I recently had the opportunity to photograph in the army training area (STANTA: the STANford Training Area) near Thetford. Covering over 30,000 acres, the area was requisitioned for military training in 1942, and its six settlements depopulated. Many of the soldiers who landed on the Normandy beaches in 1944 underwent training here.

There are medieval churches in four of the deserted villages: Langford, Stanford, Tottington and West Tofts (the last remodelled in Gothic Revival style by Pugin in the 1850s).

These little-seen buildings will be the subject of an exhibition at Hungate Medieval Arts, Norwich, in March-May 2015.

I am immensely grateful to Lt Col Tony Powell at STANTA and Dr Helen Lunnon at UEA for enabling me to photograph in the Stanford Training Area. Until the exhibition, here’s a handful of preview images.

St Andrew, Tottington

A congregation of medieval bench ends, St Andrew, Tottington.

Wall stencil from the North aisle chapel at St Mary’s Church, West Tofts, created by the Gothic Revivalist Augustus Pugin. A pelican “vulns” itself, feeding its young with its blood - a symbol of piety and sacrifice.

The altar, reredos and painted ceiling at West Tofts, created by Pugin in the 1850s.

Removed roof cross, All Saints, Stanford

Chancel, All Saints, Stanford

Baroque memorial with moss, St Andrew, Langford.