Oby
Oby is the site of a deserted mediæval village in Norfolk, amongst the Norfolk Broads three miles north of Acle and nine miles north-west of Great Yarmouth. Beside it is another lost village, Ashby (the two together forming a parish known as 'Oby with Ashby' with no village nor hamlet within it ,and a population of less than 100 at the 2011 census).
The River Bure forms the western boundary of the parish. Nearby villages include Thurne to the north-west, Repps and Bastwick to the north, Rollesby to the north-east and Clippesby to the east.
History
A group of eight ring ditches in the north of the parish have been interpreted as a ploughed-out Bronze Age round barrow cemetery.[1] Back then, the area was part of an island -the Isle of Flegg, which was surrounded by shallow sea and salt marsh.[2]
Cropmarks indicating a possible Roman farmstead were identified in 2007, and metal detecting has recovered Roman coins on the site which is next to the old salt marsh boundary.[1]
Oby was a substantial Anglo-Saxon village, listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Obei, in the West Flegg Hundred.[3] Oby was a village with 31 households, and in 1086 was mostly held by Roger Bigod of Norfolk except for lands owned by St Benets Abbey.
Oby and Ashby failed and were deserted in unknown circumstances in the later Middle Ages. Oby church was abandoned in the second half of the 16th century, and demolished.[4] In 1604, the parishes of Ashby, Oby and Thurne were united into one ecclesiastical parish with the two townships of Ashby-and-Oby and Thurne. However the church at Ashby remained in use as a chapel of ease, with its graveyard, and confusion later arose about which of the two churches had been which.[5]
In 1820, the consolidated parish of Thurne with Ashby and Oby was subject to Enclosure. An ancient area of common land attached to Asbby was lost, and the poor people of the township were compensated with the income from three acres which was fetching £6 in the 1850s (£600 in 2021 values). The vanished common is remembered by Heath Farm and Heath Road.[6]
About the lost village
The only public amenity consists of a post box at the west end of Boundary Road, opposite the entrance to Harrison’s Farm Lane.
The footpath running along the bank of the River Bure is part of the Weavers' Way long distance footpath. Two short canals, called ‘’dikes’’ but not simply drainage ditches, run off the river and originally gave boat access to farmsteads. The northern one is on the parish boundary, and served Boundary House Farm which is now part of a caravan park. The southern one is called Oby Dike or South Oby Dike. These provide commercial mooring for boats.[7]
Parish church
Oby church was abandoned in the second half of the 16th century, and demolished.[8] The latest reference to its being in use dates from 1552.[9] It was located at Oby Manor Farm, where there is a 17th-century barn which is now single-storey with a modern roof but which has apparently been cut down from a taller building. The interior south wall has fragments of carved stonework including chamfers, and the exterior south wall has re-used ashlar stonework. This was salvage from the demolished church. The actual site of the church in relation to the farm buildings is unknown.[10]
Location
- Location map: 52°40’24"N, 1°34’15"E
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Oby with Ashby) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Norfolk Heritage Explorer website, Ashby and Oby page". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?TNF118-Parish-Summary-Ashby-with-Oby. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ↑ "History of Martham website, Isle of Flegg page". http://marthamnorfolk.co.uk/?page_id=12277. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ↑ Chambers, John: A General History of the County of Norfolk 1829 pp. 317, 320
- ↑ Batcock, N: The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk, East Anglian Archaeology 1991 p. 54
- ↑ Mason, Robert Hindry: The History of Norfolk 1885 p.30
- ↑ White, Francis & Co: History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk 1854 p. 459
- ↑ "Canaplan website, South Oby Dykes page". https://canalplan.uk/place/0zb9. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ↑ Batcock, N: The Ruined and Disused Churches of Norfolk, East Anglian Archaeology 1991 p. 54
- ↑ Bent, F: The Ruined Churches of the Fleggs Yarmouth Archaeology 1995 p. 17.
- ↑ "Norfolk Heritage Explorer website, Oby Manor Farm page". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF8607-Manor-Farmhouse&Index=7935&RecordCount=57339&SessionID=a5a3b795-68d4-45eb-8f0f-23490351e02f. Retrieved 30 October 2021.