Burgh St. Mary / Burc / Burgh / Fleggburgh

There are six entries for this Burgh [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG4414/burgh-st-margaret/] [accessed 23 May 2014], but not a single church or cleric is reported in them. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "In this town were two churches, St. Margaret's and St. Mary's", and notes that the presentation of "Stephen Alleyn" as first recorded rector of this church took place in 1317, even though the church itself is believed to have existed as early as the 12th century. The Church of St. Mary must have been on the decline in the 16th century, for, after 1554, "the rectors were the same as in St. Margaret. This church is now [i.e., at the time of Blomefield's writing, in mid-18th century] in ruins." Kelly's Directory for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk (1883: 263) [http://apling.freeservers.com/Villages/FleggBurgh.htm] [accessed 23 May 2014] notes: "The old church of St. Mary has gone to decay, with the exception of a small portion of the tower, which remains in the centre of a field." Knott (2006) writes: "In the middle of a wide, ploughed field just to the west of Caister, this magnificent ruin stands, like a castle adrift on a brown sea, a city of the plain. [...] Burgh St Mary is not to be confused with Burgh-next-Aylsham and Burgh Parva, both of which have churches dedicated to St Mary. The parish here is adjacent to Burgh St Margaret, and after the Reformation this was the church which fell into disuse. Ironically, St Margaret was almost completely rebuilt in the 1870s, and so more of the medieval St Mary survives than of St Margaret."