But the story of Norfolk’s centuries of prosperity is still inscribed in its churches. Almost all were reconstructed and strengthened in the decades following the Black Death of 1349. This particular building boom seems to have been fueled both by intense piety – probably stemming from the devastation of the plague – and civic rivalry between neighboring parishes competing to outdo each other. Either way, the result is one of the richest collections of medieval churches in Europe built by some of the most talented bricklayers and masons of the time.

Back then, these churches were at the center of thriving communities. They were magnificently decorated with frescoes and panel paintings, sculptures and carvings, stained glass and intricate brass work and lit by hundreds of candles. The Reformation and Revolution removed most of these interiors, but the stonework, the buttoned flints and the heavily decorated oak timbers of the ceilings – all often of astonishing quality and finesse – remain.

Now these parish churches rest mostly silent and empty. Bats flutter in the belfries, cemeteries are colonized by copper silage. But they are deeply moving places to visit. The sun streams through the windows to the tombs of those who funded them and the crenellated towers stand sentinel over the tombs of the communities that made them so many centuries ago.

10 of Norfolk’s medieval glories

Almost every village in Norfolk has a medieval church; here are some of the other reminders of the highlights of its history, from the Norman Conquest to the Reformation.

1. Norwich

One of the great Norman buildings in England, Norwich Cathedral was founded in 1096 and further extended in the 15th century. We do not know the height of the original spire. It was completed in 1297 but blown down in a storm in 1361-2, but the current version, probably from 1485, is, at 96m, the second tallest in England after Salisbury. Other highlights include the cloister and the dozens of carved and painted stone bosses that decorate the network of ribs that support the roof of the nave.