90: The deserted village of Godwick
An isolated remnant of a church tower in a field surrounded by sheep beneath a big Norfolk sky. What – and why?
A ghost town?
The ruined church tower at Godwick.
When Lord Justice Edward Coke bought the Norfolk village of Godwick in the late 16th century he built a barn and rebuilt the church tower in brick and flint. By that time Godwick no longer needed a church to minister to its flock, as the only flock in the village was just that. Sheep. They had replaced the people. But why? That remains something of a mystery. The peasants who once inhabited this piece of land a few miles south of Fakenham and made a living of sorts had no voice in their time, and have left little for us to remember them by, save for the outlines of their humble homes – and a hint of just how tough their lives must have been.
How do we know the village was there?
Aerial pictures have shown up earthworks of a medieval village that existed, fluctuating in size and prosperity, for more than 500 years from Saxon times. This, and painstaking work by Norfolk Archaeological Unit, have helped historians build up a picture of a settlement mentioned in the 11th century Domesday Book that had houses and gardens, along with a mill pond. The Church of All Saints, which is all that survives, would have been the focal point of a fairly elongated succession of cramped houses with small fields and strips of land. The self-sufficient peasant lived with his family and animals close at hand. Their houses were called ‘tofts’ or ‘closes’, and the boundaries can still be seen at Godwick, appearing as deep ditches. The windows were narrow and unglazed, little more than slits with wooden shutters. In their gardens they kept stock and grew vegetables. Beyond the village street they would have two or three strips they cultivated side by side with their neighbours, and from what they produced a proportion would go to the lord of the manor and the church in tithes. Other land was kept for hay meadow, ploughland and woodland. The peasants ate unleavened bread, beans and hard cheese. Salted meat was a rare luxury. Clothes made of leather or wool would have to last a long time.
No wonder they deserted! What was the land like for farming?
The village stands on a plateau of heavy, flat boulder clay soil. In heavy rainy conditions it gets quickly waterlogged – so a period of bad weather would mean deteriorating harvests. Marl pits, which still survive, were dug to improve soil condition. By the mid-1300s a series of wet summers, the beginning of what has been termed a ‘Mini Ice Age’ in Europe, was reversing a period of growth. From the time of the Normans, conditions were relatively good, and marginal land was brought under cultivation while the population was growing. As life was becoming shorter and harsher, and many died young from disease, the Black Death of the 1340s struck. Some commentators believe up to a third of the British population died; we don’t know exactly how many. The results were that many villages never recovered. Perhaps Godwick was hit by a combination of these factors. Then there were sheep. To wealthy landowners and merchants they were a source of wealth, to those on the bottom rung of society, a disaster. By the late Middle Ages it was more lucrative to farm sheep than have people working the land. Peasants made way for progress as a great deal of land in East Anglia was enclosed for sheep. Never prosperous, in 1428 it had fewer than 10 households; by 1596, just three houses remained in Godwick and the church tower had collapsed.
Are deserted villages common?
It’s estimated there are 200 such villages in Norfolk alone, although traces of most have been destroyed by ploughing. Godwick is a particularly good example because the land was never disturbed, except by sheep. Examples near Fakenham include the evocatively-named Pudding Norton and Little Bittering, mentioned in Domesday but gone by 1500. In Suffolk, West Stowe, near Bury St Edmunds, was a Saxon settlement mysteriously abandoned. The Yorkshire village of Wharrham Percy, one of many deserted villages in that county, is today much studied by historians who lay the blame squarely on sheep farmers. Enclosure of common land for pasture was among the grievances that led to Robert Kett’s 1549 uprising in Norfolk; like all such resistance it was savagely and utterly crushed.
What about Edward Coke?
Judge Coke was a Norfolk man. Born at nearby Mileham he made his name in the law courts of Elizabeth I. In 1580 he built a manor house at Godwick. It had a walled yard and entrance to the north and, around the hall, a pattern of formal gardens and enclosures was laid out. It is believed the barn and church tower were incorporated into the landscape of his park; in effect they were ornaments in the landscape. The barn, now much altered with an elaborate facade, once reportedly had 200 men billeted during the reign of Charles II. Coke’s manor house lasted until demolition in 1962, and he was undoubtedly fond of it. During the 1620s he fell foul of King James, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He wrote praying he would be released to spend his last days at Godwick. As it was he was buried at neighbouring Tittleshall, with which Godwick was incorporated as a parish in the 19th century. The Coke family became agricultural pioneers and went on to inherit the title of the earls of Leicester, building the great hall at Holkham.
What’s at Godwick today?
The deserted village is part of a peaceful sheep farm. An agreement between English Heritage and the landowners means people can visit Godwick between April and September, from 9.30am until sunset. Information boards tell the tale; the rest is left to your imagination. The sheep seem unbothered by it all.
Further reading: Deserted Villages in Norfolk by Alan Davison (Poppyland).
