Broomsthorpe

At the Domesday Survey of 1086 Broomsthorpe is recorded as having nine households, two plough teams and a mill. In the Hundred of Brothercross,^[a] it formed part of the holdings of Ely Abbey.^[1] The village was not mentioned in the lay subsidy roll of 1334, but recorded with more than 10 households in 1428, at which time William de Pinkeneye had a house in the parish. By the lay subsidy roll of 1524 it was included with the neighbouring parish of Tattersett and by the early 16th century the village church, which is thought to have been dedicated to St John the Evangelist, had been abandoned.^[2][3][4]

For a time Broomsthorpe was an extra-parochial area. In 1858 it became a separate civil parish but by the 1870s the population had fallen to 16 with three houses; John Marius Wilson described it as a "hamlet".^[5] At the 1921 census the parish had a population of five, although this had risen to 22 at the 1931 census.^[6] On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with East Rudham.^[7]

The former parish is now largely depopulated. A number of possible sites for the former settlement have been suggested, and it has been speculated that the village may be the same place as the lost settlement of Sengham.^[b][4][9] A series of four medieval fishponds west of the River Tat near Broomsthorpe Hall is one possible site,^{[2][3][10][11]} although these may have been associated with Coxford Priory 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) to the north of the site.^[c][15]

An alternative site to the east of the River Tat in Tattersett has scheduled monument status.^[4][16] A number of earthworks and a probable hollow way remain visible and the site is recognised as a deserted medieval village site.^[4][8] This site is close to the Church of All Saints in Tattersett and possibly associated with the lost church of St Andrew.^{[d][8][17][18]}