The story of the fate of a small Norfolk priory after its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1538 shows how both its medieval and modern history can be recovered by archival and physical research. Burnham Norton Friary, one of the first Carmelite houses founded in England (1242-47), was dissolved in 1538. Its remains comprise the restored gatehouse, west gable of the church rebuilt as a barn, Friary Cottage and an open space which was once the precinct...