Wreathed in creeping ivy and standing long forgotten to time, this abandoned chapel haunts a sleepy Norfolk village.

The church of Saint Mary's in Fulmodeston, a mere five miles east of Fakenham, sits upon the end of a dirt track and from the outside looks to be nothing more than an outcrop of trees. 

Lying within are the ruins of an 11th-century church, built in 1066 and recorded in the famed Domesday Book, which was once the seat of the village parish.

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Fakenham & Wells Times: The derelict remains of the former Saint Mary's church FulmodestonThe derelict remains of the former Saint Mary's church Fulmodeston (Image: Archant 2017)

Built in two phases, it features a flint-faced tower, erected in 1450, tracery and adornments, battlemented parapets and lancet windows, all characteristics of the early medieval period.

But little of it remains today - the nave and chancel a hollowed-out husk, its roof long since burned down.

In Domesday times, Fulmodeston parish was quite large by Norfolk standards. 

It covered just over 2,300 acres and would have supported a population of around 350 parishioners, with land devoted primarily to farming and agriculture.

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Fakenham & Wells Times: An antique copperplate print featuring Saint Mary's church along with the famous faces of William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer and Alexander Pope, dated 1792An antique copperplate print featuring Saint Mary's church along with the famous faces of William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer and Alexander Pope, dated 1792 (Image: J. Cery/Basire)

Early records list the marriage of Thomas Davey and Mary Hewit on October 18, 1754, the first of 182 such weddings officiated at the church between then and 1837.

There are a few local legends associated with the church, such as a coffin that was never buried and still lying beneath the rubble.

It is said the occupant haunts the ruins.

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Fakenham & Wells Times: The church was abandoned in the late 1880s The church was abandoned in the late 1880s (Image: Nigel Jones/geograph.org)

There have also been reported sightings of Black Shuck, the demon hound, near the site.

Ultimately, Saint Mary's was abandoned in 1882 when the Christ Church was built to replace both Saint Mary's and Saint John's in nearby Croxton.

Nowadays, it is quiet and still, overgrown with roots and buds, a relic of the past.