Caistor St Edmund and Bixley
Venta Icenorum (Roman Town)
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Caistor St Edmund (Venta Icenorum) is one of only three “greenfield” Roman regional capitals in Britain that were not succeeded by medieval and modern towns. The ruins are in the care of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust and managed by South Norfolk Council. It is assumed that the Roman ‘Stone Street’ runs from Dunwich on the Suffolk coast to Caistor St Edmund near Norwich. The parish church of St Edmund lies at the south east corner of the old Roman Town. Caistor St Edmund features on the Antonine Itinerary, a Roman “road map” of the routes around Britain.
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Caistor St Edmund Church
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The parish church of St Edmund has been in constant use for over 950 years. The church stands in the south-east corner and within the walls of the Roman Town of Venta Icenorum, which went out of use some 750 years earlier. There are two possible reasons why the church was built here. Firstly it may have been rebuilt on the site of an earlier church found here. A second possibility is that the present church was built by the owner of an Anglo-Saxon manor house which may have stood in or near the abandoned Roman town. Certainly a church stood here in the reign of King Edward the Confessor (AD 1042-1066). He gave the manor and the church at Caistor to the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds which probably accounts for the dedication of the church and the village to St Edmund.
The earliest part of the church is the nave and is over 950 years old. Its south-west corner at the rear of the building is made from red tiles robbed from the walls of the Roman town. The original round-headed windows of the nave have been blocked up and replaced over the centuries and are no longer visible.
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Changing fashions and the needs of the religious community have resulted in several alterations to the building. The photograph above shows how the Church you see today has been built up over the centuries.
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Caistor St Edmund War Memorial
The Caistor St Edmund war memorial was built in the churchyard of St Edmund’s church by Reverend John Corbould-Warren, the Rector of Caistor-with-Markshall, in 1922, as a memorial to the men of the parish who fell in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
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The eight men who died in World War 1 represented a high percentage of loss from Caistor St Edmund as at that time, there were only 32 households in the village.
Please see War Memorial leaflet for further information.
Historic England advised on the 6th February 2017 that after a successful application submitted by Caistor St Edmund Parish Council to Historic England, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport had decided to add Caistor St Edmund War Memorial to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The memorial is now listed at Grade II. Listing helps to mark a building’s significance and celebrate its special architectural and historic interest. It brings specific protection so that its special interest can be properly considered in managing its future.
St Mary's Church, Arminghall, Bixley
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A medieval church, little of which is now visible following an almost complete rebuild in 1876, when the south porch was added. The west tower is probably 13th century originally, but much restored. The nave and chancel were originally thatched. Inside, there are medieval and 17th century memorial slabs. The font is 17th century, and has graffiti. The bell is dated 1615.
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Caistor Old Hall
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Caistor Old Hall stands on a medieval manorial site that was possibly moated. Local legend states that a Roman mosaic has been found here. The present building was built in 1612 and was altered with a grand and elaborate wooden staircase in 1647. Extensions were added around 1800 and in 1920. The 17th century dovecot has been converted into a house and the 19th century stables converted to farm buildings. A watching brief carried out here when the dovecot was converted found Roman fragments of pottery and roof tile and post medieval fragments of pottery. Metal detecting near the hall has found a Roman ligula and a Middle Saxon pin.
The River Tas
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The River Tas flows northwards through South Norfolk towards Norwich. The area is named the Tas Valley after the river. The name of the river is back-formed from the name of village of Tasburgh. In Roman times the River Tas was considerably larger and provided a major transport route for the inhabitants of Venta Icenorum. Today it is a small river which winds through farmland.
The Tas valley contains many interesting historical sites including: an Iron Age hill fort at Tasburgh, the old Roman settlement of Venta Icenorum (now Caistor St Edmund) and the site of a woodhenge at Arminghall. The mill at Stoke Holy Cross was the first location of the Colman's mustard business.​
