site of the parish church of Thorpe-in-the-fields, which in the seventeenth century was actually used as a beer-shop.  In the fields between Elston and East Stoke is a disused church with a south Norman doorway.  The old parochial chapel of Aslacton was long desecrated, and used in comparatively recent days as a beer-shop.  The remains of it have, happily, been reclaimed, and now serve as a mission-room.  East Anglia, famous for its grand churches, has to mourn over many which have been lost, many that are left roofless and ivy-clad, and some ruined indeed, though some fragment has been made secure enough for the holding of divine service.  Whitling has a roofless church with a round Norman tower.  The early Norman church of St. Mary at Kirby Bedon has been allowed to fall into decay, and for nearly two hundred years has been ruinous.  St. Saviour’s Church, Surlingham, was pulled down at the beginning of the eighteenth century on the ground that one church in the village was sufficient for its spiritual wants, and its materials served to mend roads.

A strange reason has been given for the destruction of several of these East Anglian churches.  In Norfolk there were many recusants, members of old Roman Catholic families, who refused in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to obey the law requiring them to attend their parish church.  But if their church were in ruins no service could be held, and therefore they could not be compelled to attend.  Hence in many cases the churches were deliberately reduced to a ruinous state.  Bowthorpe was one of these unfortunate churches which met its fate in the days of Queen Elizabeth.  It stands in a farm-yard, and the nave made an excellent barn and the steeple a dovecote.  The lord of the manor was ordered to restore it at the beginning of the seventeenth century.  This he did, and for a time it was used for divine service.  Now it is deserted and roofless, and sleeps placidly girt by a surrounding wall, a lonely shrine.  The church of St. Peter, Hungate, at Norwich, is of great historical interest and contains good architectural features, including a very fine roof.  It was rebuilt in the fifteenth century by John Paston and Margaret, his wife, whose letters form part of that extraordinary series of medieval correspondence which throws so much light upon the social life of the period.  The church has a rudely carved record of their work outside the north door.  This unhappy church has fallen into disuse, and it has been proposed to follow the example of the London citizens to unite the benefice with another and to destroy the building.  Thanks to the energy and zeal of His Highness Prince Frederick Duleep Singh, delay in carrying out the work of destruction has been secured, and we trust that his efforts to save the building will be crowned with the success they deserve.