Rare Thatched Church in Norfolk | 900-Year-Old Norman Treasure St Gregory’s, Heckingham

Ajouté : 2026-05-05

[00:00:16]Hi all, Ady here from Hans and Johns. As always, thank you so much for clicking on the video. I'm in deepest, darkest Norolk and I'm at a little place called St. Gregory's in Heckingham and it's got a thatched roof, a round tower, loads of old graves. It's under the care of the church's conservation trust and it looks really old. So, let's go and have a look. St. Gregory's Church stands on a small rise above the river Chet and that location is key. Thousands of years ago, much of the surrounding land was underwater. Later, as sea levels fell, people moved into the fertile river valleys below. So, the church remained up here on the higher ground, a constant presence as the landscape and the population shifted around it. The village is recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086, where it had as many inhabitants as nearby villages like Laden and Hales. So, this quiet, isolated spot we're now standing in was once a thriving community.

[00:01:24]As we step inside the porch, it's wonderful to be able to see the bottom part of the thatched roof. It's unusual in itself to have a thatched roof, but even more unusual to be able to see it.

[00:01:38]And I'm sure you already spotted it as I walked in. The Norman doorway is from the 12th century and it's widely regarded as one of the finest in the region. The carvings here are absolutely incredibly detailed. Zigzags, wheels, stars, and geometric patterns all cut into this stone nearly 900 years ago.

[00:02:02]Now, the work of this quality again suggests that Heckingham was once a place of real importance and wealth. As we step inside, that intricate stonework of the doorway gives way to a much simpler, quieter interior. And first thing I find is a coffin, a stone coffin. I imagine it's Saxon, although I couldn't find any information about it.

[00:02:30]It's broken, but they still have the bottom part.

[00:02:37]Nearby is the font. Now, this is Norman, too. It dates from around the 12th century. It has a square bowl supported by an octagonal stem and smaller columns. It's solid, almost heavy in appearance, built to last for hundreds of years. And as always, I think of all the baptisms that would have taken place, marking the beginning of life for generations, were in their community.

[00:03:15]And here in front of the tower, we find an organ. It is, of course, a much later edition, but it's a reminder that this was once a living church filled with music and voices.

[00:03:46]Just behind the font is a 19th century wooden wheeled beer and this was used as part of funeral processions to carry coffins. There's a small brass plaque on the end here. And it's inscribed Hales and Heckingham 1908. And this demonstrates another link between these neighboring parishes and the architecturally similar churches.

[00:04:11]Although unfortunately I didn't have time to visit those other places while I was here in Norolk, but maybe next time.

[00:04:19]And here at the back is if you want to pause it, this is a little bit of information about the font. And it's got its height and its diameter.

[00:04:31]Really interesting. And on the wall here is a roll of honor for the men who lost their lives in the war.

[00:04:41]And although this is screened off, I thought I'd open the door and see what's in here. But it's used for storage.

[00:04:50]So there was nothing really of interest to see here.

[00:05:11]I'm going to head back across into the nave. But as I was coming across here, I spotted this rather beautiful painting of the church. I couldn't find an artist name, but I thought it was absolutely beautiful as a little doggo on the path there. Beautiful.

[00:05:35]As we walk up through the nave, the structure becomes clearer. Most of what we see now dates from the 12th and 13th centuries with later medieval changes and of course you can see that Victorian restoration lead on top. But before we go any further, we'll have a quick look at the pulpit. Now this would have been central of course to church life, the place where sermons were delivered and the congregation gathered to listen.

[00:06:01]Even in a small rural parish like this, the spoken word mattered. And the Bible up here had some lovely inscriptions inside. So if you want to pause if you want to read that a little bit more, it can be difficult to make out the handwriting.

[00:06:24]As we move into the chancel, on the right hand side, you can see the priest stall. And these were formed from reused medieval pew ends with decorative carved poppy head motifs, leaves and flowers.

[00:06:37]And this was largely done in 1899 when the interior was largely refurbished. There's a couple of chairs here on the altar. Sadly, they're padlocked onto the communion rail because unfortunately people do steal things. I couldn't find an exact date for those. Unfortunately, the absidel which is roundended chancel form part of the original Norman church and it has undergone some modifications.

[00:07:12]Now the two small windows that are either side of the altar um are Norman in origin but they actually contain stained glass of 1908 and they depict St. Gregory and St. Margaret. The remaining windows probably date from about 1300, but there's been more recent alteration.

[00:07:36]And the roof is concealed by a plaster barrel vault.

[00:07:46]We're going to head around now into the north aisle. And in the 13th and 14th century, it was extended. The church was extended and crude arches were punched here through the original north wall of the nave to provide access to the new aisle. Hence, while the columns display a lack of dress stone and decoration, but on the floor here is a series of 17th century ledger stones commemorating the Crow family. And this one says, "Here lieth the body of Mary, the daughter of John Crowe and Elizabeth, his wife, who died on the 28th of April, 1666.

[00:08:27]Her time was short, the longer is her rest. God calls them soonest, whom he loveth best." And I did feel that that um momento morai the skull was actually smiling.

[00:08:43]And along the floor of the north aisle here, these are coffin lids, stone coffin lids. It's very difficult to make out, but there's quite a few of them. And if you look closely enough, I think the one on the inside against the wall, you can make out the shape of a cross there. And the one to the left actually does have some writing on it, but it was impossible to make it out.

[00:09:13]I'm wondering if these are also for the crow family.

[00:09:25]But of course, they just completely worn down by time. But there's another couple here. This one you could kind of make out. Here lied the body of Mary Crowe.

[00:09:38]Again, another strange looking skull, isn't it? But she was the daughter of John Crow and Elizabeth, his wife, and died 18th of July 1659.

[00:09:49]And there's another one, but another skull, but that's very badly worn. Very difficult to make out. Again, it's another member of the Crow family.

[00:10:03]I found a story about a local hero, a Dr. Lawson Mcccleintoch. So when war broke out in 1914, he organized the Red Cross Hospital to look after wounded soldiers in the nearby lecture hall of St. George's Church in nearby Laden. Now his wife Mrs. Mcccleintok ran the hospital but sadly the hospital caught fire on the 2nd of October 1918 and Dr. Mcccleintochuk sadly was in hospital himself suffering very badly from the flu but he got up regardless and helped the patients but as a result of this he developed complications and died at the young age of 39. He's buried here in the churchyard and we'll go and pay our respects to him.

[00:10:52]The nave has just one ledger stone dedicated to the mingay family and depicting the family coat of arms are three leopard heads with in shield. So further heraldic shields may be seen in the upper levels of the stained glass windows in the south window. I can't help but think this looks like the three bears from Goldilocks.

[00:11:17]Sorry, couldn't help it.

[00:11:21]Going to head back out through the south porch.

[00:11:24]And that was built in the early 16th century.

[00:11:43]As we head back outside, I thought I'd show you the tower. Now, Norfolk does have a huge amount of round towers. I believe it has the most in all of England. And the lower round section of this tower is part of the original Norman church. The middle and upper sections were apparently rebuilt in the 14th century. The tower was later repaired after its top fell through generous requests in wheels of 1486 and 1501. And near the top of the circular stage, some bricked in medieval putlog holes are still visible. And this shows where scaffolding was erected to help with the construction.

[00:12:33]This side of the graveyard was rather spooky looking, don't you think? Always reminds me of a Hammer horror film.

[00:12:40]Unfortunately, you can't actually see it, but underneath all those weeds were huge dips and ruts, and it was very difficult to walk on. Even walking over this short bit was very treacherous. I nearly fell over a couple of times. So, unfortunately, I can't show you all around the back there.

[00:13:10]The North Isle door, which is now blocked, was created to replace the Norman north door destroyed as part of the medieval expansion. Now, the medieval door surround includes a large amount of reset Norman carve stone, which probably came from the original Norman doorway. And as you can see, the beautiful thatched roof is not an uncommon feature apparently, and it's in many Norolk and Suffk churches. Now, such a roof will last approximately 70 years before it needs replacing. And this particular roof was last retached in 1978.

[00:13:52]And I'm just going to head over now. And I found the resting place of Dr. Mcccleinto. So I just went over and paid my respect to this wonderful man who really did serve his community.

[00:14:09]As we step back and take in the view once more, the church itself with its flint walls, thatched roof, and extraordinary Norman doorway, it feels like something that has quietly endured for nearly a thousand years. Although it no longer serves a regular congregation, it hasn't been forgotten. And thanks to conservation efforts, it's still here, open, accessible, and wanting to be explored.

[00:14:38]I'm going to wrap the video up here. I really do hope you enjoyed it. Another fascinating little place. Norolk has been full of surprises so far. It really has. If you did enjoy it, if you could please hit the like, subscribe, and button down below. doesn't cost an absolute penny, but it really helps the channel out. But if you'd like to support my channel a little bit more, you can hit the super thanks button down below or hit the buy me a coffee link and that helps me make a donation to the churches. And this one in particular is under the care of the church's conservation trust. And I'll pop that link down below if you'd like to make a donation directly to the charity. But thank you so much for watching. I really do appreciate it and I shall see you for the next one. Bye for now.