The ruins of a Saxon Cathedral protected by English Heritage lie within the confines of this Norfolk village, that was once the capital of Norfolk.  The earliest building on this site served as the first cathedral of East Anglia until 1071 when the diocesan headquarters moved to Thetford and later moved to Norwich.

This building of timber remained in use as a parish church until around the year 1100.  Then Bishop Herbert de Losinga of Norwich decided to build a replacement parish church nearby. The former wooden cathedral was then pulled down and a stone chapel was built for Bishop Herbert's private use - he had a palace located nearby. It is the remains of this stone chapel which you see here today.  

The village has a shop, pub and bakery, with further facilities available in the market town of East Dereham five miles distant which has an interesting range of shops, which still retain much of the charm of years gone by. 

East Dereham's church is said to be one of the most interesting in Norfolk.  Much of the present church was built between 1220 and 1250 and has the unusual feature of a detached bell tower adjacent to the east end.  Lots of history associated with the town including: a saint; a famous poet; an enthusiastic burner of Protestants; the man responsible for publishing the historic Paston Letters and a 19th century linguist and traveller.