Belaugh is a small village (population 105)[2] increasing to 134 at the 2011 Census, that occupies a bend in the River Bure in Norfolk,[3] England - within The Broads National Park. It is accessible via the road between Hoveton and Coltishall or from the river. It contains no pubs or shops. The main civic features are the church of St Peter, Belaugh and the Old School, which also belongs to the church and is used for parish council meetings and for celebrating the harvest festival. The local broad is Belaugh Broad. Most of the land around Belaugh - about 850 acres (344 ha) - is owned by the Trafford family, who are Lords of the Manor.
History of Belaugh
The Domesday Book of 1086 contains one of the earliest recorded mentions of the village, at the time known as Belaga. Other records from around the time name it as Belihagh, Belaw, Bilhagh or Bilough, names based on combinations of Norse, Danish and Anglo-Saxon words that collectively mean 'a dwelling place by the water'.
Belaugh St Peter
Belaugh St Peter is a Church of England church located at the top of a steep slope above the village. It was built circa 14th century and contains an ornate rood screen decorated with images of the apostles that appears to have been added in the early 16th century. In the 17th century a soldier loyal to Oliver Cromwell (described in a letter to Sheriff Tofts of Norwich as a 'godly trooper') scraped away the faces of the apostles, such images being regarded as idolatrous by many of Cromwell's followers. According to records displayed in the church, the letter writer also added disapprovingly that, "The Steeple house [of Belaugh St Peter] stands high, perked like one of the idolatrous high places of Israel". The font of the church is shaped in the Norman style as a cauldron made of a blue stone.
One unusual feature of the church is the remains of blank arcading on the outside of the south wall of the nave. If original this looks more Saxon than Norman.
The church organ was built between 1886 and 1904 by the Reverend George Buck, who was rector between 1880 and 1907 and son of Dr Zephaniah Buck, organist of Norwich Cathedral. George Buck also built church organs for Edingthorpe and Little Melton.
John Betjeman stated that it was the view of St Peter's from the river that began his lifelong passion for churches.[4]
The Belaugh Ghost
According to information displayed in the church of St Peter Belaugh, in 1695 Richard Slater - a servant at the village's rectory - stole money and jewels from the church and buried them in the rectory garden. When he later returned to dig up the stash, he was discovered by the rector. In the scuffle that followed, the thief drowned in the river. He is supposed to rise up nightly to recover the money, only to be forced down again by the weight of the stolen loot.
Rectors of Belaugh St Peter
---- John de Catfeld
1330 Robert de Hurdeshulle
1349 John de Ludham
1364 William Putyn
1370 William de Swukbrook
---- Henry Rondolph
1397 Thomas Herteshorn
1399 John Williamson
1427 John Joneson
1430 Henry Bettys
1439 Robert Popy
1441 John Hecham
1467 Robert Ippeswell
1478 Robert Kyng
1491 John Felds
1508 William Franklin
1510 Thomas Acton
1518 Thomas Jannys
1536 William Pawe
1552 Thomas Abbot
1554 Gilbert Warren
1555 Edward Fisher
1556 Robert Certayn
1560 John Robinson
1561 Leo Howlet
---- Edward Dunton
1602 Christopher Witton
1607 Rogert Fowkes
1612 Thomas Jermyn
1660 John Philips
1663 john Cutelin
1678 William Newton
1681 Guwin Nush
1691 Bainbridge (Dean)
1711 William Hay
1763 Henry Headley
1768 Lancaster Adkin
1807 John Prowett
1811 William Newcome
1824 Robert Bathurst
1829 Dennis Norris
1830 William Ferguson
1834 John Labbock
1857 John Horatio Nelson
1873 Francis Humphrey
1882 George Buck
1919 Austen Watt
1929 John Priest Miller
1929 Henry James
1932 Alfred Sheffield
1949 David Davies
1950 Harry Skellern
1956 Albert Carling
1976 Henry Stapleton
1981 Cedric Bradbury
1993 Andrew Parsons
War Memorial
Belaugh War Memorial takes the form of a carved wooden plaque in St. Peter's Church.[5] It holds the following names for the First World War:
