This is a very interesting church. Hargham, pronounced harf'm, is part ruin, part operational church. The western bays of the nave collapsed in the 18th century, an unfortunate date because this was a low point in the history of the English church. The nave was never rebuilt. There was obviously a major restoration in the late 19th century to the chancel, but by the middle of the 20th century it had become a ruin, the building full of ivy and elder.
It was rescued in the 1970s by a local couple, Clifford and Jacqueline Amos. He was a builder, and set about restoring the integrity of the chancel and what remained of the nave. The couple still maintain the building to this day, leaving the tower to grants from funding bodies to keep it standing. "When Lady Harrod came, she didn't just stand and stare, she got down on her knees and scrubbed the floor with the rest of us!" Jacqueline Amos told us. It was a mark of the love that is lavished on this pretty little church that it was participating in the Historic Churches bike ride day, while the nearby parish church in the large village of Shropham was not.
More of this detail and pictures are available here http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/hargham/hargham.htm
This church is actually part of the parish of Wilby (Parish of Wilby with Hargham). We would like to thank the Rector - Revd. David Hill - for allowing us to place caches in the six parishes in the Quidenham Group of Parishes. Hopefully you will take advantage of your visit to explore the churches themselves.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
*** FTF - gimmealook - 10/05/11 ***