The Medieval Period (1086 AD to 1485 AD)

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A few pottery sherds (shown above) from the early Medieval period have been found by fieldwalking in the general area of Brumstead (01- SMR various) but very little is known from documents about the Parish between the Domesday survey in 1086 and the late 1200s. What is known is that by 1216 the le Parkes family built another Manor house south of the present Church (along Parkers Lane) and held the lordship of that Manor (03). By 1275 William le Parker and William le Gerner were Lords of their respective Manors and had wreck at sea at Eccles (03). In 1272 the Rector had a residence with 30 acres of land and in 1291 a reference is made to the Church being dedicated to St Peter (13 - page 415). Between 1138 to 1148 there was a civil war in England between King Stephen and Matilda of France, the third Holy crusade led by king Richard I was between 1189 to 1192 and King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 some of which may have had some effect on the region.

{short description of image} The Church.

Sometime in the 1300s the Church was re-built re-using older stone (possibly from an original Saxon Church) and the present font plus door to the stair tower date from this period (01 - SMR 8254). From 1306 the (incomplete) list of Brumstead Church rectors starts and by 1313 Robert Rose, William le Parker and William de Gerner were returned by the Sheriff as being the three Lords in Brumstead, showing that another Manor had been introduced somewhere in the Parish (05 - page 211). In 1315 a court in Westminster (London) heard that William le Parker had used his rights of wreck at sea as during a storm a merchant’s ship from Flanders was driven aground at Bromholm (near Bacton) and the crew, fearing that it would sink, unloaded the cargo onto the beach where it was forcibly taken by William le Parker and others (06 - page 215). In 1316 William le Parker was again in court asking to extend his lands and alleging that the Chancery had wrongly stated that he held lands to the yearly value of £50 and that he was liable to take Knighthood (07 - page 67). The Manor of Parkers went to William and Peter Engain in 1330 when they married William le Parker’s daughters and in 1332 Robert Rouse conveyed the Manor of Rose Hall (the present Hall) to Margaret, widow of John Elys of Great Yarmouth (08). Royal charters for a market in Ingham (date unknown) and Sutton (dated 1324) are known, reflecting their importance at that time (02 - page 67). In 1337 the 100 years war between France and England began then in 1355 Sir Miles Stapleton founded the Trinitarian (a semi-military order) monastic house in Ingham.

In 1348 the Black Death arrived in England that resulted in the loss of between a third and a half of the population and in the resulting chaos, a period of lawlessness prevailed in Brumstead. In 1374 a court in Westminster (London) heard how Henry Rose, Drew Gerner and Roger de Walsham plus others raided property in Brumstead and East Ruston, stole boats, horses, cattle, swine, geese, etc, felled an Oak tree, cut and stole hay, dug and stole turfs (of peat) and generally assaulted anyone who got in their way (06 - page 491). It is thought that Henry Rose and Drew Gerner were the respective sons of Robert Rose and William Gerner who were two of the Brumstead Lords. At another session at Westminster in 1376 the court heard from Margaret, Countess of Norfolk how her tenants in Brumstead were assaulted and driven off her lands (06 - page 412) plus Brumstead is noted as being one place of origin of the peasant’s revolt of 1381 (02 - page 87). The revolt was caused by general unrest plus the introduction of an unpopular poll tax and was finally ended in an encounter at North Walsham between Bishop Despenser of Norwich and the leader of the revolt called Geoffrey Lister who was summarily executed afterwards. The ‘Norwich crusade’ to Flanders, led by Bishop Despenser to protect the English wool trade occurred in 1383. In 1384 Margaret, widow of John Elys of Great Yarmouth (the same Margaret who attained a Brumstead manor in 1332?) complained to a Westminster court that, along with her tenants and servants, she was being attacked and harassed in her Brumstead Manor (14 - page 497). The connection between Brumstead and Sutton was still strong in this century as in 1369 a Norfolk Inquiry stated that one Knight’s fee plus a yearly ‘chace’ (the impounding of animals found grazing on the common and released for the fee of 1 penny) at Brumstead belonged the Manor of Sutton (10 - page 122). Plus the court case involving the Countess of Norfolk in 1376 again makes note of the fact that parts of Brumstead belonged to Sutton. A court of inquisition in 1396 confirms that Brumstead Church belongs to the manor of Sutton (12 - page 133). It appears that major work was carried out on the Church during this latter part of this century. In 1381 Isabel de Brook left 3 shillings and 4 pence in her will to make a new window at the east end of the cancel (11) and in 1390 Drew Gerner (as an act of remorse for his earlier crimes?) left £1 in his will towards making a tower for the Church plus 6 shillings for a bell and window (11).

{short description of image} Effigy from Stalham circa 1450. {short description of image} Writings on the Passion 1405.

The present Hall in Brumstead dates from the 1400s and is a typical ‘open’ medieval Hall with a braced timber roof on carved corbels (01 - SMR 22904). Fieldwalking around the Brumstead area has uncovered late Medieval transitional pottery sherds from this period. The local troubles of the previous century appear to have dissipated by the start of the 1400s by the lack of any noted court cases of disturbances in Brumstead. However, it appears that the population of Brumstead had still not recovered fully as there was a 9% reduction in the lay subsidies in 1449 (04 - Vol 12 : page 267). On a national level these were still turbulent times as the failed Lollard uprising (protesting against the wealth of the catholic Church) occurred in 1413 and another war with France started a year later followed by the war of the Roses in 1455. In 1405 at Westminster, William Parker of Brunstede won a case for debt against Richard Sparke citizen and Skinner of London (09 - page 103) plus Sir Miles Stapilton (related to the founder of the Trinitrian order in Ingham) commissioned from Michael de Massa 'Writings on the Passion' - shown and in 1439 the crest of the le Parkes family was described as argent, three bucks heads caboshed, gales (03). Other than the fact that around 1470 a bell for Brumstead Church was cast by brasyers in Norwich, very little documentary evidence has been found regarding the Parish during the 1400s. However, a list of personal wills dating from 1470 is known and in 1866 a Reverend J Gunn reported the discovery of Medieval wall mural paintings at Brumstead Church representing the 'deadly sins' (04 - Vol 7 : page 355). The close proximity of the Church to Rose Hall indicates that it was once connected to the Hall (and the family that built/owned it) and it appears from the current distribution of the houses in the Parish that any original settlement next to the Hall and Church typically shifted towards the Common around this period (see 'Brumstead Common').

References ;

01. The Sites and Monuments Records held at Gressenhall, Norfolk.

02. An Historical Atlas of Norfolk, Ed by P Wade-Martins and published by the Norfolk Museums Service - 1994.

03. Bloomfield’s History of Norfolk : Vol 9 - 1808 pages 287 to 290.

04. Norfolk Archaeology Series (copies held at the Norfolk Records Office).

05. A history of hundreds, A Norris, published by Rye (copy held at the Norfolk Records Office).

06. Calendar of Patent Rolls of Edward III (copies held at the Norfolk Records Office).

07. Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous Vol II No 272 (copies held at the Norfolk Records Office).

08. Armstrong's History of Norfolk.

09. Calendar of Close Rolls of Henry IV : Pt III (copies held at the Norfolk Records Office).

10. Calendar of Inquisitions post mortem - Vol XII : Edward III

11. Leaflet of St Peters church, Brumstead (obtained from the church).

12. Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous Vol VI No 271 (copies held at the Norfolk Records Office).

13. The Valuation of Norwich (1291 to 1293) W E Lunt - 1926.

14. Calendar of Patent Rolls of Richard II - PT 1 (copies held at the Norfolk Records Office).

Definitions ;

Field walking involves walking over a ploughed field in either a random or ridged way picking up objects of historical interest.

Lay Subsidies were a local parliamentary tax.

Rights of Wreck was a lord of the manor's right to take items washed up on a beach. 

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