Introduction
The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey is a volunteer led community archaeology project that is undertaking a systematic graffiti survey of the county's surviving medieval churches. The pilot project, which ran from January 2010 to June 2012, undertook detailed surveys of the first 10% of Norfolk's 650+ medieval churches and carried out initial surveys at an additional 40 sites.
Established to discover and record examples of this little known resource, the survey has already achieved some noted success. Of the 65 churches surveyed during the pilot project, over 80% were discovered to contain significant pre-reformation graffiti inscriptions.
The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey is changing the way we look at the very fabric of our historic church buildings. Where instances of medieval graffiti were originally thought to be relatively rare within the county, the survey has now established that the phenomena are far more common and tell us a great deal about the people who once lived and worshipped there.
The Project
The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey (NMGS) was established in early 2010 as an entirely volunteer led community archaeology project.
The aim of the initial pilot project, which ran until June 2012, was undertake the very first large-scale systematic survey of medieval churches to identify and record pre-reformation graffiti inscriptions. The pilot project involved the full survey of 65 (10%) of Norfolk’s medieval churches and scoping surveys in a further 40 churches. During these surveys it was discovered that over 80% of those churches surveyed contained significant pre-reformation graffiti inscriptions.
Although the NMGS is a community archaeology project it aims to undertake surveys, recording and cataloguing to the highest professional standards. The project records all of its result with the church authorities and the local Historic Environment Record (HER) - thereby ensuring that the work will be available for generations to come. The NMGS is also strongly committed to publishing its findings and making them available to the wider archaeological community.
It is now hoped to be able to expand the pilot project to undertake the surveying and recording of the other 90% of Norfolk’s churches. The NMGS is an opportunity for real people to undertake real and meaningful archaeology.
To learn more about volunteering for the the next stage of the project either call Project Director, Matthew Champion, on 07810 677723 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Pilot Project Summary
The pilot project ran from January 2010 until June 2012. The objective of the project was to fully survey 10% of Norfolk’s 650+ medieval churches. The aim of the pilot scheme was to evaluate to extent and potential of these early inscriptions as a historical resource via an entirely volunteer led community archaeology project.
During this period the project:-
· Fully surveyed 65+ medieval churches.
· Undertook scoping surveys on another 40+ churches.
· Hosted over a dozen open days.
· Presented 27 lectures, talks and conferences.
· Recruited and trained over 70 volunteers.
· Generated a high level of media interest
· Published numerous academic and popular articles
· Generated over 3000 images of early inscriptions.
· Joint winner of the Awards for the Presentation of Heritage Research, 2011
· Encouraged and supported the establishment of similar surveys in other English counties.
Volunteer Resources
This page contains the documentation needed to undertake a survey. All the documents are in PDF format and require a PDF reader to view. Simply click on the chosen document and it will open in your browser - from there you can save a copy.
Further documents will be added to the website as and when they become available. As more churches are surveyed we will also be adding an updated list of churches that still need visiting.
If you have any questions concerning the project, please call the Project Director - Matthew Champion on 07810 677723 or email
Credits
Terms of Use
