On the outskirts of Norwich, at a ruined church hidden in woodland, there are stone angels that walk between Christmas and New Year.

Overlooking the water at Whitlingham, St Andrew’s isn’t easy to spot, but this was once the place where courting couples would go for romantic walks away from the prying eyes of their guardians.

The church once served a thriving hamlet, but by the 1630s it was in ruins and in the 19th century, window tracery was added to make it look even more picturesque for artists and walkers.

For centuries, the ivy-clad tower watched over the woodland and the landscape, which has been altered by man for centuries, first through flint knapping from 4000BC up to the 18th century, then mined for lime and chalk until the 20th century and finally, for gravel.

Whitlingham Country Park, two miles from the centre of Norwich, has more than 280 acres of stunning countryside to explore and was once part of the Crown Point Estate, owned by the Colman family.

St Andrew’s once boasted a round tower, but it collapsed in 1940: the hill the church was built on is slipping, and it is believed a landslide caused the tower to tumble.

In Land of the Broads by Ernest Suffling, written in 1891, the author wrote: “The church is planted right upon the edge of a precipitous, wooded hill, from which a good view of the surrounding district is obtained. 

“The circular tower is nearly intact, but the church itself is roofless, and the interior contains a congregation of trees, in flourishing condition. The tower is surmounted by figures, symbolical of the four evangelists. 

“These stone figures, according to local tradition, walk round the edge of the tower at midnight, meet, shake hands, and then resume their positions. This sight cannot be seen by married persons!”

It appears, however, that the legend existed before the caveat about the spectral statues being invisible to those wearing wedding rings, which raises a few queries about this element of the tale.

By the Victorian era, the picturesque ruin had become a popular place for people to visit with their families by day, and with their sweethearts by night.

In an age where unmarried mothers and their infants were considered an affront to morality and were spurned and ostracised, a ghost that only appeared to the unmarried in a secluded lover’s trysting place would be very handy.

The Hidden East Anglia website offers a calendar date for the walking statues and the Eastern Daily Press of 1940 offered another version of the legend.

In one account, the stone figures marched at midnight on New Year’s Eve, in another, the effigies were angels and “…when these angels heard the clock strike midnight on Christmas night, they changed places.”

The ruins of St Andrew’s are close to the A47 bypass – take the road to the country park, drive past the broad and stop before the bridge that passes under the A47 and look up the hill and to your left. 

To the right, you can see the moss-covered remains that have fallen down the hill.

Eastern Daily Press:

The stone figures are no longer to be seen, victims of the tower fall, but there is more treasure to discover close to this site: the ruins of Trowse Newton Hall can be discovered close to the Flint Barn.

This once-splendid hall was originally the country retreat of the Priors of Norwich Cathedral and was a popular place for dignitaries to spend the night, including King Edward III and Queen Phillipa, who visited in 1335.

There is also a fantastic underground Victorian lime kiln to be found nearby- for a view inside this brick-built kiln, locked and now a safe home to bats, take a look here.

Love a Norfolk Christmas ghost? Read this Weird Norfolk story about the White Lady of Worstead who appears in the village on Christmas Eve every year.

* Do you have a story for Weird Norfolk? Email stacia.briggs@newsquest.co.uk.