I have only been to Bergh Apton once and it was a long time ago back in the early 1990s. I had worked hard and saved up a bit of cash and was off to see the world. I backpacked across South east Asia and a bit of Africa before visiting a few relatives in England. I want to add Bergh Apton to my travel map as it seems that some of my ancestors are from around here.
This was a hire car I used to get around Norfolk trying to get some sort of connection and understanding of some of my family history. The ruin was not in Burgh Apton but I checked it out on the way there or back.
At the time there was not a lot to see in this small country town in the south of Norfolk about 10 kilometres from Norwich and my family line seemed to have moved on from this farming area during the Industrial age.
I remember just stopping the car on the side of the road and having a wander around the church grounds with a cheap camera.
I found a few gravestones with our family name on them but had no proof that this person was actually part of my family tree. But maybe you've heard if you can trace your line back to a small place in the early 1800s there is a better than good chance that someone with the same family names is some sort of relative.
This trip all came about when I was given my great grandfathers' times three 1875 army paybook, which had this birth place as Lakenham, Norwich. I found his very interesting because I was born in Australia and had never heard of the place.
The army paybook led me to finding young Frederick on the 1841 and 51 census. Finding this record got me Frederick's parents Daniel and Sarah and most importantly their ages. With the parents' ages I was able to find good matches for their christenings in Burgh Apton.
This obviously led me to visiting the place and wondering what it was like when they were there.
Luckily for me, I was able to connect with someone from another distant branch of my grandfather times four who was able to confirm my assumptions and had gone even deeper with a lot more time and money than me. There is no magical story but Daniel's father was able to marry well and ended up owning two small parcels of farm land. They are marked in red on the photo. I couldn't find any ancestors still living in the area.
The rest of these photos are not mine and were just found with Google.
I do not remember the church being open when I was there or even seeing any one out and about but I was pretty young and shy back then. Going by the church records some of my ancestors where christened in there. The tower is supposed to be a typical example of the end of the 14th Century.
St Peter and St Paul, Bergh Apton
It seems Burgh Apton goes all the way back to the Domesday Book and there are records of it being two separate villages in Saxon and Norman times. I read there was even a Roman camp and a Bronze Age settlement. Growing up on the other side of the world I found this little side trip so interesting, hopefully one I get to revisit and put a bit more time and effort into finding more out about my ancestors.
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