Second rare stone head discovered at Hopton’s ruined church

History buffs were amazed and delighted after uncovering another rare carved stone head at Hopton's ruined medieval church.

Darren Barker, of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, with both the carved stone heads found at Hopton's ruined church (Image: Archant)

The 11th century artefact was discovered at St Margaret's Church and is the second such head to be discovered at the historic site.

Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust is leading a £140,000 two-year project to conserve and consolidate the grade II*-listed structure as a safe ruin.

In March staff and volunteers were overjoyed after finding the first limestone head – a decorative waterspout – embedded in the stonework at the top of the church's 50ft tower, which has been undergoing repair and conservation.

Then this week stonemason John Briggs, of specialist contractor Medieval Masonry Ltd, was removing scaffolding when he spotted a second head staring back at him about halfway up the tower's inside wall.

The newly-discovered carved stone head found at Hopton's ruined church (left) with the one found in March (Image: Archant)

Based on their Romanesque design, it is thought the heads were among parts of the original church building, dating from the 11th century, which were demolished and re-used when the building was remodelled and the tower added in the 13th or 14th centuries.

St Margaret's Church in Coast Road, also known as Hopton Ruined Church, burned down in 1865 and is now a dangerous structure which is on the English Heritage buildings at risk register.

The Preservation Trust project, being spearheaded with Hopton Parish Council which owns the historic ruin, aims to save the important structure as a maintained attractive feature, while providing vital training opportunities in traditional building skills for volunteers.

Bernard Williamson, trust chairman, said: 'The discovery of the first 1,000-year-old stone head was a special thing and we would have been happy with just that, so to have uncovered a second precious artefact within three months is amazing.

'Apart from disproving the adage that lightening doesn't strike the same place twice, these fantastic chance discoveries highlight the borough's rich built heritage and extend our understanding of the church and this period of history at Hopton.'

Norfolk does not have a local source of building stone, and moving stone long distances across rudimentary roads was difficult in the middle ages, so the limestone for the head and many other historic buildings in the region were shipped from Caen. This also explains why stonework like this was often re-purposed over the centuries.

Darren Barker, trust project director, said: 'With their large eyes, nose and non-existent forehead, these Romanesque carvings would have been out of fashion by the time the tower was built. The first head is more humanistic in style, while the second is more animalistic – a true grotesque.

'There are no marks on either head, so we will never know whether they were made by the same stonemason, but the carving style is very similar.'

The conservation project is also supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, the Pilgrim Trust and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.