Bacton Church
Bacton, in the middle ages, was home to Broomholm Priory, possessor of a substantial piece of the true cross and one of the largest pilgrimage centres in East Anglia. Today, it is home to the North Sea gas terminal, one of the largest industrial complexes in East Anglia. Sic transit gloria mundi. St Andrew sits out in the fields to the west of the little town - you pass the Priory gateway to get there. If I'd been expecting anything of the grandeur of Broomholm, or, indeed, the epic scale of the gas terminal, I would have been disappointed. But it was pleasant to find St Andrew set quietly back in the fields, among cottages where narrow lanes meet. You can just about ignore the terminal beyond.
The tower is quite something - this is actually a fairly small church, but substantial bequests in the mid-15th century gave it a tower with a presence not quite up to the scale of Happisburgh, but in a similar style. The body of the nave and chancel also appears to be basically 15th century. Why so small? Perhaps the powerful presence of the neighbouring Priory made it unnecessary to have anything bigger.
It has to be said that St Andrew was overwhelmingly restored in the 19th century. This is, to all intents and purposes, a Victorian church in a medieval shell. But it is bright, and very welcoming: church open, shouts the sign in the porch, although perhaps the bright green statue of St Andrew in the niche above shouts louder.
There are a couple of medieval survivals; the font is absolutely gorgeous, a reminder if you needed one of the sheer opulence of late medieval East Anglia. A stone figure, perhaps of an evangelist, is propped up in a corner of the sanctuary. We wondered if it might have come from the Priory, but Mortlock says it is one of the pinnacles from the tower, as at Ridlington.
Otherwise, this is a mellow, colourful place with an agreeable clutter, where little seems to have happened since the 1890s. The east window glass is good; I particularly liked the Presentation in the Temple.
A battered, fading brass plate tucked behind the chancel arch records that this flag belonged to HMS Cormorant Commander Armine Woodhouse RN. She was destroyed by the Chinese in the attack at the Tako forts on the Peiho River June 25th 1859. Captain Wodehouse sunk under an attack of fever produced by exposure and anxiety consequent on the loss of his ship and died November 19th 1859 aged 36. The flag appears to have gone.
Later, I found a reference to Wodehouse in Mee's King's England. He had been the Rector's son. The Cormorant was a gun boat, taking to Beijing a treaty opening up trade between China and Europe. The flag was a sign of official protection, but the soldiers in the Tako forts didn't recognise it, for whatever reason. Several years of war followed.
While we were in the church, the curate came in, and was very encouraging, telling us quite how committed the parish is to keeping the church open every day. Another safe haven for strangers and pilgrims.
(info from http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bacton/bacton.htm)
The paston way
The Paston Way is a 22 mile walk between Cromer and North Walsham, discovering the area’s beautiful medieval churches. Each church has its own hidden history and one was even moved brick by brick from a cliff top to save it from the sea.
To visit all 14 of the fine churches on the Paston Way, the trail covers 29.5 miles.
In travelling church to church, the trail ambles down quiet lanes, through picturesque towns and villages, across vast arable fields, disused railway lines and quiet grazing pastures with views of the North Sea. Keep a look out for seals on the stretches of behach walk too.
The Paston Way takes its name from the Paston family who during the Medieval and Tudor periods were the dominant and wealthy landowners in the area through which much of the trail passes. The Paston family in turn had taken their name from the small village of Paston on the north east Norfolk coast. They also wrote the famous Paston Letters.
(info from http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Leisure_and_culture/Norfolk_Trails/Long_distance_trails/Paston_Way/index.htm)
The final cache is at- N 52 5d.bea E 001 2c.8db . a= half the number of people from Bacton who died in WW1 and then -1 b=number of windows -1. c= Ralph was vicar in 125?. d=Rob Cubitt died October 179?. e= Andrew Thompson Martin died aged 7?. All of the clues can be found either in the church or from the path going across the church yard. YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEAVE THE PATH TO FIND THE CLUES. “If anybody would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.coam so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication. There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”