The Bishop of Norwich was always on the move when he
was in his diocese; his most favourite places of residence were North
Elmham and Gaywood; at both of these places he had a palace and a
park; that meant that there were deer there and hunting, and all the
good and evil that seems to be inseparable from haunches of vension.
Nay, at intervals, even the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, the
second man in the kingdom, came down to hold a visitation in Norfolk,
and, exactly 602 years ago the great Archbishop Peckham spent some
time in the county, and though I do not think he came near Rougham or
Tittleshall, I think it not improbable that his coming may have had
some influence in bringing about the separation between Peter Romayn
and Matilda de Cringleford, and the divorce of poor Alice from John
of Thyrsford.
That year, 1280, or just 602 years ago, when Archbishop Peckham paid
his visit to Norfolk, was a very disastrous year for the farmers. It
was the beginning of a succession of bad seasons and floods even
worse than any that we have known. The rain began on the 1st of
August, and we are told that it continued to fall for twenty-four
hours, and then came a mighty wind such as men had never known the
like of; the waters were out, and there was a great flood, and houses
and windmills and bridges were swept away.
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