"The Door Was Open So We Entered and Prayed": Wood Norton All Saints Church Visitor Book

The small, pretty All Saints Church at Wood Norton, Norfolk. I try not to photograph non-derelict churches too much, for two reasons: (1) they have all already been documented by better photographers than me, who know the subject, and (2) I'm not even sure doing jusice the sense of quietly dignified, rural community history is strictly possible. For me, at least.

Anyhow. I'm a bit of a sucker for looking through visitor's books, offering as they do a different, often transitory, approach to a church history. It's not uncommon to read comments left by visitors from other continents, and is fascinating to see reasons for their stopping by, and their reactions.

All Saints: The Hainford 'Old Church'

As always with Norfolk churches, the peerless Norfolk Churches Site gives a good run-down of the history of this little spot (http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/hainford/hainfordold.htm). In a nutshell, though, this medieval ruin fell into disuse in the nineteenth century, with the building of a newer parish church closer to the centre of Hainford village. Although the tower is fenced off and overgrown, the graveyard is actually still in use - the newer graves mostly near the yard entrance and still tended to, with the older ones left to the wild. The tower makes for a striking ivy-covered image amidst the flatness of the surrounding fields.