maintain the fabric and in 1897 St Paul was closed. The church (although declared redundant) was still sporadically used for special occasions such as baptisms and marriages but otherwise everything shifted to nearby Litcham. The building struggled on (although becoming increasingly ruinous) until the travel restrictions of World War 2 finally ended its life. After this time the public roads to the church were either ploughed under or left only as farm tracks. The copse of trees surrounding the mound of the graveyard was left isolated in the fields, quickly becoming overgrown and forgotten. And then in the mid-1970s St Paul was formally derelicted. The furnishings were taken out, the roof was removed and the brick floors taken up. The 1820 bell from the tower was sold back to the Whitechapel Foundry with the proceeds used to help assist with repairs to neighbouring Litcham Church bells. All other medieval apparatus was removed to be re-utilised elsewhere leaving just the shell behind.
#church #ruin #norfolk
www.hauntedand...