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A Norfolk church may have begun life as a Roman fortlet protecting supplies on their way to Hadrian’s Wall. Trevor Heaton hears how ‘keyhole archaeology’ is solving the riddle of Reedham.

Sometimes things can hide in plain sight. But that doesn’t it make any easier to tell their story.

For centuries, researchers and historians have realised that there is something rather special about St John the Baptist Church in Reedham. 

A reconstruction of the Roman frontier fortlet near Gundremmingen in what is now Bavaria in Germany. Professor Fulford believes Reedham might have looked something like this.

 

For this 15th-century Broadland gem clearly has Roman roots, as can be seen in the large amounts of material in its walls, the thin tiles particularly distinctive. That impression was only strengthened after a disastrous 1981 fire which gutted the church – and revealed yet more ancient masonry inside.

Now new…

Silver disc reveals Christian worship

A small Roman silver disc, thought to have been part of a signet ring, has revealed evidence of Christian worship in late Roman Norfolk.The disc, circa 312 to 410AD, found near Swaffham in February, is inscribed ‘Antonius, may you live in God’ [ANTONI VIVAS IN DEO].

Adrian Marsden, finds officer based at Norwich Castle Museum, said: “We have practically no other evidence for any Christians in Norfolk.”The disc was declared treasure at an inquest in King’s Lynn.Mr Marsden added: “The disc that would have been set into the bezel from a signet ring constitutes important evidence for Christianity in late Roman Norfolk.

“The inscription, translating as ‘Antonius, may you live in God’, is a Christian formula and we have practically no other evidence – apart from a broadly similar ring in gold from Brancaster* – for any Christians in Norfolk. “On one level, of course…