Roughton, Norfolk

• 1. Introduction

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  Roughton, a Norfolk village pronounced "Rowton" by those who live there, carries a name that is itself a description. The word means "rough farm or settlement," a reference to the character of the ground on which the village stands.

  The village lies south of Cromer, north of Norwich, and northwest of North Walsham, on the A140 connecting those two larger towns. It has a windmill, a fishing lake, a primary school, and a village hall. A public house, a fish and chip shop, a play area, and a garage round out the facilities. The nearest railway station is at Roughton Road, on the Bittern Line.

  Twice in the twentieth century, the wider world came to Roughton. Albert Einstein was brought here for a brief period in the 1930s. A schoolgirl named April Fabb set out one spring morning toward the village, and the day ended without explanation.

  What brought Einstein to this part of Norfolk, who arranged it, and what the stay produced: those questions have answers. What happened to April Fabb on the road toward Roughton does not.

  St Mary's Church has stood at the center of the village long enough to predate both of those stories by centuries.

• 2. A Saxon Tower

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  St Mary's Church in Roughton is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk. Its tower is believed to be of Saxon origin, placing its earliest construction among the oldest built fabric in the village.

  Much of the main body of St Mary's is Victorian. The building was substantially rebuilt in the nineteenth century, while the ancient tower survived unchanged.

  The tower and the Victorian nave now stand together as the most visible record of the church's layered history. The village's other historical episodes left very different kinds of marks.

• 3. Refuge on the Heath

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  In September 1933, Albert Einstein was brought to live in a small hut on Roughton Heath. He had fled Nazi Germany, and needed somewhere in Europe to be before making his way to the United States.

  Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson, a Member of Parliament, was the person who arranged the stay. Locker-Lampson offered Einstein a refuge in Norfolk, and Roughton Heath provided the seclusion the arrangement required. Einstein was among the most recognizable figures in the world at the time. A hut on a Norfolk heath placed him well out of public sight.

  While Einstein was on the heath, Jacob Epstein came to work with him. Epstein made a sculpture of Einstein during those weeks.

  On the 7th of October 1933, Einstein sailed from Southampton for the United States. He never returned to Europe.

  Mark Burgess drew on the story of Einstein's time in Norfolk to write a radio play, "Einstein in Cromer." The book "Saving Einstein. When Norfolk Hid a Genius. The Double Life of Oliver Locker-Lampson" set out the full story of what Locker-Lampson had arranged. A Netflix docudrama, "Einstein and the Bomb," described Einstein's time in the area using his own words.

  A blue plaque commemorating Einstein's stay stands at the entrance of the New Inn public house in Roughton. Thirty-six years after Einstein left, the village would become connected to a story with no resolution of any kind.

• 4. April Fabb

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  On the 8th of April 1969, a schoolgirl named April Fabb left the village of Metton on her bicycle. Metton lies close to Roughton, and she was heading there to visit her sister.

  April Fabb disappeared without trace. The village she never reached has carried her name in its history ever since.