Session 40 15th October St Benet’s Abbey

Photo credits Richard Godfrey, Louise Fowden, John Durrant, Robert Fairclough, Sue Tyler, Fran Pearce, Laura Drysdale, Tod Sullivan, Phillip Wells

We met on a bleak day at St Benet’s Abbey, the strange abbey in the marshes near Ludham that once looked something like this

and now like this.

It is owned by our BCA partners Norfolk Archaeological Trust, and is a thousand years old, as the Benedictine monastery was founded by King Cnut in 1019. The land route to the site is through private farmland, but the ruins are more accessible via the River Bure.

St Benet’s is still used for an annual service in August, and it clearly means a lot to many, we saw inscriptions, gifts and a bunch of flowers with a portrait photo laid in the Gatehouse.

The archaeology of the site is apparent in the lumps and bumps in the landscape, and there are some tempting molehills.

St Benet’s Abbey is wonderfully photogenic and people took some great pictures

We ended up with a cuppa at Ludham Bridge.

Spread the love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *