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 %* The Subscribers to the EXCURSIONS 
 
 THROUGH THE COUNTIES OF ESSEX, SUFFOLK, 
 
 AND NORFOLK, are requested not to bind up the 
 First Volumes until tlie completion of the Second; 
 as many of the Plates already given, properly 
 belong to the unpublished Letter-press , with which 
 Prefaces, Indexes, and Directions for placing tlie 
 Plates, will be given.
 
 EXCURSIONS THROUGH SUFFOLK, 
 
 ollFFOt/K is bounded on the north by Norfolk, on 
 the east by the German ocean, on the south by Essex, 
 and on the west by Cambridgeshire. It is, according 
 to Mr. Hodgkinson's map, an oblong of about 47 miles 
 in length, and 2/ in breadth, forming altogether a 
 surface of nearly 1269 square miles; according, to 
 Terapleman, only 1236 : but Mr. Arthur Young com- 
 putes the superficial contents at about 800,000 acres. 
 These are divided into 22 hundreds, containing 523 
 parishes. Suffolk has a population of 111,988 males, 
 and 122,223 females, making a total of 234,211 per- 
 sons. The climate of this county has long been no- 
 ticed as one of the driest in the kingdom j the frosts 
 are also severe, and the north-east winds which pre- 
 vail in spring are generally sharp. But, though, like 
 the western extremity of this island, Suffolk is not cal- 
 culated to favour the weak and consumptive stranger, 
 it is upon the whole extremely healthful, especially if 
 we calculate upon the average mortality of the county 
 for ten years, which, compared with the existing po- 
 pulation, has been found as one to 54 , while the number 
 of births was as one to 3O. 
 
 There is in this county a considerable variety or' 
 soil, nor is the diversity any where more distinctly
 
 2 SUFFOLK. 
 
 lharked. The whole, however, may be conveniently 
 divided into four sorts, clay, sand, loam, and fen. 
 
 The first sort of soil comprehends the whole mid- 
 land part of the county, through nearly its whole ex- 
 tent from east to west, and forms about two-thirds of 
 the land. It consists of a strong or clayey loam ; much 
 of it high land, and flat, but occasionally diversified by 
 small vales, the bottoms and sides of which are of a 
 superior quality, being in general composed of rich 
 friable loams. This district is called High Suffolk. 
 
 The next sort of soil consists chiefly of sand, .and 
 lies in opposite sides of the county. The maritime 
 part, from the Ipswich river to Yarmouth, is chiefly of 
 this description, towards the north inclining to loam. 
 Much of this district is highly cultivated, and one of 
 the most profitable. Mr. Young seems to think it one 
 of the best cultivated in England ; but most experienced 
 farmers will now be inclined to give that character to 
 the cultivation of the district called High Suffolk. The 
 rest of the sand district lies on the western side of the 
 county, and comprises nearly the whole north-western 
 angle. It contains few spots of such rich sand lands 
 as we find on the coast, but abounds with warrens 
 and poor sheep-walks. Towards the borders of Nor- 
 folk it is very light and blowing. 
 
 The third district is that of loam; this is but a small 
 portion of the county, and is chiefly confined to the 
 hundred of Samford, with a small part of Colnies, 
 near the coast. This is not so clearly discriminated as 
 the others ; it is composed of a vein of friable, putrid, 
 vegetable mould, of extraordinary fertility. 
 
 The remaining division is fen, and is merely the 
 north-west corner, to the left of a line drawn from
 
 SUFFOLK. 3 
 
 Brandon to the conflux of the rivers Ouse and Lark. 
 Its surface to some depth is common peat bog, and is 
 i.n places under water, though much expense has been 
 incurred for draining. 
 
 Suffolk is watered by the Stour, which rises on the 
 west side of the county, on the borders of Cambridge- 
 shire ; by the Gipping, which has its source near the 
 centre of the county, and falls into the Orwell ; by the 
 Deben, which rises near Debenham 5 by the Aid, the 
 Ore, the Blythe, and the Larke. The Blythe has its 
 source near Laxfield, and falls into the sea at South- 
 wold. The Aid is a trifling stream, which rises in 
 Knoddishall, and passing through Aldringham, falls 
 into the sea about a mile to the north of Aldeburgh. 
 The Ore rises about Dennington, and passing Fram- 
 lingham, Aldeburgh, and Orford, falls into Hollesley 
 Bay. The Waveney rises at Lopham Ford, and passing 
 Diss, Harleston, Bungay, and Beccles, falls into the 
 Yar, and forms, through its whole course, the bounda- 
 ries between the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The 
 Little Ouse rises within a very small distance from the 
 source of the Waveney, but takes a contrary direction, 
 and continues the boundary of the two counties till it 
 joins the Larke in the fens. 
 
 The roads in every part of Suffolk are excellent, the 
 late improvements in them being almost inconceiva- 
 ble. In most directions the cross roads are equal to 
 those that have turnpikes. 
 
 Many modern enclosures have been made by acts of 
 parliament, which examples, in favourable times, will 
 no doubt be followed, the success having already been 
 as to encourage the practice j and as to landed
 
 4 SUFFOLK. 
 
 property, there is no estate in Suffolk that can be con- 
 sidered as overgrown. 
 
 The cottages are in general warm and convenient, 
 and the comforts of the poor at home are greater than 
 in most counties in England. The amount of the 
 money raised for the poor here is not by any means 
 overwhelming, though the pressure of the late times is 
 still severely felt in some parts of the county ; and with 
 respect to the incorporated hundreds, the result of the 
 incorporations has been highly conducive, not only 
 to the diminution of the poor rates, but to the comfort 
 and happiness of the poor themselves. 
 
 In the time of the Romans the inhabitants of this 
 part of the country were called the Tceni, or Ccnomaimi, 
 and by them it was included in the province of Flavia 
 Cccsarensis. Under the Saxons it formed a part of the 
 kingdom of East Anglia, and was called Suffolk, from 
 Sudfolh, i. e. southern folk, or people. Though the 
 precise period of the establishment of the monarchy of 
 the East Angles, by Uffa, cannot be ascertained, as the 
 history of his successor Titil is involved in total dark- 
 ness, it is certain that Uffa died in the year 578. In 
 fact, the whole of this and some of the adjacent coun- 
 ties being compelled to yield to a succession of foreign 
 and domestic depredators, knew of little respite till 
 some time after the death of Edward the Confessor. 
 This county, in particular, suffered much from Sweyne, 
 King of Denmark, who spared neither towns nor 
 churches unle?s redeemed by the people with large 
 sums of money ; though to compensate in some mea- 
 sure for this cruelty, Canute, his son and successor, 
 vhcwcd it particular kindness.
 
 SUFFOLK. 5 
 
 But the celebrity of Suffolk, and particularly that of 
 St. Edmund's Bury, was reserved for the time of the 
 Saxons. The history of St. Edmund, which is involved 
 in considerable obscurity, seems to be that of a weak 
 but well-disposed prince, entirely under the influence 
 of an ambitious and designing priesthood. The death 
 of this meek monarch is veiled under equal uncer- 
 tainty with his life. Our ancient chronicles make him 
 the innocent cause of his own death, and of a more 
 dreadful visitation of the Danes than this country had 
 experienced before. Lodbrog, a king of Denmark, they 
 tell us, was very fond of hawking, and one day while 
 enjoying that sport, his favourite bird fell into the sea. 
 Anxious to save his hawk, Lodbrog leaped into the 
 first boat that presented itself, but this being carried 
 away by a sudden storm, after encountering many 
 dangers, was driven up the mouth of the river Yare, 
 as far as Reedham in Norfolk. Being conducted to 
 Edmund, who then kept his court at Caistor, near 
 Yarmouth, he was most courteously received, and 
 being fond of hawking, the king ordered Bern, his own 
 falconer, whenever Lodbrog went upon that sport to 
 accompany him. This Bern, being jealous of the 
 stranger's skill, one day took the opportunity of mur- 
 dering the Dane and burying his body, which was dis- 
 covered soon after by the running backward and for- 
 ward of his favourite greyhound. This, and other 
 circumstances, having fixed the guilt of Bern, he was 
 most unaccountably condemned by King Edmund to 
 be turned adrift alone in Lodbrog's boat, without oar 
 or sail. Being wafted in safety to Denmark, Bern was 
 seized, and carried to Inguar and Hubba, the sons of 
 Lodbrog, who questioning him concerning their father, 
 B 3
 
 O SUFFOLK. 
 
 the villain assured them that he had been put to deatli 
 by Edmund's command. Inflamed with rage, the sons 
 resolved oil revenge, and soon raise:) 20.000 men to 
 invade his dominions. This armament is said to have 
 sailed in the year 866, but landing in the north of 
 England, they do not seem to have reached Suffolk till 
 870, when Ingu.-ir gained possession of Thetford, then 
 King Edmund's capital ; and after a sanguinary battle 
 and much negotiation, Edmund resolved to surrender 
 to the superior force sent against him by Hubba and 
 Inguar ; but as he still refused, from religious motives, 
 $o accede to the terms of his enemies, they bound him 
 to a tree, at Hoxne, pierced his body with arrows, and 
 his head being cut off, it was thrown into a neighbour- 
 ing thicket, where, after a long search, ifwas found by 
 some of his faithful subjects, being in the possession of 
 a wolf, who, holding it up between his fore feet, very 
 civilly delivered up his charge, which being immedi- 
 ately joined to the body, the whole was interred at 
 Hoxne, but not without the attendance of the wolf, 
 who afterwards withdrew to his native woods. The 
 apology for reciting these legendary tales is their in- 
 timate connexion with a part of this County, but par- 
 ticularly Bury, where even the arms of the town have 
 been formed to commemorate the savage protector of 
 the royal monarch's head, and which has also furnished 
 n number of artists with a favourite subject for the 
 exercise of their various abilities. Two fine specimens 
 of painted glass were in the possession of Sir Thomas 
 Gery Cullum, hart, of Bury. One exhibits a bust of 
 St. Edmund, crowned, and inscribed in black letter 
 '6V/. /;</. The other represents the wolf holding his 
 between his paws. Underneath are also in
 
 SUFFOLK. 7 
 
 black letters the Words lieer, heer, liter i Said to have 
 been the exclamation of the head when his friends 
 were looking for it ! and above is this inscription, In 
 saLatetn Jidcitum. These ancient performances are in 
 fine preservation, the colours uncommonly brilliant, 
 and the designs remarkable for clearness and precision. 
 Other examples of this nature appear in the engravings 
 to Yate's Monastic History. After the course of some 
 years, the ecclesiastics having reported that miracles 
 were wrought at the grave of St. Edmund at Hoxne, 
 a large church was constructed for the reception of his 
 body, at Beodricsworth, or Bury, to which place it 
 was removed ; and as some ecclesiastics immediately 
 devoted them selves to a monastic life, under the pro- 
 tection of the rOyal saint and martyr, to these circum- 
 stances St. Edmund's Bury owed its first rise and its 
 growing consequence. Catiute, as before observed, 
 favoured Suffolk on account of the cruelties practised 
 by his Danish predecessors. He even heaped grants 
 and privileges upon the abbot and convent, and took it 
 Under his special protection. Many royal and noble 
 per'scfoag^s were afterwards drawn to 'Bury from 
 motives of piety and the fame of its abbey. Henry I. 
 came here in the year H32to pay his devotions at the 
 shrine of St. Edmund, out of gratitude for his deliver- 
 ance from a tempest on his return from France. Here 
 too a considerable army was formed during the contest 
 between Henry II. and his sons, to support the cause 
 of their rightful sovereign against Robert de Beaumont, 
 Earl of Leicester, who had landed at Walton, in this 
 county, and Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, at Fram- 
 lingham Castle, who had espoused the same cause : 
 these earls being met by the royal army, on their march
 
 8 SUFFOLK. 
 
 into Leicestershire, were defeated after a sanguinary 
 engagement, the Earl of Leicester and his countess 
 taken prisoners, and at least five thousand of their fol- 
 lowers slain. In this engagement the standard of St. 
 Edmund was borne before the royal army. Richard I. 
 before and after his departure for the Holy Land, paid a 
 visit to St. Edmund's shrine, and the honour of a visit 
 was conferred upon this celebrated town by several of 
 his successors, down to the time of Queen Elizabeth, 
 who arrived at Bury on the 7th of August, 15/8, in 
 her journey through Norfolk and Suffolk. 
 
 In the fourth year of the reign of James I. this mo- 
 narch granted the town of Bury a charter of incorpora- 
 tion. Ten years after he gave the reversion of the 
 houses, tythes, and glebes, called the almoner's barns, 
 and of the fairs and markets of the town in fee farm, 
 the reversion of the gaol, with the office of gaoler be- 
 longing to the liberty of Bury, and also the toll-house, 
 afterwards the market cross, in present possession. 
 Some years after he gave the churches, with the bells, 
 libraries, and other appurtenances ; also the rectories, 
 oblations, and profits of the same churches not for- 
 merly granted ; and much enlarged the liberties of the 
 corporation for the better government of the town. At 
 the same time he confirmed to the feoffees of Bury all 
 lands and possessions given by former benefactors.
 
 EXCURSION I. 
 
 From Bury St. Edmund's through Sudbury to 
 Neyland, Bury St. Edmund's, Whelnethauj 
 Bradjield, Alpheton, Long Melford, RodbridgCj 
 Tudbury, Newton, Marshals Green, Neyland. 
 
 -BuRY ST. EDMUND'S is pleasantly situated on 
 the west side of the river Larke, and having a charming 
 enclosed country on the south and south-west, with 
 champaign fields extending into Norfolk, is upon the 
 whole so salubrious as to be called the Montpellier of 
 England. The streets, which are always clean, are 
 wide, well paved, and lighted, and have been very 
 much improved by the erection of modern buildings. 
 Bury, including the suburbs, is about a mile and a 
 quarter broad from east to west, and about one and a 
 half in length from south to north. It is divided into 
 two parishes, and according to the returns made in 
 ISi 1, the population of this town was 738. 
 
 Bury is certainly very ancient, as about the year 638, 
 Sigbert, fifth monarch of the East Angles, founded a 
 Christian church and monastery here, which Dugdale 
 says was denominated the monastery of St. Mary at 
 Beodericworth ; but after Canute founded his monas- 
 tery here, the name of Beoderic fell into disrepute, and 
 tke place began to be called Burgh, or Bury. Edmund
 
 10 SUFFOLK. 
 
 succeeded his uncle Offa, king of the East Angles, in 
 855, but his life, as indicated before, is disguised under 
 a veil of impenetrable fiction. Edward the Confessor 
 considerably increased the fame, wealth, and import- 
 ance of the abbey of Bury ; he granted to the abbot 
 and convent the town of Mildenhall, with its produce 
 and inhabitants, the royalties of eight hundreds, with 
 the half hundred of Thingoe and several other villages. 
 He also granted them the privileges of coining at a 
 mint within the precincts of the monastery, and when 
 he paid his devotions in person to the shrine of the 
 royal martyr, his veneration was such, that he used to 
 perform the last mile of the journey on foot. 
 
 The first church, built by Ailwin in 1032, being de- 
 molished, the monks, in the time of William the Con- 
 queror, were induced to erect another of hewn stone, 
 under the direction of Abbot Baldwin, with a view of 
 giving the body of their saint a more magnificent re- 
 ceptacle than before. In 10Q5, this building was in a 
 state to receive the body. The church then built con- 
 tinued till the period of the dissolution. Of this faded 
 magnificence, old Leland has drawn a lively sketch : 
 he had seen it in all its glory, and speaking of this and 
 the town he uses these terms " A city more neatly 
 seated the sun never saw, so curiously doth it hang 
 upon a gentle descent, with a little river on the east 
 side ; nor a monastery more noble, whether one con- 
 siders its endowments, largeness, or unparalleled mag- 
 nificence. One might even think this monastery alone 
 n, city : so many gates it has, some whereof are brass : 
 so many towers, and a church, than which nothing 
 can be more magnificent j as appendages to which 
 there arc three more of admirable beauty and work-
 
 SUFFOLK. 1 1 
 
 manship in the same churchyard." The abbey church, 
 or that of St. Edmund, was 505 feet in length, the 
 transept 212, and the west front 24O. The latter had 
 two large side chapels, St. Faith's, and St. Catherine's, 
 one on the north-west, and the others on the south- 
 west, and at each end an octagon tower, thirty feet 
 each way. One of these, and part of this front, still 
 remain. The shrine of St. Edmund was preserved in 
 a semicircular chapel at the east end ; and on the north 
 side of the choir was the chapel of St. Mary, 8O feet 
 long, and 42 broad. St. Mary in the crypt here was 
 100 feet long, 80 in breadth, and supported by 24 pil- 
 lars. Besides the dome there was a high west tower 
 over the middle aisle, but as to the height of the build- 
 ing there are no certain documents left to ascertain it 
 with any degree of certainty. 
 
 The abbot of Bury had several great officers under 
 him, as a prior, sub-prior, sacrist, and others, and in 
 its most prosperous state it had 8O monks, 15 chap- 
 lains, and 111 servants attending within its walls. It 
 had three grand entrance gates ; and chapels, cloisters, 
 and offices of every kind. The abbot was also ex- 
 empted from any ecclesiastical authority, excepting 
 that of the Roman pontiff, which often involved him 
 in violent disputes. The abbot of Bury was a spiritual 
 parliamentary baron ; he held synods in his own chap- 
 ter-house, and appointed the parochial clergy of the 
 town ; and by his high steward he possessed the right 
 of trying and determining all causes within his fran- 
 chise or liberty, and could inflict capital punishment. 
 No officer of the king could, without his permission, 
 hold a court, or execute any office in Bury. As lord 
 of the town, he claimed the right of appointing the
 
 12 SUFFOLK. 
 
 alderman, though it was afterwards agreed that the 
 corporation should enjoy the privilege of electing him : 
 yet before the alderman entered upon his functions, he 
 was obliged to obtain the abbot's confirmation, and to 
 take an oath of allegiance, &c. It is presumed that 
 the arrogance of these ecclesiastical rulers was the 
 cause of many violent disputes between them and the 
 towns people. One of these altercations had arisen to 
 such a height in 1327, that the people, headed by their 
 alderman and chief burgesses, after assembling near 
 20,0(JO persons from the neighbouring villages, attacked 
 the abbey ; and having demolished the gates, doors, and 
 windows, and beaten the servants and adherents of the 
 monks, they broke open the chests and coffers, plunder- 
 ing them of rich plate, books, vestments, and other va- 
 luables, besides 50O pounds in English money, and 3000 
 florins. They also carried away three charters of 
 Canute, four of Hardicanute, one of Edward the Con- 
 fessor, two of Henry I. three of Henry III. 12 papal 
 bulls, with several deeds, written obligations and 
 acknowledgments for money due to the convent. 
 Great part of the monastery was reduced to ashes, and 
 many of the manors and granges belonging to it in 
 the town and its vicinity shared the same fate. The 
 abbot being then in London, the insurgents seized and 
 confined Peter Clopton, the prior, and about 20 of the 
 monks, whom they compelled, in the name of the 
 whole chapter, to execute under their seal a deed con- 
 stituting the burgesses a town or corporation. They 
 also obliged them to sign an agreement for the payment 
 of 10,000/. to certain of the townsmen, to discharge 
 them from all debts due to the monastery, and to 
 engage not to proceed against them by law for any
 
 SUFFOLK. 13 
 
 damage they had committed. The king interfering in 
 this business, 3O carts full of the rioters were soon 
 after taken to Norwich ; IQ of the most notorious 
 were executed, one pressed to death for refusing' to 
 plead, and 32 parochial clergymen convicted as abet- 
 tors. The investigations that folloAved this affair 
 lasted nearly five years, as the final decision was not 
 given in council by Edward III. till 1332. The 
 amount of the damages done had been estimated at 
 the enormous sum of ]4O,COO/. ; but at the king's re- 
 quest theabbot remitted to the offenders 122,333/.6s.8flf. 
 and at length forgave them the residue upon the con- 
 dition of their better behaviour in future. Berton, 
 the alderman, Herling, 32 priests, 13 women, and 138 
 other inhabitants of the town, were outlawed ; but 
 some of these, it is said, to revenge the abbot's breach 
 of promise, surprised him at the manor of Chevington, 
 where having bound and shaved him, they conveyed 
 him to London, thence over sea into Flanders, where 
 they detained him as a prisoner till he was discovered 
 and rescued by some of his friends. 
 
 Five hundred and nineteen years did the monastery 
 of St. Edmund's Bury remain in the possession of the 
 Benedictine monks. Its regular revenues consisted 
 of fifty-two knights' fees and three-quarters, together 
 with the royalties of eight hundreds and a half, besides 
 others, which in the 18th century it is thought would 
 have equalized 200, OCO/. per annum. The report 
 made by the commissioners, at the time of the disso- 
 lution, respecting this abbey, was as follows : " We 
 have found a rich shrine, which was very cuinberous 
 to deface. We have taken in gold and silver 50O 
 marks and above, besides a rich cross with emeralds, 
 c
 
 14 SUFFOLK. 
 
 and divers stones of great value ; and yet we have left 
 the church, abbot, and convent, very well furnished 
 with plate of silver necessary for the same." Among 
 the relics found here, were the coals upon which St. 
 Laurence was broiled, the parings of St. Edmund's 
 nails, the penknife of St. Thomas of Canterbury, with 
 his boots, skulls for curing the head-ache, pieces of the 
 cross, &c. &c. 
 
 Among other superstitious practices suggested by 
 the prurient imaginations of these monks, the sacrist 
 of this monastery, as often as he let the manor of 
 Haberdon, annexed this condition, that the tenant 
 should provide a white bull whenever a matron of rank, 
 or any other, should come out of devotion, or in con- 
 sequence of a vow, to make the oblation of the white 
 bull at the shrine of St. Edmund. The animal, then 
 adorned with ribbons and garlands, was brought to 
 the south gate of the monastery, and led along Church- 
 gate, Guildhall, and the Abbey-gate streets, to the 
 great west gate, the lady all the while keeping close to 
 him, and the monks and people forming a numerous 
 cavalcade. The procession ended, the animal was 
 conducted back to his pasture, while the lady repaired 
 to St. Edmund's shrine, when the certain consequence 
 of her oblations was her soon becoming a mother. 
 Foreign ladies were allowed to do this by proxy. 
 
 During the prosj>crity of the abbey church, it had 
 within its precinct three others, St. Margaret, St. 
 Mary, and St. James. The former is now used as the 
 town-hall ; the others are the two churches for the 
 two parishes into which Bury is divided. St. Mary's 
 was finished in the year 1433. It is 139 f et l n g> 
 exclusive of the chancel. It is divided into three aisles
 
 SUFFOLK. 15 
 
 by two rows of slender and elegant columns : the 
 chancel is 74 feet by 68. The roof of the nave, con- 
 structed in France, and put together after it was 
 brought to England, is much admired for its lightness 
 and elegance. The finely carved figures of angels, 
 supporting the principals of the roof, fortunately 
 escaped the puritanical reformers of the 1 7th century. 
 The north porch of this church is of curious workman- 
 ship. In 1644, as appears by the town books, nu- 
 merous inscriptions and effigies in brass were torn off 
 by the churchwardens of St. Mary's and St. James's, 
 and sold for their own emolument. John Reeve, the 
 last abbot of Bury, is interred in this church, as is also 
 Sir Thomas Drury, privy councellor to Henry VII. and 
 his successor, with Mary Tudor, the third daughter of 
 Henry VII. queen of France, and afterwards wife to 
 the Duke of Suffolk. Her tomb was extremely simple 
 till the year 1 758, when being ascertained, Dr. Symonds 
 of Bury had it repaired at his own expense, and a 
 marble tablet inserted. Opposite to the remains of a 
 monument to Sir Robert Drury is that of Sir William 
 Carew, who died in ]501, and his wife. The stone 
 over John Finers, archdeacon of Sudbury in 14Q7, 
 has a brass plate with his effigy, and an inscription 
 in monkish Latin. In the vestry are the figures of 
 John, commonly called Jankyn Smith, and his wife : 
 he was a great benefactor to Bury. 
 
 St. James's church was originally built about the 
 year 1200, by Abbot Sampson ; but the present structure, 
 though far advanced in 1500, was not finished till the 
 reformation, when Edward VI. contributed to its com- 
 pletion. This church is built in the pointed style, and 
 the west end is particularly beautiful; the windows 
 are numerous, large, and handsome, and were originally
 
 Hi) SUFFOLK. 
 
 adorned wath painted glass, execra-ted in a masterly 
 manner. The church gate is 30 feet distant from the 
 body of the building, and serves as a steeple to it : 
 this has been deemed one of the noblest specimens of 
 Saxon architecture in the kingdom, and some are of 
 opinion that it was built in the time of William the 
 Conqueror. It is 80 feet in height, of a quadrangular 
 figure, and remarkable for its simplicity and solidity. 
 The stone of which it is constructed abounds with 
 small shells, that have acquired such hardness as to 
 resist the attack of seven centuries. Westward of this 
 church gate, near the foundation, are two curious 
 basso relievos in stone, in good preservation, expres- 
 sive of the fall of man, and his deliverance from 
 bondage. One of these exhibits God the Father, 
 with flowing hair and a long parted beard,' sitting 
 triumphantly within a circle. 
 
 The two churchyards of St. James and St. Mary, 
 which are nearly one, are kept in excellent order : an 
 alley of lofty poplars runs diagonally across them, and 
 forms a very pleasant promenade. Nearly in the centre, 
 a small plot of ground, enclosed with iron railing, 
 /contains the receptjicle provided by the late John 
 Spink, esq. banker, of Ikiry, for him and his fumily, 
 iiaving over it a plain marble tablet. The remains of 
 the west end of St. Edmund's church, which ter- 
 minated the churchyard on one side, have lately 
 exhibited a singular and motley spectacle. One of 
 the octagon towers had been converted into a stable ; 
 three arches, once the entrance to the three aisles, have 
 been tilled up with three modern buildings ; still the 
 intermediate rugged portions of the original wall are 
 visibly distinguished. 
 
 Clapton's Hospital, a handsome neat brick building,
 
 SUFFOLK. 1JT 
 
 stands in this churchyard. It was erected by the late 
 Poley Clopton, M. D. for six poor men, and as many 
 women. The arms of the founder appear on the 
 front, and there is a Latin inscription below them ; 
 and underneath these, in very large letters, Dorenavant 
 Oubliez ne Doy. 
 
 On the same side of the churchyard with this hos- 
 pital is the residence of John Benjafield, esq. the 
 building of which was supposed to have been a viola- 
 tion of public property, though not attempted without 
 the assent of the corporation. 
 
 The Shire Hall, or Sessions-house, is on the opposite 
 side of this churchyard : it is a building of modern 
 erection, on the site of the ancient church of St. Mar- 
 garet, and contains two convenient courts, in which 
 civil and criminal causes are tried at the same time. 
 
 One of the principal ornaments of Bury is the Abbey 
 Gate. This was the grand entrance to the monastery, 
 and opened into the great courtyard in front of the 
 abbot's palace. After the violent assault made by the 
 townsmen on the former gate, in the year 1327, this 
 was erected in its room. Its form is nearly a square, 
 being 41 feet by 50, and 62 in height. The archi- 
 tecture is of the best period of the modern gothic. 
 The numerous embellishments are tastefully arranged, 
 and executed with considerable accuracy, though they 
 are not so numerous as in the later and more florid 
 style. Such, too, is the durability of the material, 
 that though it has stood exposed to the elements for a 
 number of years without roof, and without repairs, it 
 is still in a state of uncommon preservation. 
 
 The west front, next the town, is divided into two 
 horizontal compartments, by an ornamented band, and 
 c3
 
 18 SVFFOLK. 
 
 perpendicularly into three, consisting of a centre, and 
 two projecting wings of the turret kind. The whole 
 is ornamented with devices and niches for statues : the 
 canopies to these statues are formed of elegant groin 
 work, and the pilasters of those in the centre, and in 
 both wings, terminate in Avell wrought pinnacles. 
 The spandrils of the arch above the gateway are 
 adorned with two quatrefoil bosses or medallions, and 
 over them, near the top of the building, are two 
 others, each representing two interlaced triangles. 
 The pillars of this gateway are composed of clustered 
 cylinders, the capitals are simple, and are chiefly the 
 gothic wreath. The counter arch of the entrance is 
 surmounted by an undulated arch or pediment, spring- 
 ing from the external capitals. Below the embattled 
 band which divides the building horizontally, is a 
 cavetto moulding, ornamented with several figures, of 
 which a lion, a dragon, and a bull worried by dogs, 
 are still visible. The figure of the bull is 1 1 inches in 
 length. 
 
 As a means of defence against any more violent 
 entries, this gate was provided with a portcullis, which 
 is apparent from a groove made for its reception in the 
 wall and in the arch. The south-west and north-west 
 angles contained winding staircases, by one of which 
 toie years since it was easy with care to ascend to the 
 platform on the top, which has five embrasures at each 
 end, and seven on each side. These staircases were 
 originally surmounted by octagon towers ; but one of 
 them having been blown down at the beginning of 
 last century, the other was demolished soon afterwards 
 by way of precaution. The area is unequally divided 
 by a ftonc partition. Its arch was furnished with
 
 SUFFOLK. 19 
 
 brass gates, of which the hinges alone remain. The 
 entrance to the staircases are in the interior division of 
 the area, so that if a rabble or an enemy had forced 
 the portcullis, and obtained possession of the anti- 
 gateway, the defendants would still have commanded 
 the access to the upper part of their fortress, from 
 whence they might have greatly annoyed the assailants. 
 All these precautions, as well as the omission of win- 
 dows next the town, strongly indicate the disposition 
 of the monks to prevent any repetition of those out- 
 rages which occasioned the necessity of re-erecting 
 this gate. The eastern, or interior division, forms a 
 cube of about 28 feet ; its walls are decorated with 
 light and elegant tracery, and with the arms of Edward 
 the Confessor, Thomas de Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, 
 and the Duke of Exeter. A room seems to have been 
 formed over this division, as vestiges of the roof, the 
 floor, fire-place, &c. are still evident. There is a small 
 window on each of the north and south sides, and in 
 the east end a grand one overlooking the abbey 
 grounds ; this is adorned with tracery of peculiar rich- 
 ness and elegance. This side of the abbey-gate is very 
 plain, having no other embellishments than three niches 
 on each side, answering to those in the projecting 
 wings of the west front ; however, the symmetry and 
 proportions of this beautiful arch are such as cannot 
 fail striking the eye of taste with a high degree of ad- 
 miration. This gate opens into the abbey grounds, 
 still surrounded with the ancient lofty wall, and con- 
 taining some masses of detached fragments of the 
 various parts of the original structure. Several re- 
 mains of antiquity have been at different times dis- 
 covered in the garden.
 
 2O SUFFOLK. 
 
 Among the highly distinguished characters that 
 were interred in the church belonging to this convent 
 were Alan Fergaunt, Earl of Richmond, Thomas de 
 Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, half brother to Edward 
 1 I., Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, uncle to Henry 
 V., Mary, widow of Lewis XII. of France, and sister 
 to Henry VIII., whose remains were afterwards re- 
 moved to St. Mary's church. Here also was interred 
 John Lydgate, the monk, whose poetical talents con- 
 ferred upon him no small distinction, considering the 
 age in which he lived. 
 
 Part of the ruins of this church being removed by 
 some labourers in 1/72, a leaden coffin was discovered 
 that had been enclosed in an oaken case, which was 
 however quite decayed. The leaden coffin contained 
 an embalmed body as fresh and entire as at the time of 
 interment. It was immersed in a sort of pickle, and 
 the face covered with a cerecloth. The nails of the 
 toes and fingers, the hair, which was brown mixed 
 with grey, and even the features of the face, appeared 
 as perfect as ever. A surgeon, hearing of the circum- 
 stance, examined the body, and opening the head and 
 breast, found the internal parts in a state of the highest 
 preservation, retaining their natural appearance ; and 
 it is said that even some traces of blood were visible. 
 When subjected to this inspection the body was not 
 in the least putrid, but on being exposed to the air 
 soon became offensive. 
 
 The labourers, for the sake of the lead, but by what 
 authority we are not told, removed the body from the 
 iflin, and threw it among the rubbish ! It was soon 
 discovered that this corpse, thus indignantly used, was 
 the remains of Thomas Beaufort, son of John of
 
 SUFFOLK. 21 
 
 Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by his third duchess, Lady 
 Catharine Swinford, grandson of Edward III., and 
 half brother to Henry IV. On this information the 
 mangled remains were carefully enclosed in a strong 
 oak coffin, and after their unjustifiable exposure again 
 buried at the foot of the large north-east pillar which 
 formerly contributed to support the belfry. 
 
 Some foundations of the north wall of St. Edmund's 
 church, near the chapter-house, being broken up in the 
 spring of 1783, four antique heads were discovered ; 
 they were somewhat larger than the natural proportion, 
 and were cut out of single blocks of freestone, and 
 though they have been conjectured to be Roman di- 
 vinities, or designed for the decoration of some temple, 
 the ruins of which might have been employed in con- 
 structing the church, it is obvious even from the in- 
 spection of the representations given in the History of 
 Bury by Mr. Yates, that two of them were designed 
 for the head of St. Edmund, accompanied by the leg 
 of the wolf, his brute protector ; and it is highly pro- 
 bable that the other two were rude designs on the 
 same subject, though the latter had not any part of the 
 quadruped remaining. 
 
 The Guildhall stands in the street of this name. 
 The body of the building has been modernized j but 
 for the gratification of the admirers of antiques the 
 ancient porch, constructed of flint, brick, and stone, 
 has been suffered to remain. The archives of the town 
 are kept in a chamber over the entrance, under three 
 keys, in the custody of the recorder, townclerk, and 
 the alderman for the time being. The town sessions 
 are held here, and the members of the corporation 
 chpsen at .this place.
 
 22 SUFFOLK. 
 
 The Free Grammar School stands in Northgate- 
 street, and has the bust of Edward the Sixth, who was 
 the original founder, over the front door. The founda- 
 tion supports forty scholars, and the school is free for 
 the sons of the towns people or inhabitants, who ge- 
 nerally amount to about 80. Adjoining the school is 
 a handsome house for the upper master. This town 
 also contains three charity schools, and others on the 
 plan of Mr. Lancaster, &c. 
 
 Upon what is called Hog Hill, or the beast market, 
 is the common Bridewell, formerly a Jewish syna- 
 gogue, called Moysc, or Moses Hall. The circular 
 windows are an evidence of its high antiquity, sup- 
 posed to be not much later than the Norman con- 
 quest, before which period the Jews were not allowed 
 to settle here. The dimensions of the building are 
 thirty- six feet by twenty-seven. This toleration of the 
 Jews was but of short continuance, for all their syna- 
 gogues were closed or destroyed under the reign of 
 Edward III. 
 
 The Wool Halls are at the upper side of the market : 
 here great quantities of wool used to be deposited an- 
 nually when that article formed the principal employ- 
 ment of the poorer inhabitants of Bury and its vicinity. 
 
 The Angel Inn, remarked as one of the most con- 
 spicuous buildings in the town, is upon the west side 
 of Angel Hill. The vaults underneath this are said to 
 have a subterraneous communication with those of the 
 abbey, and to have belonged to it formerly. 
 
 The New Gaol, the late Mr. Neild observed, did 
 honour to the county, and is superior to most in the 
 kingdom ; whether its construction to answer the 
 three great purposes of security, health, and morals,
 
 SUFFOLK. 23 
 
 are considered, or the liberality of the magistrates in 
 providing every comfort which can attend imprison- 
 ment. The neat rustic stone front of this building was 
 completed in 1805, and the whole is enclosed by a 
 boundary wall twenty feet high, forming an irregular 
 octagon, having a diameter of 290 feet. Four of the 
 sides measure 192 feet each, and the other four /O feet 
 and a half. The turnkey's lodge forms the entrance, 
 and the flat leaded roof is the place of execution for cri- 
 minals. The keeper's house, also an octagon building, 
 is in the centre of the prison, and so situated that all 
 the court yards, as well as the entrance to the gaol, are 
 open to his inspection. The chapel is in the centre of 
 the keeper's house, up one pair of stairs j and as stone 
 galleries lead to it from the several wings, and as the 
 chapel is partitioned off, each class of prisoners is 
 separated there the same as when in the prison. 
 
 The House of Correction stands near this prison, in 
 the centre of a piece of ground enclosed by a separate 
 wall. This is a square building, and the classification 
 of the different descriptions of prisoners, with the rules 
 and regulations for their management, are truly excel- 
 lent. 
 
 Bury, thus well provided with places of safety, and 
 rich in the remains of antiquity, is not deficient in ac- 
 commodations for the enjoyment of elegant and re- 
 fined society. The Theatre, built in 1780, on the site 
 of the old market cross, by Mr. Robert Adam, is no 
 mean specimen of his taste and architectural skill. 
 The body is of white brick, but the ornaments are of 
 freestone. It has the advantage of standing uncon- 
 nected with any other building. George, the second 
 Earl of Bristol, gave 500l. towards the erection of this
 
 24 SUFFOLK. 
 
 theatre, and 400L towards completing the shambles in 
 the same square opposite the theatre, and which are 
 also built of freestone. 
 
 The Assembly Rooms are on the south of the opening, 
 known by the name of the Angel Hill. It is a recent 
 erection, of a simple exterior. The ball-room is well 
 proportioned, /6 feet in length, 45 in breadth, and 2Q 
 feet high. An adjoining apartment is used as a card 
 and supper room, 37 feet by 24. The three balls held 
 annually during the great fair are in general attended 
 by numbers of the first rank and fashion, as are also 
 the four or five winter balls; but trades people, how- 
 ever respectable, are always rigorously excluded. 
 
 The Suffolk Library is in the Abbeygate-street, and 
 was formed by the union of two, one of them insti- 
 tuted in 1/90, the other in IJQ5. The books are 
 selected from those of the first respectability, and the 
 sum expended for them annually has been estimated at 
 1201. 
 
 Bur) 7 used to be considerably enlivened by its fairs. 
 It has three: the first on the Tuesday and two fol- 
 lowing days in Easter week ; the second for three 
 days before and three days after the feast of St. Mat- 
 thew, Sept. 21; and the third on the second of De- 
 cember for two or three days. The alderman, as lord 
 of the fairs for the time being, has a riyht to prolong 
 them at pleasure. The second, which is the principal, 
 generally continues three weeks. The charter for thys 
 was granted to the abbot in 1272 by King Henry III., 
 and it was formerly one of the most celebrated marts 
 in the kingdom. Being held on the Angel Hill, dif- 
 ferent rows of booths were appropriated to the manu- 
 facturers of Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, London,
 
 SUFFOLK. 25 
 
 and other towns, and even to some foreigners, espe- 
 cially the Dutch. Bury, on this account, was the 
 resort of persons of the highest distinction, for whom 
 the abbot kept an open table, while those of inferior 
 rank were entertained by the monks in the refectory. 
 The widowed Queen of France, sister to Henry VIII., 
 came here every year from her residence at Westhorp, 
 with her noble consort, the Duke of Suffolk, and they 
 had a magnificent tent for the reception of the nu- 
 merous people of rank who came hither to pay their 
 "respects to them, and a band of music for their diver- 
 sion. This fair, with respect to business, has been de- 
 clining for more than a century past, and become rather 
 a place of fashionable resort than a temporary mart, 
 as most of the merchandize and goods now brought 
 are articles of luxury and fancy. 
 
 Not far from the east gate stood St. Nicholas Hos- 
 pital, the only vestiges of which at present are the 
 "original entrance, and one window on the north side, 
 which is filled up. The building is now a farm house, 
 and the chapel belonging to the hospital stands at a 
 small distance to the west. It is an extensive building, 
 and has seven buttresses on each side, but is much 
 disfigured, as it now serves as a barn and a stable. 
 On the north side of the road, between East Bridge 
 and this hospital, the site of St. Stephen s Hospital is 
 now recognized by a few fragments of the old wall. 
 
 The Hospital of St. Petronilla stood just beyond the 
 south gate, and when this was not long since demo- 
 lished, its chapel was left nearly entire. Its east win- 
 dow, of beautiful tracery, which was to be seen in 
 1810, is now walled up, and the edifice has been since 
 used as a malt-house ; a modern house is now erected 
 D
 
 26 SUFFOLK. 
 
 on the site. From a part of the hospital walls, lately 
 used as fences, the building itself seemed to have been 
 large ; and as several human bones have been found in 
 a small piece of ground between this and the chapel, 
 this was probably the burial-place belonging to the 
 foundation. 
 
 Our Lady's Chapel formerly stood near the west 
 gate, and had a hermitage contiguous to it, which has 
 since been used as a cowhouse. 
 
 Close to Risby Gate was a chantry called Stone 
 Chapel, since the Cock public house. The neatly ce- 
 mented flint stones of this edifice justly excite ad- 
 miration. Not far from this spot is an octangular 
 stone, which once served as a pedestal to a cross. 
 
 College Street, in Bury, is supposed to have derived 
 its name from a religious house called Jesus College, 
 founded by King Edward IV. in the 2 1st year of his 
 reign ; it consisted of a warden and six associates or 
 priests. This building has been occupied as a work- 
 house. 
 
 With respect to scenery about Bury, the Vine fields 
 eastward of this town command a charming view of the 
 place, and particularly of the Church-gate, the Abbey- 
 gate and grounds. This spot, which derives its name 
 from the vineyard belonging to the monks, it is said 
 still exhibits vestiges of the parterres. About the end 
 of the twelfth century it is recorded that Robert de 
 Gravele, sacrist of the convent, purchased this ground, 
 and enclosed it with a stone wall for the solace of in- 
 valids, and of his friends. 
 
 The circumstance of u vineyard having existed in 
 this, and in the vicinity of other religious houses, has 
 given rise to some curious observations : a late writer,
 
 SUFFOLK. 27 
 
 Williams, on the climate of Great Britain, contends 
 with much probability on his side, " that it has been 
 gradually growing colder and less favourable for the 
 production of those fruits which require a genial sun." 
 This hypothesis he supports by the fact, that some 
 centuries ago the vineyards, chiefly belonging to ab- 
 beys and religious houses, were highly flourishing, and 
 yielded abundance of wine, with which the pious 
 fathers of those times felt no repugnance to solace 
 themselves. It might perhaps be imagined that our 
 ancestors possessed some method of training and ma- 
 naging the vine, which has been lost in the lapse of 
 ages j but this militates too strongly against the proud 
 progress since made in every branch of science. The 
 more probable conjecture is, that people of former 
 times were contented with a beverage which modern 
 refinement in luxuries would reject with disdain. 
 
 St. Edmund's Hill. This is a very elegant seat, 
 erected in the vicinity of this town in J773> from a 
 plan by Mr. Adam, by John Symonds, LL.D. professor 
 of modern history and languages in the university of 
 Cambridge. From the beautiful eminence on which 
 it stands, few spots in Suffolk are supposed to afford a 
 prospect so pleasing and extensive. This is now the 
 residence of Martin Thomas Cocksedge, esq. 
 
 During the late war, a little to the southward of the 
 town, a brick edifice, with two small detached wings, 
 was erected as a magazine for arms and ammunition. 
 The necessity for this at present is completely done 
 away by a happier change of circumstances. 
 
 The gates of this town, five in number, have been 
 taken down about half a century ago, to afford a more 
 convenient passage for carriages. At each of these
 
 28 SUFFOLK. 
 
 gates there was formerly either an hospital or some 
 religious foundation, or both. Beyond the north 
 gate on the east skle, and close to the Thetford road, 
 are the ruins of Si. Saviour's Hospital, once a most 
 extensive building, as in the year 1440 the parlia- 
 ment assembled here. A stately portal seems to have 
 distinguished the entrance : the ground which this oc- 
 cupied, and the fragments of a large window above it, 
 still remain, as does also a part of the wall which 
 surrounded the hospital and its offices. 
 
 Bury St. Edmund's, it has been observed, though 
 seated on two rivers, cannot boast of its communica- 
 tions by water. The river Larke has been rendered 
 navigable to within a mile of the town ; but it should 
 have been brought into the place, which the corporation 
 did not seem to approve of. Another project was for 
 forming a second navigable canal from Bury to Man- 
 ningtree, in Essex ; a tunnel of two miles would have 
 been wanting, and not more than /OjOOOA to defray 
 the whole expense. This undertaking was frustrated 
 by the proprietors of the Larke navigation, whose in- 
 terest it is acknowledged would have been materially 
 affected. 
 
 Bury, it has been said, claims with an equal, if not 
 in a superior degree, the honour of that celebrated 
 charter by which the rights and liberties of English- 
 men arc secured, namely, Afagna C/iarla. The real 
 foundation of this charter is said to have been a prior 
 one of 'Henry 1. A copy of it having fallen into the 
 hands of Stephen Langtun, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 was by him communicated to the principal nobles of 
 the kingdom, and a meeting of them convened at Bury 
 to deliberate on the subject. Upon tliis occasion each
 
 SUFFOLK. 20 
 
 person went to the high altar of St. Edmund, and there 
 swore that if the king should refuse to abolish the 
 arbitrary Norman laws, and to restore those of Edward 
 the Confessor, they would make war upon him till he 
 complied. The king, on his return from Poitou, in 
 the year 1214, met his barons at Bury, and with the 
 utmost solemnity confirmed this celebrated deed j 
 binding himself by a public oath to regulate his con- 
 duct in strict conformity with the grand principles 
 which it established. 
 
 Henry III. visited Bury several times, and in the 
 year 1272 held a parliament here ; after which he pro- 
 ceeded to Norwich, to punish the authors of a violent 
 insurrection against the prior and monks of that city. 
 Having accomplished the object of his journey, he re- 
 turned to Bury, where he was seized with the disorder 
 which soon after terminated his earthly reign. 
 
 In the year 1296 Edward I. held a parliament in 
 this town for the purpose of demanding an aid of his 
 clergy and people. The former, encouraged by a 
 papal bull in their favour, refused to contribute any 
 thing ; and continuing to adhere pertinaciously to this 
 determination, the king seized all the revenues of the 
 abbey church, and confiscated the goods of the abbot 
 and convent, together with all their manors, and the 
 borough of Bury. After his retaining these possessions 
 nearly two years, the clergy found no relief but in 
 complete submission, and were obliged to grant the 
 king a subsidy of one-fifteenth, or, according to some 
 accounts, one-tenth of their goods and rents. 
 
 In the reign of Edward II. his queen being dis- 
 satisfied with the conduct of the two Spencers, the 
 favourites of that weak monarch, she obtained the as- 
 D 3
 
 SO SUFFOLK. 
 
 sistance of the Prince of Hainault, and landed with a 
 force of 2700 men, provided by him, at Orwell haven. 
 She afterwards marched to Bury, and continued there 
 some time to refresh her troops, and collect her adhe- 
 rents. The deposition of her misguided husband, and 
 its unhappy results to him in particular, are well 
 known. 
 
 During the reign of Richard II. Bury experienced 
 the mischievous effects of the spirit of rebellion in an 
 infuriated mob, which then pervaded many parts of 
 the kingdom. In 1381, soon after the insurrection of 
 the Kentish men under Wat Tyler, the people of Nor- 
 folk and Suffolk rose in great mimbers under the con- 
 duct of Jack Straw, and committed numerous acts of 
 outrage and wanton depredation. Proceeding in a 
 body of not less than 50,OOO to Cavendish, they there 
 plundered and burned the house of Sir John de Caven- 
 dish, the lord chief justice, whom they seized and 
 carried to Bury ; here they struck off his head, and 
 placed it on the pillory. They then attacked the mo- 
 nastery, when Sir John Cambridge, the prior, 'attempt- 
 ing to escape by flight, was taken and executed near 
 Mildenhall, and his head was set up near that of the 
 lord chief justice. Sir John Lakenhythe, the keeper 
 of the barony, shared the same fate. The insurgents 
 then plundered the abbey of Bury, carrying off jewels 
 to a considerable amount, and doing much mischief to 
 the structure. Their career was, however, soon stopped 
 by Henry Spencer, called the martial Bishop of Nor- 
 wich, who meeting them at Barton Mills with a very 
 inferior force, compelled them to return to their homes. 
 This prelate was bred to the profession of arms, and 
 highly distinguished himself in Italy, in the wars of
 
 SX3FPOLX. 31 
 
 Pope Adrian against the Duke of Milan. This pope, 
 who was a native of England, to reward his services, 
 conferred on him the bishopric of Norwich in the year 
 1370. 
 
 In 1433, Henry VI. then only twelve years old, kept 
 his Christmas at the monastery of Bury, and remained 
 there till the St. George's day following. In 144(5, a 
 parliament was held in this town, at which that mo- 
 narch presided in person. This parliament was con- 
 vened under the influence of Cardinal Beaufort, the 
 inveterate enemy of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 
 the king's uncle, and the popular and beloved regent 
 of England. Hume observes, that this parliament 
 was not assembled at London, which was supposed to 
 be too well affected to the duke ; but at St. Edmund's 
 Bury, where his enemies expected him to be entirely 
 at their mercy. Their intrigues were but too success- 
 ful ; he was arrested on the second day of the sessions, 
 all his servants taken from him, and his retinue sent 
 to different prisons. Preparations were made for bring- 
 ing him to a public trial ; but his enemies, dreading the 
 effects of the innocence and virtues of the good duke, 
 as he was emphatically called, had recourse to a more 
 certain method of ridding themselves of him than by 
 a fair and open trial. Next morning, after his appre- 
 hension, he was found lifeless in his bed ; and though 
 an apoplexy was said to have been the cause of hi$ 
 death, yet all impartial persons ascribe it to the vio- 
 lence used by his enemies. Pitts relates that he was 
 smothered with bolsters ; and, according to local tradi- 
 tion, this atrocious deed was .perpetrated by the Mar- 
 quis of Suffolk, William de la Pole, in an apartment 
 belonging to St. Saviour's Hospital, then an appendage
 
 32 SUFFOLK. 
 
 to the monastery. The duke's body was conveyed to 
 St. Alban's, and there interred. 
 
 In 1526, an alarming insurrection of the people of 
 Lavenham, Hadleigh, Sudbury, and the adjacent 
 country, was quelled by the Dukes of Norfolk and 
 Suffolk, who met for that purpose at Bury. Here 
 many of the ringleaders were afterwards brought, and 
 appeared before those noblemen in their shirts, and 
 with halters round their necks ; and in this state they 
 received the royal pardon. 
 
 On the death of Edward VI. in 1553, John Dudley, 
 Duke of Northumberland, having persuaded Lady Jane 
 Grey to be declared heir to the crown, to the exclusion 
 of the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of 
 Henry VIII. he marched with an army into Suffolk to 
 suppress any attempt that might be made to oppose 
 his plans, and made Bury his place of rendezvous. 
 Here he waited for reinforcements ; but Mary being 
 proclaimed queen by the council, she ordered the duke 
 to return to Cambridge. On the way to this place he 
 was deserted by most of his men, and in a very short 
 period this ill-judged enterprise terminated in his death 
 upon the scaffold. 
 
 Under the fanatical reign of Mary, Bury was the 
 theatre of some of those horrible scenes that disgraced 
 several other parts of the kingdom. On the 2d of 
 August, 1555, James Abbes was burned here as a 
 heretic : Roger Clarke, of Memllesham, in 1556 ; and 
 Roger Bernard, Adam Forster, and Robert Lawson, 
 on the 30th of June the same year. John Cooke, 
 Robert Miles, Alexander Lane, and James Ashley, 
 suffered for the same cause but a short time before 
 the queen's last illness; and Philip Humphrey, and
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 John and Henry David, brothers, were brought to the 
 stake only a fortnight preceding Mary's death. 
 
 During the reign of James I. Bury was visited by a 
 most destructive calamity. Stow relates, that " in the 
 year 1608, April 11, being Monday, the quarter ses- 
 sions was held at St. Edmund's Bury, and by negli- 
 gence, an out malt-house was set on fire j from whence 
 in a most strange and sudden manner, through fierce 
 winds, the fire came to the farthest end of the town, 
 and as it went, left some streets and houses -safe and 
 untouched. The flame flew clean over many houses, 
 and did great spoil to many fair buildings farthest off; 
 and ceased not till it had consumed 160 dwelling 
 houses, besides others ; and in damage of wares and 
 household stuff to the full value of 60;000 pounds." 
 To this accident, however terrible and distressful in 
 itself, the present beauty and regularity of the streets 
 of Bury are .^probably owing. King James, who was 
 a great benefactor to the town, contributed large 
 quantities of timber towards rebuilding the houses 
 destroyed by this fire. 
 
 The reign of Charles I. was distinguished by a vi- 
 sitation still more dreadful than the preceding, for in 
 lf)3(), the plague is said to have raged here with such 
 violence, and so depopulated the town, that the grass 
 grew in some of the streets. Four hundred families 
 lay sick at one time, and were maintained at die pub- 
 lic charge, which amounted to 2OO/. a week. 
 
 But the results of the weakness and superstitious 
 credulity of James I. were yet to be felt -at Bury and 
 many other places. A persecution was absolutely 
 raised here against the imaginary crime of witchcraft. 
 To the disgrace of ti*e annals .of the country, in i644,
 
 34 S-UFFOLK. 
 
 one Matthew Hopkins, of Manningtree, in Essex, who 
 styled himself luitch-jinder general, and had 30s. allowed 
 him for every town he visited, was, with some others, 
 commissioned by parliament to perform a circuit for the 
 discovery of witches, during this and the two follow- 
 ing years. Thus authorised, they went from place to 
 place, through many parts of Suffolk, Norfolk, and 
 Huntingdonshire; but what appears still more as- 
 tonishing, they caused 16 persons to be hanged at 
 Yarmouth, 40 at Bury, and others in different parts 
 of the county, to the amount of 60 persons. Butler, 
 in his Hudibras, alludes to this when he makes his 
 hero say, 
 
 " Has not this present parliament 
 A ledger to the devil sent, 
 Fully empower'd to treat about 
 Finding revolted witches out ? 
 And has not lie within one year 
 Hang'd threescore of them in a shire ?" 
 
 A Mr. Lowes, an innocent and aged clergyman, 
 vicar of Brandeston, was among the victims sacrificed 
 by this impostor and his associates. A cooper and his 
 wife, and fifteen other women, were by the same 
 influence all condemned and executed at one time at 
 Bury. 
 
 Besides the arts used by Hopkins to extort confes- 
 sion from suspected persons, he had recourse to swim- 
 ming them ; which was done by tying their thumbs 
 and great toes together, previously to throwing them 
 into the water : if they sunk it was a proof of their 
 innocence, but if they floated they were guilty. This 
 method he pursued till some gentlemen, indignant at 
 his barbarity, tied his own thumbs and toes, as ho
 
 SUFFOLK. 35 
 
 had been accustomed to tie those of other persons; 
 and when put into the water, he himself swam, as 
 many others had done before him. By this expedient 
 the country was cleared of him. Hudibras alludes to 
 this when, speaking of Hopkins, he says 
 
 " Who after proved himself a witch, 
 And made a rod for his own breech." 
 
 About the year 1640, a more ludicrous circumstance 
 took place in Bury, which is also adverted to by Butler. 
 This was a castigation which an unfortunate noble- 
 man received from his more masculine spouse for 
 having shewn an inclination to forsake Cromwell's 
 party, on whose side he had declared himself. This 
 treatment, it is said, made him so sensible of his fault, 
 that he humbly asked pardon, and promised better 
 behaviour in future. For this salutary exertion of her 
 influence, the lady had thanks given her in open 
 court. 
 
 To the disgrace of the age, and that of some of the 
 characters implicated in the transaction, Bury wit- 
 nessed another execution for witchcraft. This oc- 
 curred on the 17th of March, 1664, when two poor 
 widows, whose only guilt probably consisted either in 
 the deformity of their bodies, or the weakness of their 
 intellects, were tried before that learned and upright 
 judge, Sir Matthew Hale, and sentenced to death. 
 This extraordinary trial was published as an appeal to 
 the world, by Sir Matthew, who, so far from being 
 satisfied with the evidence, was very doubtful of it, 
 and proceeded with such extreme caution, that he 
 .forbore to sum it up, leaving the matter to the jury,
 
 36 SUFFOLK. 
 
 with a prayer to God to direct their hearts in so 
 important an affair. 
 
 Leaving Bury St. Edmund's, at a small distance on 
 the right of our road, is Hardrvick House, inhabited 
 by the Rev. T. G. Cullum j his father Sir T. Cullum, 
 bart. who owns the seat, resides in Bury. This house 
 is situated upon the line that divides the open and the 
 woodland country, and commands a pleasing view of 
 Bury and its vicinity, being considerably higher than 
 that town. This estate is said to Tiave been given to 
 the abbey of Bury by King Stephen, and according to 
 tradition it was the abbot's dairy, and the principal 
 mansion was his occasional retreat ; Tiowever, no part 
 of the present building is of any great age excepting a 
 spacious chimney now under ground. In the year 1610 
 it was purchased by Sir Robert Drury, and annexed 
 for ever to the manor of Hawsted. 
 
 Hardwick Heath has the reputation of feeding some 
 of the finest flocks of sheep in the county. They are 
 horned, and have black faces and legs, and these are 
 said to have come from one of the three flocks in the 
 environs of Bury, that formerly belonged to the abbot. 
 Sir Robert Drury, who died in 1615, founded an alms- 
 house at Hardwick for six poor unmarried women, 
 with a yearly revenue of five pounds each j two of 
 them to be taken from the town of Bury, one from 
 Hawsted, one from Whepsted, one from Brockley, and 
 one alternately from Chcdburgh and Reed. 
 
 ICKWORTH lies at about two miles distance from 
 this place, and is distinguished by the celebrated seat 
 of the Earl of Bristol, which formerly belonged to the 
 abbot of Bury. The whole parish has since been 
 converted into a park, in which stands the noble man-
 
 SUFFOLK. 37 
 
 sion of the Herveys, who acquired this estate by 
 marriage with the ancient family of the Drurys. 
 John Hervey was created a peer in 1703, by Queen 
 Anne, by the title of Baron Hervey of Ickworth, and 
 in 1714 was invested by George I. with the more 
 honourable title of Earl of Bristol. Frederic William, 
 who succeeded his father in 1803, is the fifth earl. 
 Ickworth Park is 1 1 miles in circumference, and con- 
 tains 1800 acres. The ancient mansion is not re- 
 markable, but the new building was planned upon a 
 very extensive scale by the late earl, who was also 
 bishop of Derry, for the purpose of making it the 
 receptacle of the various works of art which he had 
 collected during a long residence in Italy. It was 
 intended to be composed of a circular building in the 
 centre, connected with the wings by a colonnade on 
 each side. The accomplishment of this plan was 
 frustrated by the circumstance of the earl's collec- 
 tion falling into the hands of the French, in 1/98, 
 when his lordship was also confined in the castle ot 
 Milan by the republicans. For reasons that are per- 
 haps only known to few, this conduct of the French, 
 which would have hastened the departure of any other 
 person from Italy, seemed to have determined him to 
 remain there till his death in 1803. With a caprice 
 said to have been common to several members of his 
 family, he willed all his disposable property to strangers, 
 including the collections he had made during the latter 
 years of his life. As several obstacles prevented his 
 successor from completing his father's plan, he had at 
 one time serious thoughts of taking down the shell of. 
 this new building and selling the materials ; but as 
 these would not have reimbursed the expense of the
 
 38 SUFFOLK. 
 
 undertaking, it was abandoned, and it has since become 
 a question whether the hand of time will not be left to 
 reduce this building to ruin, which would require an 
 immense sum to complete from its present state. This 
 edifice, which has a southern aspect, and stands a 
 little to the west of the old mansion, is built of what 
 is denominated Roman brick. It was begun about, 
 the year 1795. The centre, which is nearly circular, 
 is 140 feet high; the cupola that crowns it is ()0 feet 
 in its largest diameter, and 80 in the smallest. It is 
 embellished with a series of Ionic columns between the 
 windows of the lower apartments, and Corinthian 
 between those of the principal floor. Over the windows 
 of the latter are basso relievos from subjects in the Iliad 
 of Homer. Above the entrance, Alexander is seen 
 presenting his father the celebrated horse Bucephalus, 
 which could not be managed by any one but himself, 
 and on each side is a scene from the Olympic games. 
 These have been covered with boards to protect them 
 from the weather, and wanton injury, so frequent in 
 this country. The basso relievos of the first story con- 
 sist of the following subjects from the Odyssey : 
 Penelope weaving, Mentor and Telemachus proceeding 
 in quest of Ulysses, the sacrifice, Penelope dream- 
 ing of her husband's return, Mercury persuading Ca- 
 lypso to release Ulysses, Ulysses saved from the wreck 
 by Leucothoe, the Harpies, Penelope carrying the 
 bow of Ulysses to the suitors, the hero destroying 
 them, Penelope recognizing her husband, Mercury 
 conducting the ghosts of the suitors to Styx, Ulysses 
 concluding a treaty with the chiefs of Ithaca. The 
 Ulterior of this neglected edifice exhibits a mere shell, 
 with a kind of open wooden staircase to ascend the
 
 SUFFOLK. 39 
 
 roof and take a view of the adjacent country. The 
 cupola is crowned with a circular railing, within which 
 the chimnies rise in a single stack, in such a manner as 
 not to be visible on the outside of the building. The 
 intended drawing and dining room, the only apart- 
 ments bounded by an interior wall, are each 40 feet in 
 Length, but from the nature of the building, of unequal 
 breadth. The wings, and the galleries connecting 
 them with the edifice in the centre, have been run up 
 to the height of only three or four feet. The left wing 
 was designed for an assembly room, and that on the 
 right to contain a gallery of statues on the ground floor, 
 and of pictures above ; and in both provision had been 
 made for a circular reservoir of water. The length of the 
 whole building, from each extremity, was to have been 
 600 feet, and that of each colonnade and wing 60 yards. 
 The designs for this edifice were furnished by Italian 
 artists, and so much of the building as has been erected 
 was under the direction of Mr. Sandys. Two brothers, 
 Italians, named Carvalho, executed the sculpture, mo- 
 delled after the celebrated designs of Mr. Flaxman. 
 The whole of the expense has not exceeded 4O,OOOl. 
 and the natural reflection of every foreigner upon this 
 edifice must be, that nothing but a want of taste or a 
 want of opulence has prevented its completion. 
 
 Returning towards the high road, we cross HORN- 
 INGSHEATH, commonly called Horringer : this formerly 
 had two parish churches, distinguished by the names 
 of Magna and Parva, great and small ; but since the 
 parishes were consolidated in 1548, the latter has 
 been totally demolished. As both parishes once be- 
 longed to the abbot of Bury, Little Horningshealh Hall 
 is said to have been one of his pleasure houses, where
 
 40 SUFFOLK. 
 
 above a century after the dissolution, his arms, tog-ether 
 with those of Edward the Confessor, were to be seen, 
 carved and painted in the grand chamber. 
 
 HORSECROFT is a hamlet to Horringer, in which the 
 very ancient family of the Lucases resided. 
 
 At a small distance between us and the high road 
 from Bury, we arrive at HAWSTEAD, in Domesday- 
 book Halsted, situated between three and four miles 
 of Bury. The bounds of this parish pass through 
 the north and south doors of the church of the adjacent 
 village of Nowton, so that the perambulating caval- 
 cade proceeds through that edifice in its annual course 
 to mark the parochial limits. At a small distance 
 from this spot, some years since stood what Avas called 
 " the gospel oak/' or a majestic tree under which the 
 clergyman used to stop in these perambulations, and 
 repeat some prayer proper for the occasion. During- 
 the reign of William the Conqueror, it appears that 
 some church stood at Hawsted, though of the period in 
 which the present structure was raised there is no ac- 
 count ; its architecture, however, appears to be that of 
 the 16th century. It is constructed of freestone and 
 flints, broken into smooth faces, which by the contrast 
 of their colours produce' a very good effect. The 
 porches, buttresses, and embattled parapets, are in 
 general the most laboured parts, not only being mixed 
 with the free stone, but beautifully inlaid with a variety 
 of patterns. Of this inlaying, the lower parts of the 
 steeple exhibit specimens of considerable elegance, in 
 mullets, quatrefoils, interlaced triangles, &c. The 
 walls for about, two feet above the ground are of free 
 ntone, and project all round in the manner of a buttress, 
 like those of Windsor castle, a circumstance unusual in
 
 SUFFOLK. 41 
 
 a country church. The steeple is square, and 63 feef 
 high. The chancel is of a different age and inferior 
 style, its walls being composed of rough flints plastered 
 over. Till the year IJSO the roof of this church was 
 of thatch, but it was then exchanged for tiles. The 
 body or naye is only 58 feet long, 29 wide, and 
 about 36 to the highest point of the roof, the braces 
 and principals of which are carved, and of the latter, 
 every other is supported, by an angel. These angels, 
 however, have been deprived of their heads and 
 wings, and this mutilation was probably performed 
 by Mr. William Dowsing' s order. From Stratford, where 
 he lived, he made the circuit of the county for the 
 purpose of effecting this kind of reformation, in the 
 years 1643 and 1644, destroying such images and 
 inscriptions as were deemed superstitious, to the ex- 
 treme regret of the antiquary and lover of the arts. 
 On the upper edge of the font are still to be seen the 
 remains of the fastenings by which the cover was 
 formerly locked down for fear of sorcery ! The chan- 
 cel is thirty-three feet and a half by eighteen, and 
 twenty-four feet high. The ceiling is covered and 
 plastered, and divided into compartments by mould- 
 ings of wood, adorned with antique heads and foliage. 
 All the windows have been handsomely painted : several 
 coats of arms of the Drurys and Cloptons still remain, 
 as also some headless figures of saints and angels. The 
 church and chancel are divided by a wooden screen of 
 gothic work ; and on this screen, denominated the 
 rood loft, still hangs a relic of Roman Catholic times 3 
 this is one of the small bells supposed to have been 
 rung at particular parts of divine service, as at the 
 consecration and elevation of the host, whence these 
 K 3
 
 42 SUFFOLK. 
 
 were called sacring, or consecrating bells. These bells 
 are now very rarely seen. In the steeple are three 
 bells, and on the smallest of them this monkish in- 
 scription, in the old English character ; 
 
 Eternii annis, resonet campana Joannis. 
 
 Within an arched recess in the middle of the north 
 wall of the chancel, and nearly level with the pave- 
 ment, lies a cross-legged figure of stone, supposed to 
 represent one of the family of Fitz Eustace, lords of 
 the place in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward III. 
 This monument is no doubt coeval with the chancel, 
 and is very handsome, being elegantly sculptured with 
 foliage, and has a gothic turret rising from the head 
 and feet, connected by a basement at the top. Here is 
 also a flat slab of Sussex marble, seven feet long, on 
 which not the least vestige of an inscription remains. 
 Sir John Cullum supposes this to have been for an 
 ecclesiastic, and observes that stones of this shape 
 were frequently the lids of coffins, sunk no lower than 
 their own depth in the earth. 
 
 On the top of an altar monument of Sussex marble, 
 in the south-east corner of the church, is the portrait 
 of a knight, in brass, represented in armour, between 
 his two wives. His hair is clipped short, his whiskers 
 and parted beard are longj his armour is flourished 
 with some different metal, with large protuberances at 
 the shoulders j at his neck and wrists are similar nar- 
 row ruff* or ruffles, and his toes are very broad. The 
 Indies are habited both alike, though one of them, 
 whose eyes arc closed, died many years before her 
 hu.'band : the eyes of the other are represented as
 
 SUFFOLK. 43 
 
 being open, for the purpose of shewing that she sur- 
 vived him. In the chancel is a fine marble bust of Sir 
 William Drury. He was elected one of the knights of 
 the shire in 1585 ; was killed in a duel in France, but 
 his corpse was brought to England, and interred here. 
 The south-east corner of this chancel contains the 
 mural monument to the memory of the lady of whom 
 Dr. Donne observed, 
 
 Her pure and eloquent blood 
 
 Spoke in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought, 
 That one might aimost say her body thought. 
 
 This figure of a young female is represented as 
 large as life, lying upon a basement three feet high, 
 with her head reclining on her left hand : her mantle 
 is drawn close about her neck, and edged with a small 
 ruffj her hair is dressed in many small and short curls, 
 without a cap or any other covering. Above is an 
 emblematical female personage, surrounded with a 
 glory, and scattering flowers on the figure below : a 
 greyhound sits on each side of the basement, the cog- 
 nizance of the family. The long Latin inscription 
 upon a black marble tablet is supposed to have been 
 written by Dr. Donne. The lady whom it celebrates 
 was the younger and only surviving daughter of Sir 
 Robert Drury, who died in 1010, at the age of 15. 
 Opposite to her monument is that of her father, Sir 
 Robert Drury, consisting of a basement, on which is a 
 sarcophagus of black marble, beneath a double arch 
 supported by Corinthian pillars. Over this, in a 
 marble frame, is a most spirited bust, in armour, as 
 large as life, representing Sir Robert. The Latin 
 epitaph recording his merits is ascribed to Dr. Donne,
 
 44 SUFFOLK. 
 
 who was liberally patronized by him, and also had 
 apartments allowed him in Sir Robert's mansion, near 
 Drury-lane, London. On two small pannels in the 
 basement are inscriptions in Latin and English, on 
 Dorothy, another daughter of Sir Robert, who died at 
 the age of four years. The latter is as follows : 
 
 She little, promis'd mucli, 
 
 Too soon untide ; 
 She only dreamt she liv'd, 
 
 And then she dy'de. 
 
 Another large mural monument contiguous to that 
 of Elizabeth Drury, represents a sarcophagus on a 
 basement, with a lofty entablature above it, supported 
 by two square fluted pillars of the Ionic order, and sur- 
 mounted by a large escutcheon of the arms and crest. 
 This, according to a tablet over the sarcophagus, was 
 erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Cullum, burt. 
 The whole is made of a hard white plaster, painted of 
 a dark grey colour, and ornamented with gilding 
 and flowers. It is the work of an Italian, for by the 
 accounts of the steward of Hawsted Hall, three sums 
 of 5/. were advanced to the Italian on account of tin's 
 monument. With other monuments of the Cullum 
 family in this church, there is one to the memory of 
 Anne, daughter of John, Lord Berkeley, of Stratton, 
 and wife of Sir Dudley Cullum, bart. who died in 1709, 
 in her 44th year. 
 
 Jlaivsted Huuse, repaired or rebuilt by Sir William 
 Drury, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, is situated on an 
 eminence, and the whole formed a quadrangle of 202 
 feet by 211 within. Part of it has been taken down, 
 though not from decay. The walls were chiefly con-
 
 SUFFOLK. 45 
 
 structed of timber and plaster ; the latter in the front 
 being thickly studded with fragments of glass, which 
 made a brilliant appearance, not only in the sunshine, but 
 by moonlight. The house itself contains nothing very 
 remarkable. The quadrangle inclosed an area 58 feet 
 square, and the whole was inclosed by a wide moat, sur- 
 rounded by a terrace. Besides the apartments found in 
 the houses of gentlemen of the present day, it had its 
 smoking-room, still-room and chapel. Contiguous to 
 one of the chambers was a wainscotted closet, about 
 seven feet square, fitted up , as it is supposed, for the 
 last Lady Drury. It was probably designed at first for 
 an oratory ; and as the pannels were painted with 
 various sentences, emblems, and mottos, it was called 
 the painted closet. These embellishments, said to have 
 been well executed, were removed to a small apart- 
 ment in Hardwick House, near Bury. 
 
 The arms of Drury, and those of Stafford, of Grafton, 
 his lady's family, are still extant in stone on the porches. 
 Between these porches stands a stone figure of Her- 
 cules, holding in one hand a club across his shoulder, 
 and resting the other on one hip. This figure formerly 
 discharged, by the natural passage, a continual stream 
 of water, into a carver! stone bason, supplied by leaden 
 pipes from a pond at the distance of nearly half a mile. 
 " Modern times," Sir John Cullum observed, " would 
 scarcely devise such a piece of sculpture as an amusing 
 spectacle for a virgin princess," but the figure has been 
 long since rendered less offensive to the eye of delicacy. 
 From the date, preserved upon the pedestal, this figure 
 was one of the embellishments bestowed upon this place 
 against the visit by which it was honoured by Queen 
 Elizabeth in her progress in 1578. She rode in the
 
 46 SUFFOLK. 
 
 morning from Sir William Cordell's at Melford, and 
 dined with one of the Drurys at Lawshall Hall, about 
 five miles from Hawsted. In the evening she came to 
 Hawsted, and the apartment she occupied retained her 
 name ever after. Tradition reports that she dropped a 
 silver handled fan into the moat. On this occasion it 
 is probable that she bestowed the honour of knighthood 
 on the owner of this mansion. 
 
 Another good mansion in this parish is Hawsted 
 Farm y late the residence of C. Metcalf, esq. It was 
 almost rebuilt by that gentleman, in 1/83, of the white 
 brick made at Woolpit. 
 
 Nearly adjoining to Hawsted is WHEPSTKAD. This 
 village contains Whepstead Hull, the property of Major 
 General Hammond. It is an old irregular building, 
 after the manner of many of the second-rate mansions 
 of this county ; but has been repaired and modernized 
 by one of its recent possessors. The spire upon this 
 church steeple was blown down in the hurricane that 
 occurred at the death of Oliver Cromwell. A similar 
 accident attended the steeple of Dalham, in the hundred 
 of Risbridge. 
 
 The manor of Whepstead formed part of the posses- 
 sions of the abbey of Bury, and after the dissolution 
 was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir William Drury. 
 After passing through many hands it came into the 
 possession of Major General Hammond. 
 
 Leaving Hawsted Place we pass the village of New- 
 ton, and proceeding over Low Green, join the main 
 road just above Rushbrook Hall. The manor of Rush - 
 brook, from which the hall takes its name, has been 
 rendered remarkable since the dissolution by the re 
 eidencc of the Jcrmyns, a family which has produced
 
 SUFFOLK. 47 
 
 many persons of considerable eminence. Sir Thomas 
 Jermyn was Privy Counsellor and Comptroller of the 
 Household to Charles I. ; and his second son, Henry, 
 was Master of the Horse and Chamberlain to the 
 Queen ; his exertions during the civil war in behalf of 
 the king were rewarded with a peerage. He was also 
 employed by Charles II. during his exile on the conti- 
 nent, in various missions. The dignity conferred on 
 him in reward of his faithful services was that of the 
 Earl of St. Albans, and Lord Chamberlain of the King's 
 household. Dying without issue, and the title of his 
 earldom becoming extinct, that of Lord Jermyn de- 
 scended to Thomas, the eldest son of his brother. 
 Henry, his second son, was created Baron of Dover, 
 by James II. but died in 1708, without issue. From 
 the Jermyns this estate came into the possession of the 
 family of the Davers, and upon the death of Sir 
 Charles Davers, in 1806, devolved to Robert Rush- 
 brook, esq. who married the natural daughter of Sir 
 Charles, and whose family had prior possession of the 
 place some centuries since, and now reside there. The 
 Hall, formerly moated roiind, is a noble spacious man- 
 sion, with a plain front to the north, and two wings 
 running to the south, which forms three sides of a 
 square. The park is also extensive. 
 
 When Queen Elizabeth visited Rushbrook Hall, in 
 1571, Sir Robert Jermyn of this place feasted the 
 French embassadors two several times, with which 
 charges and courtesy it is said they were wonderfully 
 satisfied. The church contains several monuments to 
 the memory of the Jermyns. In the hall is a good 
 portrait of Edmund Jermyn, esq. who gave an annuity 
 of 40l. per annum to the poor at Bury, out of his ma-
 
 48 SUFFOLK. 
 
 nor at Torkesey, in Lincolnshire. He is represented 
 in a strait waisted doublet, and a round bonnet adorned 
 with flowers and jewels, and the painting is dated A. D. 
 1567, in the fifteenth year of his age. 
 
 WELNETHAM is a place of considerable antiquity, as 
 Camden mentions that great quantities of potsherds and 
 platters of Roman manufacture have been found here, 
 some of which had inscriptions ; also ashes, bones of 
 sheep and oxen, many horns, a sacrificing knife, urns 
 and other relics. Sir Richard Gipps, who resided in 
 the manor-house in 1701, met with the head of a Ro- 
 man spear, several vessels, coins, bricks, pateras, &c. 
 This gentleman died here in I/OS, and was buried in 
 the church without any inscription. 
 
 Proceeding fromWelnetham, at about a mile distance 
 on our road, is BRADFIELD COMBUST, called also Brent 
 or Burnt BradfiM, the most remarkable of the places 
 of that name in this part of Suffolk, having received its 
 surname from the destruction of Bradfield Hall in the 
 year 1327, when it belonged to the convent of Bury. 
 At this time, the conduct of the abbot having enraged 
 the townsmen, headed by their alderman and others, 
 they broke open and plundered the abbey, and com- 
 pletely burnt Bradfield Hall, which at that time be- 
 longed to the abbey, and was situated live miles south 
 of that edifice. 
 
 Bradfield Combust contains the manor and seat of 
 the celebrated Arthur Young, to whose discoveries and 
 improvements in the art of agriculture the public are i 
 so much indebted. The manor and estate of this gen- 
 tleman vvas purchased by one of his ancestors in the 
 year 1620, of Sir Thomas Jermyn, of llushbrook. I< 
 stands upon a range of high land, which runs throng li
 
 SUFFOLK. 49 
 
 the whole county. Two small brooks rising in this 
 parish take contrary directions ; one passing to Bury, 
 and proceeding to the sea at Lynn; the other run- 
 ning to Lavenham, and falling into the ocean at 
 Harwich. Mr. Young's estate is beautifully wooded 
 with many fine trees. In 1725, his father, the late Dr. 
 Young, formed an avenue of limes, which have been 
 remarked as extremely beautiful ; but his son has 
 planted above 40,000 larch and other trees, as nurses 
 to oaks sown 30 years ago, so that his estate is likely 
 to continue well wooded for many years to come. In 
 some of his publications Mr. Young has explained the 
 advantages which result from these plantations, and 
 especially from the more beautiful trees of an estate. 
 Among his decorations of this old mansion, which 
 contains a copious and valuable library, are the shrub- 
 beries and the water. This gentleman has since been 
 taken out of active life by a state of blindness, never- 
 theless with the aid of an amanuensis he has devoted 
 his time to the illustration of his favourite pursuit, 
 with the unimpaired faculties of a vigorous mind. 
 
 Nearly a mile from this place, and about the same 
 distance from each other, are BRADFIELD ST. GEORGE 
 and BRADFIELD ST. CLARE. The church of the former 
 stands upon such an elevated situation, that though the 
 steeple is only 66 feet high, 60 churches may be seen 
 in the circumjacent country, which embraces part of 
 Essex, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. 
 
 About a mile from Brad field Combust, on the other 
 *ide of the road, is the little village called STANNING- 
 HELD, five miles and a quarter from Bury. 
 
 Returning to the high road, we pass Coldham Hall, 
 in the parish of Stanningfield, obout a mile from Brad- 
 r
 
 50 SUFFOLK. 
 
 field, which is the seat of Robert Gage Rookwood, 
 esq. 
 
 On our left we perceive the house called Pepper, 
 and a little beyond is Gockfield. Here are several 
 manors which probably belonged to the abbey of Bury 
 St. Edmund's ; though Sir William Spring died seized 
 of the former, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 Earl's Hall here is so called from the De Veres, Earls 
 of Oxford ; as Robert de Vere was possessed of it 
 in the 24th year of Edward 1. These honours and 
 estates were lost by John, Earl of Oxford, under 
 Edward IV. but restored by Henry VI I. and enjoyed 
 till the death of Aubrey de Vere, the last earl of that 
 family. A handsome mansion in this parish was the 
 seat of the Herveys in 1764. 
 
 At about the same distance, but on the opposite side 
 of the road, and nearly six miles from Bury, is LAWS- 
 HALL. This lordship was given by Alfwinus, the son 
 of Bricius, to the abbey of Ramsey, in Huntingdon- 
 shire, in the year 1022. At the dissolution it was 
 granted to John Rithcr, esq. in the 37th year of Henry 
 VIII. 
 
 Proceeding still to the right, we pass Herbert's Green, 
 and at about three miles from the high road ar- 
 rive at BROCK.LEY : this village is six miles from 
 Lavenham ; but possesses nothing particularly interest- 
 ing. 
 
 SOMERTON, about a mile distant, was in the lordship 
 of Thomas de Burgh in the year 1274 ; it is about eight 
 miles and a half from Bury. 
 
 Returning towards the high road, we pass HARTEST, 
 which belonged to the convent of Ely in King Edward 
 the Confessor's time, but wns afterwards appropriated
 
 , SUFFOLK. 51 
 
 to the bishopric, and alienated from it in the fourth 
 year of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 To the right we see BOXSTEAD, which in the reign of 
 Edward I. was granted to Robert Harleston, who being 
 attainted by the first parliament of Edward IV. it came 
 with other manors to Richard, Duke of Gloucester. It 
 was afterwards the seat of the Poleys. 
 
 About a mile and a half before we rejoin the high 
 road, we pass the village of SHIMPLINGJ in the Con- 
 queror's time the lordship of Odo de Campania. It 
 afterwards descended to the Lords Fitzwalter. Here 
 is Chadac.re or Shadacre Hall, the seat of the Fiskes. 
 
 STAN STEAD, on a line with this place, is about six 
 miles and a half from Sudbury, but contains nothing 
 remarkable. 
 
 ALPHETON is situated seven miles and a quarter on 
 this side Sudbury, on the high road from Bury j this 
 was formerly the lordship of John de Welnetham, who, 
 in the reign of Edward HI., left a daughter his heir. 
 On the left of our road, at about three miles distant, 
 but rather nearer to Bury, is THORP MORIEUX; this 
 was anciently the lordship and demesne of Hugh de 
 Morieux, but afterwards came to the Risbys. 
 
 A good road from Alpheton leads to LAVENHAM, tea 
 miles from Bury, and seven from Sudbury. This place 
 is pleasantly and healthfully situated in a valley nearly 
 surrounded by hills, except on the south, and on a 
 branch of the river Brit, from whence the town has a 
 gradual ascent. It consists of nine small divisions, or 
 streets ; but the old houses are in general ill built, 
 though the market-place is spacious, and has a stone 
 cross in the centre. Lavenham was once famous for
 
 52 SUFFOLK. 
 
 its manufacture of blue cloths, afterwards yarn from 
 wool was principally made here, and says and cali- 
 mancoes, till the fashion arose among the ladies of wear- 
 ing Spanish leather for their shoes. The market day 
 used lo be on Tuesday, but this has long been disused ; 
 however, there are two annual fairs, one for butter and 
 cheese, which begins October 10, and holds four days ; 
 the other for horses, on Shrove Tuesday. This town 
 contains 308 houses, and 1,711 inhabitants. It is go- 
 verned by six capital burgesses, who are chosen for life, 
 and appoint the inferior officers. Here is a free school, 
 and a Bridewell, part of which is appropriated to the 
 purposes of a workhouse. 
 
 The church standing at one end of the town, is ac- 
 counted one of the most beautiful fabrics of its kind in 
 the county. It is chiefly built of freestone, the rest 
 being of curious flint work ; its total height is 156 feet, 
 and its breadth 68. The steeple, admirable both for its 
 strength and beauty, is 141 feet high, and 42 in diame- 
 ter, and contains six bells. 
 
 The arms of the De Veres and the Springs, the latter 
 opulent clothiers in this town, being put up in many 
 parts of the church, it has been inferred that they were 
 the principal founders. Of the Springs there is no 
 other information than " that in the time of one Thomas 
 Spring, a rich clothier, this church was old and de- 
 cayed, whereupon he gave 2OO/. towards the repairs, 
 and his posterity joining with the Earls of Oxford, the 
 posterity of his daughter finished it." According to 
 Wcevcr, Thomas Spring, the rich clothier, died in 
 1510, and was buried under a monument on the north 
 aide of the chnncel ; but the Latin inscriptions existing
 
 SUFFOLK. 53 
 
 in this church make it evident that Weever's account is 
 erroneous, in regard to the time when the chapel, where 
 these inscriptions appear, was erected ; and of the 
 monument which he mentions not the smallest traces 
 are to be found, though in the vestry there is an old 
 tomb, by which it appears that Thomas Spring was the 
 builder of this part ; and that he, in conjunction with 
 some of the Earls of Oxford, who were then lords of 
 the manor of Lavenham, began to erect this fine 
 structure, and that it was finished by their descendants. 
 This seems the more probable from the remains of the 
 different quarterings of the arms upon the building. 
 Upon the steeple are the arms of De Vere quartered 
 with those of Nevil, Howard, Montague, Monthernier, 
 Earl of Gloucester, with the episcopal arms of Canter- 
 bury and London ; and on the top of it, 26 coats with 
 the arms of the Springs only. 
 
 The church porch is an elegant piece of architecture, 
 very highly enriched, and in it are six shields, all within 
 garters, with the arms of the De Veres impaled and 
 quartered with those of many of the most noble fami- 
 lies in the kingdom. They are adorned with boars, 
 the supporters of the arms of the De Veres, and upon 
 one of them are the letters I O, probably intended for 
 the initials of John, the fourteenth Earl of Oxford, who 
 was a knight of the garter, and married the daughter 
 of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who died in 
 1529. He is conjectured to have erected this porch. 
 In the interior, the roof is admirably carved, and the 
 two pews belonging to the Earls of Oxford and the 
 Springs, though much decayed, are specimens of highly 
 finished pieces of gothic work in wood. The windows 
 are numerous, and some of them are embellished with 
 F3
 
 54 SUFFOLK. 
 
 painted glass, representing the arms of the De Veres 
 and others. 
 
 A monument is erected to the memory of the ReV. 
 Henry Copinger, rector of this church, on the left hand 
 side of the altar. In an arched recess between two 
 Corinthian columns, in alto relievo, are represented the 
 reverend divine and his wife, both in black, with white 
 ruffs round their necks, opposite each other, and in the 
 attitude of prayer. Upon a pedestal on each side stands 
 an angel at full length, with a scroll in his hand. One 
 of them bears these words, Dilecti accipite coronam 
 eitfB ; and on the other, Mortui venite ad Judicium. 
 Under the principal figures are three compartments. 
 In the middle are seen their children, all habited in 
 black, and kneeling before an altar, viz. eight sons, two 
 and two on one side, and four daughters singly on the 
 other. The first of the former is represented cross 
 gartered down the leg, as described by Shakspeare in 
 the fifth act of his Twelfth Night. 
 
 In the pannel on the left is a long Latin inscription, 
 which is partly the same as the following, in English, 
 on the right hand. 
 
 " This monument was erected at the sole cost of 
 Mrs. Anne Copinger, in memory of her dear husband, 
 the reverend, learned, and godly divine, Mr. Henry 
 Copinger (fourth son of Henry Copinger of Buxhall, in 
 this countie, by Agnes his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas 
 Jermine of Rushbrook Hall, knt.) the painful and 
 vigilant rector of this church, by the space of 4.5 years; 
 prebendnrie of the metropolitane church of St. Peter, 
 in Yorke ; lord of the town, and patron of the church 
 of Buxhall uforesaide, who marryed Aane, daughter of 
 Henry Fisher, of Linnc, in Norfolk, gent. By her he
 
 SUFFOLK. 55 
 
 had eight sonnes and four daughters, and after he had 
 lived godly /2 yeares, dyed peaceably 21st Dec. Anno 
 1622." 
 
 Underneath the whole is this inscription Juatorum 
 memoria benedicetur, " may the memory of the just be 
 blessed." 
 
 Of this Mr. Copinger, Fuller relates, that Dr. Rey- 
 nolds, who held the living of Lavenham, having gone 
 over to the church of Rome, the Earl of Oxford, the 
 patron, presented Mr. Copinger, but on condition that 
 he should pay no tithes for his park, which compre- 
 hended nearly half the land in the parish. Mr. Co- 
 pinger told his lordship that he would rather return 
 the presentation, than by such a sinful gratitude betray 
 the rights of the church ; which answer had such 
 weight with the earl, that he replied, " I scorn that 
 my estate should swell with church goods." His heir, 
 however, actuated by sentiments less liberal, contested 
 the rector's right to the tithes, and it cost Mr. Copinger 
 loOO/. to recover that right, and leave it in the quiet 
 possession of his successors. 
 
 In the north aisle of Lavenham church is a small 
 mural monument, upon which a man and woman, en- 
 graved on brass, are represented kneeling before a 
 table, and three sons and three daughters behind them. 
 A label proceeds from the mouth of the man, on which 
 are these words : In manus luas d'ne commendo spiritum 
 meum. Underneath is this inscription, like that of the 
 label, in the old English character. 
 
 Contynuall prayse these lynea in brassc, 
 
 Of AHayne Dyster here, 
 A clothier vertuous, while lie was 
 lu Larenbam many a yeare.
 
 56 SUFFOLK. 
 
 For as in lycfe lie loved best 
 
 The poore to clothe and feede, 
 So withe the riche and all the rest 
 
 He neigbbourlie agreed ; 
 And did appoint before he dyed, 
 
 A speciiill ycarlie rent, 
 Which should he every Whitsontide 
 
 Anionge the poorest spente. 
 
 Etobiit Anno Uhi 1534. 
 
 Of this person's benefaction it seems no account 
 whatever remains. A very old gravestone in the 
 chancel, which formerly had a Saxon inscription, is 
 now completely defaced. Kirby says that in the church- 
 yard, on the tomb of one John Weles, a bachelor, who 
 died in l6$4, is this odd jingling epitaph. 
 
 Quod fuit csse quod est, quod non fuit esse quod esse, 
 Esse quod cst non esse, quod est r.ou est erit esse. 
 
 Lavenham may boast of several substantial charities. 
 The inhabitants were many years since enabled to 
 purchase an estate of 80/. per annum for repairing the 
 almshotises, and supporting the poor placed in them. 
 In 1696, Edward Colman, esq. of Furnival's Inn, be- 
 queathed 20O 1 . for the education of the children here, 
 :ind such additions were made to this sum by the dona- 
 tions of others, as purchased a convenient dwelling- 
 house and school-room, and an annuity of 3O/. for a 
 master. Mr. Colcman likewise left IQOl. to be laid 
 out in land, and the rent to be applied towards binding 
 out one poof boy yearly from Mildcn, Brent llleigh, 
 or Lavenham. Lavenham was the birthplace of Richard 
 </c Lnnhnm, a divine of considerable eminence and
 
 SUPFOLK. 57 
 
 great learning, who was beheaded with Archbishop 
 Sudbury, by Wat Tyler's mob. 
 
 About a mile and a half to the north-east of La- 
 venham, is PRESTON. This village comprehends 
 several manors; the first, the Priory, as belonging to 
 that of the Holy Trinity in Ipswich ; the next that of 
 Maisters, with those of the Mortimers, the Swifts, 
 and another near the church called Preston Hall, which 
 belonged to the Earls of Oxford, tillJohn, the 14th 
 earl, dying without issue, about the 18th year of 
 Henry , VIII. it descended to his sister, married to Sir 
 Anthony Wingfield, knt. in which family it continued 
 three descents. In the reigns of James and Charles I. 
 here lived Robert Rice, esq. an accomplished gentle- 
 man, and a great preserver of the antiquities of this 
 county. 
 
 Much about the same distance from Lavenham as 
 this place, but directly to the east, is BRENT ILLEIGH. 
 This village and manor belonged to the ancestors of 
 Sir Henry Shelton, who procured the grant of a market 
 for it from Henry III., long since discontinued. His 
 posterity flourished here for several centuries, but the 
 property was afterwards sold to the family of Colman. 
 It has since been the property of the family of Goate. 
 Dr. Colman, of Trinity College, built a fine parochial 
 library at the end of the chancel, and stocked it with 
 books. Edward Colman, esq. erected and endowed a 
 neat alms-house for six people. 
 
 MONKS ILLEIGH, still farther to the left, is so called 
 from having formerly belonged to the monks of St. 
 Peter, or rather of St. Augustine's, at Canterbury ; to 
 whom it was given with Hadleigh, by Brithnoth, Duke 
 or Earl of Essex, before he marched to repel the incur-
 
 58 SUFFOLK. 
 
 sions of the Danes, and fell in the battle of Maldon in 
 
 991. 
 
 About a mile from Monks llleigh is CHELSWOKTH. 
 On a rising ground near the church are the remains of 
 the foundation of a stone building, which appears to 
 have been very capacious, and surrounded by the river 
 Brit. Near these remains is a field named the Park, 
 and a small wood called Park Wood. The manor 
 formerly belonged to the Howard family, and after- 
 wards to the Veres, Earl of Oxford. In 1737 it be- 
 came, by purchase, the property of Robert Pockling- 
 ton, esq. who built a handsome seat, since occupied by 
 Sir Roger Pocklington, bart. ; it is now the property 
 of Sir Robert Pocklington, K.M. T. 
 
 About a mile to the south-east is Semerc, principally 
 noted for its house of industry for the hundred of 
 Cosford, which was incorporated in 1779- This struc- 
 ture was erected in the following year. The average 
 number of paupers is 180, and their principal employ- 
 ment spinning yarn for Norwich. This lordship be- 
 longed to the abbot of Bury, and was appropriated to 
 the use of the cellarer. Semere Lodge is the seat of 
 Archer, esq. 
 
 About two miles to the right is Milden. 
 
 MILDEN, or Milding, was formerly the lordship and 
 demesne of Remigius de Milden, who took his name 
 from this place. Mildcn Hall was the seat of John 
 Canham, esq. 
 
 In this parish ll'clls Hall formerly belonged to the 
 family of the Shorelands. 
 
 Passing a village called Lindsei/, we observe KERSEY, 
 oil u line with Semere : this place is memorable only for 
 u priory of Benedictine monks, as some say; but rather
 
 SUFFOLK. 59 
 
 of Austin canons, dedicated to St. Mary and St. An- 
 thony. It was granted by King Henry VI. to King's 
 College in Cambridge. Here is a fair held yearly on 
 Easter Tuesday. The large mansion called Sampson's 
 Hall took its name from the Sampsons, who resided 
 here, as did also Sir Thomas Thorowgood, knt. high 
 sheriff for the county in 1704 This house has since 
 been the property of the Rev. Chr. Pennant, lately 
 deceased. 
 
 We shall now cross the river Breton to notice the 
 ancient town of Hadleigh. 
 
 HADLEIGH, situated on the river, is a considerable 
 place, and according to the last population returns, 
 contains 50Q houses, and 2592 inhabitants. The 
 market is held on Mondays, and there are two annual 
 fairs, one on the Tuesday in Whitsun week, and the 
 other on the 10th of October. This town formerly 
 enjoyed the privileges of a corporation, and was 
 governed by a mayor, aldermen, and common coun- 
 cil j but a quo warrunto being brought against them, 
 they surrendered their charter, and their deed of sur- 
 render being inrolled, and judgment entered against 
 them upon record, they could not be reinstated by the 
 proclamation of James II. in the year 1688, and no 
 other has since been granted them. The woollen trade 
 that once nourished in this town has long been reduced 
 to the spinning of yarn for the manufactures of Nor- 
 wich. The principal ornament of Hadleigh is its 
 church, situated in the middle of the town, and is a 
 handsome structure, with a good steeple and spire. 
 Dr. Wilkins, one of the late rectors, was at the ex- 
 pense of a very tine altar-piece in the chancel j and 
 both the church and parsonage-house were greatly
 
 60 SUFFOLK. 
 
 improved and beautified by the Rev. Dr. Tanner, his 
 successor. The church of Hadleigh has been prin- 
 cipally noted for having been the burial-place of Guth- 
 rum or Gormo, the Danish chieftain, who being de- 
 feated by King Alfred, consented to embrace Christi- 
 anity, and had the government of the East Angles 
 entrusted to him, which he administered 12 years, and 
 dying in the year 889, was buried in this church 5 
 though it has been remarked that the tomb shewn as 
 his does not bear the appearance of such antiquity. 
 Mr. Gough observes, " there is only a long arch with 
 a bouquet on its point in the south wall of a much 
 later date." The strong gateway to the rectory-house 
 was built by Dr. Pykenham, the chancellor of Norwich, 
 who erected the archdeacon's house in Ipswich. This 
 gate consists of two hexangular towers, and is entirely 
 constructed of brick. Dr. Pykenham also founded 12 
 almshouses here in 14Q7 for decayed housekeepers, 
 with a small chapel for their use. 
 
 Hadleigh is remarkable for the martyrdom of Dr. 
 Rowland Taylor, who was rector of this church during 
 the sanguinary persecution of Queen Mary, for his ad- 
 herence to the doctrines of the reformation. Upon 
 the spot in this parish upon which he was burnt, im- 
 properly called Aldham Common, a stone was erected 
 with this inscription : 
 
 Anno 1555. 
 
 " Dr. Taylor for defending what wai god 
 In this place shed hi* Mod." 
 
 About a mile to the south of Hiullcigh is LEYHAM. 
 Here John dc Ley ham held (he manor of Overbury
 
 SUFFOLK. ,.-. 6.1 
 
 Hall of the Earl Marshal in the 18th year of Edward I. 
 The manors and mansion here were purchased by the 
 D'Oylys of the family of the Hodges. 
 
 Returning towards the high road we pass the villages 
 of Edwardston, Great and Little Waldingfield, and 
 Acton. 
 
 EDWARDSTON was once of considerable note, on ac- 
 count of the lords that lived here. In the Conqueror's 
 time Hubert de Monte Canisio, or Montechcnsy, 
 Guarin or Waryn, of this family, was so wealthy, that 
 he was called the English Croesus, and according to 
 Camden died worth 200,000 marks. Here was for- 
 merly a religious house, a cell to the monastery of 
 Abingdon, near Oxford j but about the year 11 60, the 
 monks were removed to the priory of Colne, in Essex. 
 
 WALDINGFIELD MAGNA, or Great Waldingfield, 
 was formerly the lordship of James Butler, Earl of 
 Wiltshire, and afterwards of the Earls of Essex. Sir 
 John Carbonell had a manor here, and the advowson 
 of the church, about the year J300. The manor of 
 Mpreves has since belonged to the family of Kedding- 
 ton. 
 
 WALDINGFIELD PARVA, or Little Waldingfield, 
 contains nothing remarkable. 
 
 Nearly adjoining to this place is situated Holbrook 
 Hall, late the seat of Job Hanmer, esq. and two miles 
 to the right is that of Michael Barton, esq. 
 
 ACTON, formerly called Aketon, stands on the west 
 side of the road from Sudbury to Lavenham. In the 
 ninth of Edward I. the manor of this parish belonged 
 to Robert de Buers, but was afterwards given to Henry 
 Lord Bourchier for his faithful services to the York 
 family, by King Edward IV. 
 
 G
 
 62 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Acton Place was formerly the seat of the Daniels, but 
 sold by them to Robert Jennens, esq. who began to 
 rebuild this mansion, which though a fine structure, was 
 never completely finished. His son, William Jennens, 
 esq. died in 1/91 , at the age of 93, some say at 10O, with 
 the reputation of being at that time the richest subject 
 in the kingdom. On his decease the fine tapestry was 
 torn from the walls, and sold with the furniture and 
 other moveables. This noble mansion, having since 
 that time been inhabited only by an old man and a 
 woman, presented a deplorable spectacle of desolation, 
 and the approach to it could be traced only by the 
 colour and height of the grass which had grown over 
 the gravel. The interior still exhibited some vestiges 
 of its former splendour. The hall is adorned with alto 
 relievos ; and the ceiling with the paintings from the 
 heathen mythology. At each corner was also a figure 
 of one of its fabled divinities. At the end, and on 
 each side, were paintings of fruit and animals, by 
 Snyders. Some circular recesses also contained six 
 busts of admirable workmanship. In the pannels over 
 the fireplaces were portraits of the late proprietor and 
 his parents ; and the library contained a beautiful fruit 
 piece by Snyders. A curious specimen of female industry 
 of former days was also exhibited here, in what was de- 
 nominated the point-room, the whole of which was 
 hung with needle work, in blue and while, the furni- 
 ture of the bed and chairs being the same. The ad- 
 joining apartment was called the silk room, from the 
 elegant {minted silk with which it was furnished. 
 Another curiosity exhibited here was a small bed, the 
 furniture of which was said to have been lined with 
 the shirts of King William III. who had been godfather
 
 SUFFOLK. 63 
 
 to one of the owners of this mansion. The offices, 
 forming wings on each side of this house, gives the 
 whole the appearance of grandeur. The garden fared 
 worse than the building, having been ploughed up and 
 cultivated as a field. This property, on the death of 
 Mr. Jennens, descended to the Hon. Penn Asheton 
 Curzon. 
 
 Having now rejoined the direct road, we proceed to 
 Melford. 
 
 MELFORD, commonly called Long Melford, is a large 
 and very pleasant village, situated upon the Stour, 
 within three miles of Sudbury, and is generally 
 esteemed one of the largest villages in England. Mel- 
 ford has an annual fair on Whit Tuesday, several good 
 inns, upwards of 450 houses, and 2200 inhabitants. 
 The church, standing upon a rising ground, at the 
 north end of this village, is a beautiful specimen of the 
 architecture of the 15th century, about ISO feet ia 
 length, exclusive of the school-house at the end. The 
 small square tower is not so ancient as the body of the 
 church, which contains the monuments of many indi- 
 viduals belonging to different families who formerly 
 flourished here. 
 
 Upon an altar monument at the upper end of the 
 north aisle, erected to the memory of William Clopton, 
 esq. son of Sir Thomas Clopton, lies his figure in ar- 
 mour. He died in 1446. On the front of the monu- 
 ment is a brass plate with a Latin epitaph, in old En- 
 glish characters. 
 
 Under another altar monument of grey marble, 
 within an arch on the north side of the communion- 
 table, are interred John Clopton, son of the preceding, 
 and his wife, Alice Darcy. At their heads are still
 
 64 SUFFOLK. 
 
 remaining their portraits, kneeling, painted small in 
 fresco, with the arms of their families on their dress. 
 He was sheriff of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, 
 in the 30th year of Henry VI. and not long before his 
 death contributed to the repair, or perhaps to the re- 
 building of the beautiful chapel at the east end of the 
 church, now used for a school, as appears from the 
 following inscription in old English characters on the 
 battlements. 
 
 " Pray for the sowlc of John Hill, and for the sowle 
 of John Clopton, esquwyre, and pray for the sowle of 
 Richard Loveday Boteler, with John Clopton, of 
 whose godiss this chappel is embattylld, by his exe- 
 cutors. Pray for the sowlis of William Clopton, 
 esqywre, and Margery, his wifis, and for all their 
 parentes and chyldren ; and for the sowle of Alice 
 Clopton, and for John Clopton, and for all his children, 
 and for all the sowlis that the said John is bounde to 
 pray for, which deed this chapel new repare. A D'ni 
 M CCCC LXXXXIII." 
 
 To the right of the altar is the splendid monument 
 of Sir William Cordell. Three Corinthian columns 
 support the canopy, under which the figure of the 
 knight reclines in white marble. In the recesses at 
 the back are four female figures, representing the 
 cardinal virtues. A long inscription in Latin verse 
 records the honours and character of Sir William, \\lio 
 was an eminent lawyer, Speaker of the House of J om- 
 mons, a member of Queen Mary's Privy Council, Mas- 
 ter of the Rolls, and the founder of the hospital at 
 Mclford. 
 
 On the outside of the pew belonging to the Martyns 
 family are many grotesque head?, carved in oak j and
 
 SUFFOLK. 65 
 
 some ancient stones in the floor, at the east end of the 
 church, are placed over the remains of several mem- 
 bers of that family. 
 
 The font in this church- has a cover curiously carved, 
 with a pinnacle and a cross at the top ; and on the spot 
 whence it was removed to its present position is a raised 
 stone of white marble, in the form of a lozenge, with 
 a black cross upon it. The north window contains 
 some painted glass with figures, and Latin inscriptions; 
 but many of the panes, containing parts of them, have 
 been broken, and common ones introduced to supply 
 their place. 
 
 The Hospital, a plain brick building, inclosed with 
 a wall, stands very nearly adjoining the churchyard. 
 Over the entrance is inscribed, " This hospital was 
 founded by Sir William Cordell, knt. 1573." It is 
 endowed for a warden, 12 poor men, and two women, 
 old and decayed housekeepers of Melford ; and for 
 want of persons of this description in Melford, they are 
 to be taken from Shimpling in this hundred. 
 
 Melford Hall stands on the east side of the green, an 
 old spacious brick building, in the style of the age of 
 Elizabeth, with four small round towers in the front. 
 Here had been one of the country seats or villas of the 
 abbot of Bury, but after the dissolution of religious 
 houses, this manor, together with the advowson of the 
 church, was granted to Sir William Cordell, in the 37th 
 of Henry VIII. Queen Mary, in the first year of her 
 reign, to this grant, added the lands of the hospital of 
 St. Saviour, without the north gate at Bury, which 
 Sir William afterwards settled on his own hospital at 
 Melford. Dying without issue, his estates devolved 
 c3
 
 OO SUFFOLK.. 
 
 on his sister, the wife of Richard Allington, esq., and 
 by the marriage of their only child, Mary, were con- 
 veyed to Sir John Savage, whose son was raised to the 
 peerage by the title of Viscount Colchester. John, 
 his son, was advanced to the dignity of Earl Rivers. 
 Melford Hall belonged to Mary, widow of the third 
 earl, during the civil war in the reign of Charles I. ; 
 when, as Fuller informs us, it was the first fruits of 
 plundering in England. The loss of the noble pro- 
 prietor in plate, money, costly hangings, and other 
 rich furniture here, and at her other seat at St. Osyth 
 in Essex, is estimated l>y contemporary wriiers at the 
 immense sum of 100,000/. All this time M^lford 
 Hall lay under a mortgage to Sir John Cordell, made 
 to him by the first Earl Rivers. It was afterwards 
 sold to Sir Robert Cordell, who being created a baronet 
 in 1660, made this place his seat. On the failure of 
 male issue in that family, the estate devolved to that 
 of Firebrace. Melford Hall is now the seat of Sir 
 William Parker, bart. 
 
 Kentwe/f Hall is an old mansion a little to the north 
 of the church, and was formerly the residence of the 
 Cloptons, who derived their name from a village in 
 this county, from which it is probable they were 
 detached Aery early, as there is no record of their 
 having any possessions there : it is now the seat of 
 Richard Moore, esq. 
 
 At the south end of the town is an old seat called 
 Melford Place, which was for many years the mansion 
 of the family of the Martyns : Roger Martyn, mercer, 
 son of Lawrence Martyn of Melford, was lord mayor 
 of London in 1567.
 
 SUFFOLK. 67 
 
 Many years since, several Roman urns were dug up 
 here in a gravel pit ; and in a farm yard on Cranmer 
 Green, in this parish, is a petrifying spring. 
 
 Leaving the direct road, we shall turn to the right, 
 and proceed to Clare : on our way we first arrive at 
 GLEMSFOKD, a very extensive parish ; here is a yearly 
 fair on the 2-1 th of June. Some rents are paid out of 
 this manor to the see of Ely, and the inhabitants are 
 exempted from serving on juries elsewhere than at 
 Ely. 
 
 To the left we next notice CAVENDISH, situated on 
 the Stour, between Long Melford and Ciare. The 
 church is a handsome structure, with a ?quare tower, 
 and is said to have been built by one of the abbots of; 
 Bury. A younger branch of the Gernons, a family of 
 considerable note in Norfolk and Essex, being seated in 
 this village, of which they were lords, assumed the 
 name of De Cavendish, and produced several indi- 
 viduals of great eminence. Sir John Cavendish, wha 
 was born here, being chief justice of the king's bench, 
 had the misfortune to fall into the hands of Wat 
 Tyler's rabble, who being exasperated at the intelli- 
 gence of the death of their chief by the hands of his 
 son, was dragged to Bury, and there his head being 
 struck off, was set upon the pillory at the market 
 cross. It was his youngest son, John, one of the 
 esquires to the body of Richard II. that despatched 
 Tyler in Smithfield, after he had been stabbed by Sir 
 William Wai worth, for which he was knighted on the 
 spot by the king, who also settled a pension of 40/. on 
 him and his heirs for ever. 
 
 On a line with this place is CLARE. This town,
 
 68 SUFFOLK, 
 
 formerly a place of considerable note, situated on the 
 river Stour, 14 miles from Bury, at present contains 
 253 houses and 11 70 inhabitants. It has a weekly 
 market on Fridays, and two annual fairs, on Easter 
 Tuesday and July 26'. The houses are generally old 
 and unsightly, though the streets being broad, render 
 the buildings less objectionable. A house on the 
 north side of this place long attracted attention on 
 account of its ornaments, consisting chiefly of armo- 
 rial bearings and foliage, but these have been so 
 defaced by white-wash that it is no easy matter to 
 describe them. The front of a house near the market 
 exhibits, in basso relievo, the figure of a swan fastened 
 to a tree with a gold chain ; this has been renewed 
 and beautified, but what the fact was that the swan 
 was meant to exhibit at present puts conjecture at 
 defiance. The castle of Clare, once so celebrated, 
 stood on the south side of the town, and from the few 
 vestiges of it that remain, does not appear to have 
 been inferior in grandeur to any of the feudal man- 
 sions in the kingdom. The site of the whole, as far 
 as it can be traced at present, contains about 20 acres, 
 once surrounded by water, and divided into an inner 
 and outer bailey, the latter only being inclosed with 
 a wall. On the summit of a steep hill about 100 feet 
 high, and of no great circumference at the base, pro- 
 bably of artificial formation, a fragment of the keep 
 still remains. A narrow path winding round the hill 
 leads to this relic of antiquity, which, when surrounded 
 with verdure, forms a picturesque object. It seems to 
 have been of a circular form within, but the exterior 
 WHS a polygon, with buttresses at the angles ; there
 
 SUFFOLK. 69 
 
 are three of these buttresses in the part yet remaining. 
 A fragment of the wall, well built, like the keep, with 
 a composition of mortar and flints, runs down the hill, 
 along the north side of the area of the castle, and a 
 small portion is still standing on the opposite side. 
 This is all that remains to attest the existence of the 
 once magnificent castle of Clare. Respecting the 
 foundation of this structure there are no accounts that 
 can possibly challenge implicit belief. Seated on the 
 frontier of the kingdom of the East Angles, the most 
 probable conjecture is that it was erected during the 
 Saxon heptarchy, though no mention is made of it in 
 history till near two centuries after the union of the 
 petty sovereignties in the person of Egbert. At this 
 time, and during the reigns of Canute, Hardieanute, 
 and Edward, Aluric, an earl, the son of Withgar, was in 
 possession of it, and in the beginning of the 10th cen- 
 tury founded in the castle the church of St. John the 
 Baptist, in which he placed seven prebends. At the 
 period of the Norman conquest, Clare was one of the 
 95 lordships in this county, assigned by William to 
 his kinsman, Richard Fitz Gilbert, to whose assistance 
 he conceived himself materially indebted for his vic- 
 tory at Hastings. From this place he was sometimes 
 denominated Richard de Clare, though he was more 
 usually known by the name of Tonebruge, from his 
 residence at the town of Tunbridge in Kent. He left 
 his English estates to his son Gilbert, who likewise 
 made Tnnbridge his seat, and who by a deed bearing 
 date 10QO, attested at the castle of Clare, gave to the 
 monks of Bee, in Normandy, the church of St. John 
 Baptist here, with the prebends belonging to it. This
 
 70 SUFFOLK. 
 
 nobleman was created Earl of Pembroke by King 
 Stephen, and on his death, in the 14th year of that 
 king's reign, was succeeded by his son, the celebrated 
 Richard Strongbow, the first English adventurer who 
 went to Ireland for the purpose of reducing that 
 country. As he died without male issue, his estates in 
 England devolved to his uncle Richard, supposed to 
 have been the first of the family dignified with the 
 title of the Earl of Clare. By him the monks of the 
 castle here were translated to the church of St. Au- 
 gustine at Stoke. 
 
 The fourth in descent from this Richard was Gil- 
 bert, surnamed the Red, who having obtained a 
 divorce from his first wife, Alice dc March, daughter 
 of Guy, Earl of Angouleme, married Joan of Acres, 
 daughter of King Edward I. By this princess, who 
 survived him, he had his son and successor, Gilbert, 
 who dying without male issue, the honour of Clare 
 became extinct, but his estate was divided among his 
 three sisters. One of these ladies, Elizabeth, married 
 to John de Burgh, son and heir to the Earl of Ulster, 
 in Ireland, is more particularly memorable for having 
 rebuilt and endowed University Hall, in Cambridge, and 
 given it the name of Clare Hall, which it still retains. 
 
 The honour of Clare now lay dormant for some 
 years, during which John de Hansted held the castle, 
 for life. On his decease, Lionel, third son of Edward 
 III. being then lieutenant of Ireland, was in the 3(3th 
 of that king's reign created Duke of Clarence. After 
 several changes, by which the honour of Clare became 
 dormant, it was not revived till the 22d of James I. 
 when John Ilollis of Houghton, in Nottinghamshire,
 
 SUFFOLK. 7l 
 
 previously created Lord Houghton, was raised to the 
 dignity of Earl of Clare. In 1688, John, his great 
 grandson, succeeded to the earldom. He married 
 Margaret, third daughter of Henry Cavendish, Duke 
 of Newcastle j and on the death of his father-in-law, 
 without male issue, he was, in consideration of his 
 services in contributing to seat William III. on the 
 throne, created by him Marquis of Clare and Duke of 
 Newcastle. In his time he was accounted the richest 
 peer in England ; but having no male issue, he left 
 the bulk of his landed possessions to Thomas Holies 
 Pelham, whom King George 1. successively invested 
 \vith the titles borne by his uncle, which again became 
 extinct with that family during the succeeding reign. 
 At length, in ] 789, his present Majesty conferred the 
 Dukedom of Clarence on his third son, Prince William 
 Henry. 
 
 Near the ruins of the castle of Clare, is Clare Priory, 
 formerly a monastery of canons regular of St. Augus- 
 tine, founded in 1248, by Richard de Clare, Earl of 
 Gloucester, from whom descended the Mortimers, 
 Earls of March, and the royal house of York, as -re- 
 lated in the pedigree of Joan of Acres, daughter of 
 Edward I. and wife of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of 
 Gloucester, and also in a poem inserted in Weaver's 
 Funeral Monuments/ Henry VIII. granted this priory 
 to Richard Friend, and a part of the buildings have 
 nearly ever since that time been occupied as a dwell- 
 ing-house. They have been recently repaired, but 
 retain with the name much of the appearance of their 
 original destination. This priory is now the seat of 
 Mrs. Barker. In the church belonging to it, which 
 has been many years since converted into a barn, li$
 
 72 SUFFOLK. 
 
 the body of Joan of Acres, second daughter of Ed- 
 ward I., by his Queen Eleanor, who was born in the 
 first year of her father's reign, at Ptolemais, in the 
 Holy Land, commonly called Acre, and celebrated in 
 modern history by the defeat of Bonaparte when he 
 laid siege to it, by Sir Sidney Smith and Djezzar Pacha, 
 the energetic old man. Her eldest son, by Ralph de 
 Monthermer, and several other noble personages, were 
 also interred in this church. 
 
 The parish church of Clare, an ancient and beautiful 
 structure with a square tower, is at present the prin- 
 cipal ornament of the place. From its stately appear- 
 ance it is thought to have been erected at the cost of 
 the lords, who allowed the towivs-people the use of it. 
 The font is of stone, and from its form and decoration, 
 is evidently of the same age as the church. Among 
 other persons of note interred here is Edmund, son of 
 Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, and next heir to the 
 crown after the death of Richard IF. Here is however 
 only one monument of a knight, supposed to be one of 
 the Cavendish family. 
 
 About two miles north of Clare is the village of 
 POSLINGFORD : this was anciently the lordship of Ralph 
 Baynard. The impropriation and advowson of the 
 vicarage belonged to the priory of Dunmow, in Essex, 
 and were granted by Henry VIII. to Robert, Earl of 
 Sussex. Here is New Hall. 
 
 STOKE JUXTA CLARE. This has long been remark- 
 able for the priory, translated from the castle of Clare 
 hither, by Richard de Tonebridge, Earl of Clare. It 
 belonged to the Jienedictines, and about the year 1415, 
 Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, augmented its 
 revenues, and effected its exchange from a priory to u
 
 SUFFOLK. 75 
 
 many years, and to afford subsistence to a great num- 
 ber of persons, chiefly employed in the weaving of 
 says, funeral crape, and ship's flags. Simon de Sud- 
 bury, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1375, and who was 
 beheaded by the populace in Wat Tyler's insurrection, 
 was a native of this town. He built the upper end of 
 St. Gregory's church, and on the spot where his father's 
 house stood he founded and endowed a college, which 
 at the suppression was valued at 122/. 18s. per annum. 
 The same prelate, in conjunction with John de Chert- 
 sey, founded a priory here of the order of St. Augustine, 
 though according to Weever, this was founded by 
 Baldwin de Shimpling and Mabel his wife, both in- 
 terred in the chancel of the priory church. During 
 the reign of King John, Amicia, Countess of Clare, 
 founded an hospital in this town, dedicated to Jesus 
 Christ and the Virgin Mary, and near it a church or 
 chapel dedicated to St. Bartholomew, which was given 
 to the abbey of Westminster by Wulfric, master of the 
 mint under Henry II. in consequence of which a priory 
 of Benedictine monks, subordinate to that abbey, was 
 settled at Sudbury. This priory, of which Kirby has 
 given a print, was not taken down till the year 1779- 
 The body of Simon of Sudbury, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, was interred in St. Gregory's church in this 
 town, where, in 1748, it is said, " his head is still 
 shewn. It was not long since entire, the flesh and 
 skin dried by art, the mouth wide open," &c. Mr. 
 Gough says that it is still shewn, the skin tunned, and 
 the ears entire. It is now deposited under a marble 
 stone, four yards long, and two broad, in the chapel or 
 part of the church which he built. The monument 
 erected to his honour in the cathedral of Canterbury
 
 76 SUFFOLK. 
 
 is merely a cenotaph. An inscription in the window 
 of the chapel, near his tomb, recorded his foundation 
 in these words : 
 
 " Orate pro Domino Simone Theopold alias Sudbury qui istam 
 capellam fundavit, Anno Domini 1365, in coniruemorationc Oinniuiu 
 animarum, Dedicat. dat. Consecrat. 
 
 Sudbury, since the river Stour has been rendered 
 navigable to Manningtree, has carried on a com- 
 paratively brisk trade in the commodities consumed by 
 the neighbouring counties, but of late it has been sub- 
 jected to its share of the general depression occasioned 
 by the transition from war to peace. It is governed 
 by a mayor, recorder, seven aldermen, including the 
 mayor, a bailiff, town clerk, 24 common councilmen, 
 and two Serjeants at inacc. 
 
 To the left of this place is 
 
 CHILTON, or CHIPLKY, a hamlet of Clare. Here 
 was formerly a small priory, which in the year 14^)8 
 was united to the college of Stoke. The remains of 
 this have long been converted into a private dwelling- 
 house. Chilton wus formerly the residence of the 
 family of the Cranes, of which Sir John was created 
 a baronet in the year lt)27, but this family and title 
 have long been extinct. An ancient chapel here has 
 been converted into a thatched cottage : the outer 
 walls, built with Hint and ragstone, the door, and a 
 window on the north side, two small windows at the 
 cast end, and one in the south front, are almost the 
 whole of the remains of this building. Chilton Park 
 is the seat of John Addison, esq. 
 
 Proceeding towards Neyland, on our right are Great 
 4inl Little Cornard, and Assington.
 
 SUFFOLK. 77 
 
 CORNARD MAGNA was formerly the lordship of the 
 Abbess of Mailing, in Kent, who bought it of Thomas 
 De Grey about the year 1317* 
 
 CORNARD PARVA was the lordship of Thomas De 
 Grey, and Sir Roger De Grey, of Merton, in Norfolk, 
 knt. died seised of it in 13/1. 
 
 ASSINGTON. Sir Andrew de Nevile claimed the pa- 
 tronage and advowson of this church in the 18th year 
 of Edward I. The manor afterwards belonged to the 
 family of the Corbets, who were seated here. Sir 
 Piers Corbet was a knight banneret in the time of 
 Edward I. and Sir Thomas Corbet attended a tourna- 
 ment at Dunstable in the second year of Edward II. 
 This family continued here till the reign of Henry VIII. 
 when they sold the estate to Robert Gurdon, esq. 
 
 Passing through the village of Newton, at about two 
 miles distance on the right, and about six miles from 
 Sudbury, is 
 
 BOXFORD, situated in a fertile and highly cultivated 
 valley, between two brooks, which unite a little below 
 it. This place contains 135 houses, and 702 inhabitants. 
 The town, consisting of several streets, carries on a 
 considerable trade in malt, and has a manufactory for 
 dressing sheep and deer skins. Here are annual fairs 
 on Easter Monday and on the 21st of December. 
 
 The church is a spacious building, 95 feet long, and 
 52 broad, and has a spire steeple. The porch, on the 
 south side, is of stone ; over the entrances are seven 
 niches, with a number of inscriptions, but not legible. 
 The town contains a free grammar-school, founded by 
 Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 About a mile south-east of Boxford is Peyton Hall, 
 sometimes called Polstead House, being near that 
 H 3
 
 78 SUFFOLK. 
 
 The Conqueror granted this manor to Robert Mulct, 
 the progenitor of the ancient family of the Peytons, by 
 whom it was long possessed ; and south-west of Box- 
 ford church is Coddenham Hall, a good seat, formerly 
 the residence of the Bennets, but since converted into 
 a farm-house. 
 
 About a mile north of Boxford is 
 
 GROTON, formerly the lordship of the Abbot of 
 Bury. It was granted at the dissolution to Adam 
 Winthorp, esq. in whose family it continued till about 
 the fourth year of Charles 1. It was afterwards the 
 seat of the Warings. 
 
 Returning towards Neyland, we pass Averley Hall. 
 
 NEYLAND is seated on the north bank of the Stour, 
 over which' is a large brick bridge of one arch, leading 
 into Essex. This place is subject to inundations from 
 the lowness of its situation. Here is a weekly market 
 on Fridays, and an annual fair on the 2nd of October. 
 Neyland contains 223 houses, and 1242 inhabitants. 
 The church, standing in the middle of the town, with 
 its spire steeple, is its principal ornament. The an- 
 cient monuments here are chiefly to the memory of 
 persons formerly eminent in the clothiery line, for 
 which this town was once famous. One Abel, a 
 cloth-worker, is said to have built the handsome porch 
 of this church, in the wall of which he has a monu- 
 ment, and to signify his name, and also to make up 
 his coat armour, the letter A. and the picture of a bell 
 are cast upon the monument. 
 
 STOKE JUXTA NEYLAND, or STOKE NEYLAND, is so 
 called to distinguish it from Stoke Juxta Clare, and 
 Stoke near Ipswich. Here was a monastery of consi- 
 derable celebrity before the conquest. The church,
 
 SUFFOLK. 79 
 
 with its majestic steeple, is a noble structure. This 
 may be seen as far off as Harwich, a distance of twenty 
 miles. Neyland, though containing a much greater 
 number of houses, is only a chapel of ease to the 
 church of Stoke. 
 
 The church at Neyland contains several handsome 
 monuments for the Howards. In the south part, be- 
 tween the high altar and choir, is interred Catherine, 
 first wife of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, slain at 
 the battle of Bosworth, in support of Richard III., with 
 this inscription : 
 
 " Under this stone is buried the body of the right 
 honourable woman and ladie, sometime wife unto the 
 right high and mighty prince Lord John Howard, 
 Duke of Norfolk, and mother unto the right noble and 
 puissant prince Lord Thomas Howard, Duke also of 
 Norfolke, who departed this present life, Ann. Dom. 
 1452." 
 
 Giffard's Hall, in this parish, with the estate, has 
 been in possession of the Mannock family since the 
 time of Henry VI., being then purchased by Philip 
 Mannock, who had previously resided at the neigh- 
 bouring village of Stoke. This house surrounds a 
 quadrangular court ; the entrance by a tower gateway, 
 said to have been built in the beginning of the reign of 
 Henry VIII. by Peter Gifford, a distant relative to Anne 
 Bullen : however, the whole is of brick, and the mould- 
 ings of the windows, doors, and other ornaments, are 
 of the same material. Opposite to this entrance are 
 some remains of an old chapel. 
 
 A little to the left of Neyland, between that place 
 and Stoke, is situated 
 
 TENDRING HALL : this anciently belonged to a family
 
 80 SUFFOLK. 
 
 of that name. William de Tendring had a grant of a 
 market and fair at Stoke by Neyland, in the thirty-first 
 of the reign of Edward I. Sir John Williams, knight, 
 and Lord Mayor of London, one of its possessors, in 
 the year 1736, built a fine seat here, which by pur- 
 chase became the property of Sir William Rowley, 
 one of the lords of the admiralty. Joshua, his son, 
 gave several proofs of courage and conduct in the 
 naval service, for which he was created a baronet in 
 178(5. On his death, in 17QO, Tendring Hall became 
 the property of his son and successor, and is now in 
 the possession of Sir William Rowley, bart. M. P. for 
 Suffolk. To the right is 
 
 WISTON, sometimes called WISSINGTON. The Clu- 
 niac monks of Thetford had the advowson of this 
 church by the gift of Robert, the son of Godbold, and 
 they gave it to their cell of Horkesley in Essex. At 
 two miles distance is 
 
 BURES, or BUEHS. This village, on the Stour, is 
 the place where, according to Galfridus de Fontibus, 
 St. Edmund was crowned king of the East Angles. 
 Other writers contend that Bury was the scene of that 
 royal ceremony. The church and spire at Buers were 
 formerly a great ornament to the village, but in the 
 year 1733 the latter was set on fire by lightning, and 
 burned down to the steeple, which was much damaged, 
 the bells melted, and the frames consumed. In a 
 tomb on the north side of this church lies the cross- 
 legged figure of a knight, according to tradition, 
 named Cornard, and who is said to have sold a farm in 
 the parish called Corn Hall, for fourpence, in the time 
 of Henry III. The monuments of the Buers, who 
 took their name from this place, are to be seen here.
 
 Soztzh* Door- way
 
 SUFFOLK. 81 
 
 Several of the Walgrave family are also interred in 
 this church, as Sir Richard Walgrave, knight, who 
 died in 1400, and Joanna, his wife, in 1406, to the in- 
 scription on whose tomb is added : " He that prays 
 for others, labours for himself." 
 
 A legacy of 2000/. was left by William Martin, esq. 
 of Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, in the hands of cer- 
 tain trustees j and from the interest of this as well as 
 other things, the sum of 4Ql. was bequeathed to be 
 annually paid to the vicar of this parish, and his suc- 
 cessors for ever. 
 
 The bridge over the Stour here leads through this 
 hamlet to Colchester. Galfridus de Fontibus, who 
 wrote about the year 11.56, tells us, that King Ed- 
 mund, who was cruelly murdered by the Danes at 
 Hoxne, in this county, was crowned here. His words 
 are these : " Being unanimously approved, they 
 brought him to Suffolk, and in the village called Bu~ 
 rum made him king ; the venerable prelate Humbert 
 assisting, and anointing and consecrating Edmund to 
 be king. Now Burum is an ancient royal hill, the 
 known bound between East Sexe and Suffolk, and 
 situate upon the Stour, a river most rapid in summer 
 and winter." This passage, the author of the Addi- 
 tions to Camden remarks, is the more observable, be- 
 cause it shews what we are to understand by Burva 
 in Asserius's Life of Alfred, and that it is not Bury, 
 as the Chronicle under Brompton's name supposes, nor 
 yet Burne, in Lincolnshire, but this Bures, or Buers, 
 as Matthew of Westminster calls it.
 
 82 SUFFOLK. 
 
 EXCURSION II. 
 
 FROM BURY ST. EDMUNDS TO THETFORD, FROM THET- 
 FORD TO NEWMARKET, RETURNING TO BUKY. 
 
 Through Fornliam St. Martin., Ingham, Barn- 
 ham, Thetford, Elvcdon, Little Barton, Her- 
 ly Newmarket, Kentford, and Saxham. 
 
 ON commencing our present excursion, which ex- 
 tends through the north-west corner of the county, 
 we proceed, in the first instance, towards the north, 
 and at about the distance of three miles from Bury 
 arrive at the Fornhams, lying in, and on the left of 
 our road. 
 
 FORK HAM ST. MARTIN is on the high road. This 
 manor formerly belonged to the abbot of Bury, and 
 was granted, with the other Fornham, to Sir Thomas 
 Kitson by Henry VIII. 
 
 At About a mile distant on the left is 
 
 FoRttHAM ALL SAINTS. Out of lands in this parish 
 Penelope, Countess of Rivers, gave a rent charge of 
 8/. per aim. in order that a sermon should be preached 
 against popery four times a year at Bury. This lady 
 had the singular fortune to marry in succession three 
 gentlemen who had been her suitors at the same time, 
 but had children only by her second husband, Sir John 
 (iage, of Firlc in Sussex : she left the estate of Hen-
 
 SUFFOLK. 83 
 
 grave to her second son Edward. Near this village a 
 battle is said to have been fought by Edward, son of 
 King Alfred, with Ethelwald, his uncle's son, over 
 whom he obtained a complete victory. A little beyond, 
 on the left, is 
 
 HENGRAVE, which belonged, in the reign of Edward 
 I., to Edmund de Hengrave, a celebrated lawyer ; and 
 in 1375 to Thomas Hethe. Having devolved to the 
 crown in the reign of Henry VIII., it was purchased 
 of this monarch by Sir Thomas Kitson, who built the 
 fine old hall, and made it the family seat. In July, 
 1662, Edwa?d Gage, esq. of this place, was created a 
 baronet : he had five wives, and died in 1707> at the 
 age of 90 ; and from him the title and property has 
 been transmitted to Sir Thomas Gage, the present 
 possessor. 
 
 The date of the erection of Hengrave Hall is fixed 
 by the following inscription, in three compartments, 
 cut in stone, on the outside of the curious oriel window 
 over the entrance : Opus hoc Fieri Fecit Tome Kytson 
 In Diett el man Droit Anno D'Ni MCCCCC Trieesimo 
 Octavo. The whole of this mansion is of brick and 
 stone ; and Mr. Gough observes, " the gateway is of 
 such singular beauty, and in such high preservation, 
 that perhaps a more elegant specimen of architecture 
 of that age can scarcely be seen." It was once more 
 extensive than at present, several alterations having 
 been made, and some parts at the north and north-east 
 angle taken away in 1775. The building, which is still 
 large, incloses a quadrangular court, and the apartments 
 open into a gallery, the windows of which overlook this 
 court. They formerly contained a quantity of staineil 
 glass, and the bay window in the hall still retains
 
 84 SUFFOLK. 
 
 some fine specimens, consisting of various armorial 
 bearings ; this window is also very splendid from its 
 glazing, mullions, fan-tracery, pendants, and spandrils, 
 ;ill of which nearly resemble the highly florid example 
 in Henry VII.'s chapel. The form of the turrets on 
 each side of the entrance, and at the corners of the 
 building, as also of the two small turreted columns at 
 the door, bear a striking resemblance to Moorish 
 minarets, or the cupolas of Indian edifices. 
 
 Some years since this mansion was the abode of a 
 sisterhood of expatriated nuns from Bruges, to whom 
 the owner of Hengrave liberally afforded an asylum. 
 During their residence here they lost, by death, their 
 superior, a lineal descendant of the great Sir Thomas 
 More. When the decree in favour of the emigrants 
 was issued in France, they availed themselves of the 
 permission to return ; but in 1810, a domestic chapel, 
 fitted up in one of the angles of the building, and 
 provided with an organ, remained in the state in which 
 they left it. 
 
 Very near the hall stands a small church, which is 
 distinguished by one of those round towers peculiar to 
 Suffolk and Norfolk ; but as the rectory has been con- 
 solidated with Flempton many years, no use seems to 
 be made of this edifice. The principal monuments in 
 the interior are those of the Kitsons ; John Bouchier, 
 Earl of Bath, who married into the family; his son 
 John, Lord Fitz-Warren ; Thomas, son of Earl Rivers ; 
 and many of the Gages. A fine marble tomb to the 
 memory of Sir Thomas Kitson, the founder of Hen- 
 grave Hall, with effigies of himself and one of his first 
 wives, possesses this singularity, that a blank is left 
 for her name and parentage. This gentleman, who
 
 SUFFOLK. 85 
 
 came from the obscure village of Yealland, in Lanca- 
 shire, having accumulated immense wealth as a clothier, 
 received the honour of knighthood, and purchased the 
 manor of Hengrave from the crown j besides this he 
 possessed several other estates in Suffolk, Devonshire, 
 Dorsetshire, and in the city of London, for which he 
 served the office of sheriff: he was afterwards ap- 
 pointed, by the Duke of Norfolk, steward of the 
 franchise of Bury St. Edmund's, and died Sept. 13, 
 1540, aged 55. 
 
 FORNHAM ST. GENOVEVE lies rather beyond the 
 other Fornhams. This manor formerly belonged to the 
 abbot of Bury. Near this place, in the 20th of Henry II. 
 or the year 1173, Richard de Lucy, chief constable of 
 England, and Humphrey de Bohun, the king's con- 
 stable, beat Robert, Earl of Leicester, in a pitched battle, 
 and killed ten thousand Flemings whom he had got 
 over to his assistance. Blomefield observes, " Their 
 sepulchres are now to be seen near a place called 
 Rymer House, on the right hand of the road leading 
 from Thetford to Bury, and are now called the Seven 
 Hills, though there are many morej but seven of 
 them being much larger than the rest, are particularly 
 taken notice of by those that pass this way, under which, 
 most probably, the commanders were buried." 
 
 In this place is a seat and park belonging to the Duke 
 of Norfolk. 
 
 FLEMPTON lies about four miles to the left of the 
 high road. This village belonged to Bury Abbey, and 
 was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Thomas Kitson. A 
 road from this place leads westward to 
 
 CAVENHAM, or Canham: this was anciently the lord- 
 i
 
 86 SUFFOLK. 
 
 ship and demesne of Gilbert, Earl of Clare. The manor 
 of Shardelows, in Cavenham, belonged to Humphrey, 
 Duke of Buckingham, in the 28th of the reign of 
 Henry VI. Returning towards the road, leaving the 
 little village of Tuddenham on our left, at rather more 
 than two miles distance, we come to 
 
 LACKFORD. This is one of the manors that belonged 
 to Hugh de St. Philibert, in the 7th of Edward III. 
 About two miles and a half from this place, rather to 
 the north-west, is Icklingham. 
 
 ICK.LINGHAM, four miles eastward of Mildcvliall, 
 and north of the Lark, has two parishes and two parish 
 churches, St. James's and All Saints. In the latter, 
 within the rails of the communion table, and about 
 the chancel, is a considerable quantity of Roman 
 bricks that were ploughed up in a neighbouring field : 
 they are of different shapes, slightly traced with the 
 figures of animals, flowers, human faces, &c. and 
 some few of them are vitrified. This place is supposed 
 by some to have been the ancient Roman station Cnm- 
 bretonium, or, according to Horseley, Comboritnm. 
 I lere, at any rate, says the author of a Tour through 
 England, generally ascribed to Richardson, are vestiges 
 of a settlement which seems to have extended half a 
 mile in length, at a small distance from the river. On 
 tle west side of the ruins is a square encampment now 
 called Kentfield, a corruption of Campficld, and which 
 seemed to have contained about twenty-five acres. 
 The vallum is visible all around it, except where the 
 moorish ground has wasted it away. Coins and fibulae 
 have been found here in the moors and ploughed grounds, 
 especially when the former have been dug up for rais-
 
 SUFFOLK. 87 
 
 ing fences, and for draining. Many years since au 
 ancient leaden cistern, containing sixteen gallons, and 
 ornamented as with hoops, was discovered by a plough- 
 man. Westward of the camp, upon Warren Hill, are 
 three large barrows, each encompassed by a ditch. 
 
 About a mile and a half from Lackford, towards the 
 north-east, is 
 
 WEST STOW. According to a mural monument in the 
 chancel of the church here, the Crofts were in possession 
 of this manor as early as the time of Edward I. It 
 belonged afterwards to Bury Abbey. From the abbots 
 of Bury it came to the Bacons, and the family of Pro- 
 gers, and next to Sir Sydenham Fowke, who married 
 the heiress of Progers, who resided in West Stow Hall, 
 and lastly to the Marquis Cornwallis. This is a spa- 
 cious brick mansion, moated, and formerly surrounded 
 by a quadrangular court, and well adapted by its inte- 
 rior construction for baronial customs and festivities. 
 From the armorial bearings on the porch, it is sup- 
 posed to have been built about the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century ; the arms are those of the Princess 
 Mary, the wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. 
 The building, much reduced in size, has long been used 
 as a farm-house : the embattled pediments, diamond- 
 shaped tracery, and the statues, are chiefly entitled to 
 notice, as curious and unusual appendages in buildings 
 of this order. In this mansion a large collection of 
 armour was formerly preserved. Nearly adjoining to 
 West Stow, between that place and the high road, is 
 
 CULFORD. This was the chief country residence of 
 the late Marquis Cornwallis, the widow of one of 
 whose ancestors married Sir Nathaniel Bacon, half 
 brother to Sir Francis. It is a neat comfortable house,
 
 88 SUFFOLK. 
 
 agreeably situated in a park, and was built, in 15Q1, 
 by Sir Nicholas Bacon, the first baronet of England, 
 and eldest son of the Lord Keeper, and was given by 
 him, with an estate of wool, per annum, to his seventh 
 son, Nathaniel. This gentleman was created Knight 
 of the Bath at the coronation of Charles I., and married 
 Jane Meautys, widow of Sir William Cornwallis, by 
 whom he had a son, who died without issue, and a 
 daughter, married first to Sir Thomas Meautys, and 
 afterwards to Sir Harbottle Grimston, bart. Sir 
 Nathaniel was a painter, and some specimens of his 
 art remain at Gorhambury. 
 
 The church at Culford, a small neat edifice, was 
 built by Sir Stephen Fox, whose daughter was the 
 wife of the third Lord Cornwallis. The monument of 
 Sir Nathaniel Bacon is decorated with a good marble 
 bust, and an epitaph, which informs us that he was 
 well skilled in the history of plants, and the art of 
 delineating them with his pencil. His lady is also 
 interred here, with an inscription, giving her a high 
 character as having supported and saved from ruin 
 two ancient families, into which she had been mar- 
 ried. 
 
 We now rejoin the road at Ingham, a village entirely 
 void of interest; and proceeding a mile further we 
 arrive at 
 
 AMPTON. The family of Calthorpe, which long 
 resided at Ampton Hall, became extinct in the person 
 of Sir Henry Calthorpe, who, dying in 1788, devised 
 all his estates to the male heir of his sister Barbara, 
 wife of Sir Henry Gough of Edgbaston, on condition 
 (hat his nephew should assume the name of Calthorpe; 
 being complied with in 1/96, he was elevated
 
 SUFFOLK. 8Qf 
 
 to the peerage by the title of Baron Ca-Ithorpe, of Cal- 
 thorpe, in the county of Norfolk. 
 
 In the park of Ampton Hall, and that of Livermere, 
 Mr. Young observes, the owners, .with a harmony very 
 unusual, made a noble serpentine river through both, 
 and built a large, handsome bridge over it at their 
 joint expense, by which means they ornamented their 
 grounds to a degree otherwise impossible. In Lord Cal- 
 thorpe's park the water forms a bend against the slope 
 of a wood, which has a very noble effect. Upon the 
 whole, this river, considering it is formed out of a very 
 trifling stream, Mr. Young observes, is one of the finest 
 waters he has ever seen in the grounds of any private 
 gentleman. Mr. Lee Acton has a shrubbery of twenty 
 acres cut out of his park, that is laid out in very just 
 taste : the water and scoop in it are particularly beauti- 
 ful ; the first winds through a thick planted wood, with 
 a very bold shore, in some places wide, in others so 
 narrow that the overhanging trees join their branches, 
 and even darken the scene, which has a charming 
 effect. The banks are every where uneven ; first wild 
 and rough, and covered with bushes and shrubs ; then 
 a fine green lawn in gentle swells, with scattered trees 
 and shrubs to the banks of the water, and seats dis- 
 posed with great judgment 5 and at the termination 
 of the water, the abruptness and ill-effect of that cir- 
 cumstance is taken off by finishing with a dry scoop, 
 which is amazingly beautiful; the bed of the river is 
 continued for some distance along a sloping lawn, 
 with banks on each side, planted and managed with 
 great taste ; " nor did I conceive," continues Mr. 
 Young, " that weeping willows could any where but 
 hanging over the water have been attended with so
 
 9O SUFFOLK. 
 
 beautiful an effect as they have on the steeps of these 
 slopes." 
 
 At Ampton is a comfortable almshouse for poor 
 unmarried women, built and endowed in pursuance of 
 the will of Mrs. Dorothy Calthorpe, a maiden lady, 
 which benefaction is commemorated in the following 
 inscription on the front of the edifice : 
 
 MDXHI 
 
 Dorothea Calthorpe 
 
 Hospitium hoc fimdavit 
 
 Virgo in virginum solamen. 
 
 Over the entrance to a walled garden contiguous to 
 the building, these words are inscribed, Tarn voluptati 
 quam saluti. 
 
 This Lady Calthorpe having once resided in Bury, 
 in consideration of that circumstance left by her will 
 the sum of 50Ol., the interest of which was to be em- 
 ployed in binding out poor boys apprentices : this 
 sum, however, fell short, from losses in her estate, 
 which had debts owing to it. 
 
 To the right of this place we observe the two Liver- 
 meres or Livermores. 
 
 LIVERMERE MAGNA. John Bokenham was lord of 
 this manor and patron of the church in 1467: this 
 benefice and that of Livermore Parva are consolidated. 
 Livermore Parva formerly gave name to Bartholomew 
 Livermore, lord of the manor. It afterwards belonged 
 to Mr. Coke, who built the hall, and left it to the 
 Duke of Grafton, who made it his residence for some 
 time. Baptist Lee, esq. considerably enlarged this 
 neat mansion, and inclosed it with a large park. Liver- 
 inerc Hall is now the seat of N. Lee Acton, esq.
 
 SUFFOLK. 91 
 
 A little to the northward of Livermere Magna is the 
 village of Troston. 
 
 Troston Hall is the seat of Capel Lofft, esq. a gen- 
 tleman well known in the literary world. It is one of 
 those mansions of a former age, which inspire an idea 
 of comfort and hospitality, rather than of cold magni- 
 ficence. It contains a copious library, and the pro- 
 prietor has been at considerable pains to make every 
 appendage consistent with his own peculiar taste. To 
 this end he has inscribed almost every tree in his 
 garden and its vicinity, either to names of classic 
 celebrity, to such as are endeared by the ties of kin- 
 dred and friendship, or are venerable for the superior 
 virtues of the persons who bore them. Thus we find 
 Homer, Demosthenes, Cicero, Milton, and many 
 others : a large elm is denominated the Evelyn elm, 
 after the celebrated antiquary and planter; and to 
 commemorate a visit to Troston Hall of the great 
 philanthropist Howard, in 1786, a laurel was planted, 
 and now bears his name. Bred to the bar, and still 
 occasionally exercising his professional talents at the 
 quarter-sessions and assizes for the county, Mr. Lofft, 
 who now resides at Ipswich, used here to relax in the 
 more pleasing pursuit of the belles lettres, and espe- 
 cially poetry : astronomy also constitutes one of his 
 favourite recreations. His works have been chiefly 
 on legal and political subjects. He is not only an 
 author himself, but has proved on various occasions 
 the warm patron of literary talents in others, and to 
 him the public are in a great measure indebted for the 
 introduction of the Farmer's Boy to their notice. 
 
 To the honour of Suffolk, it must be allowed that the 
 patronage which was denied to the author of the
 
 Q2 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Farmer's Boy in the metropolis was liberally afforded 
 him in his own county. It is no derogation to the 
 rest of his patrons, to say that the primum mobile of 
 their exertions originated with the liberal proprietor of 
 Troston Hall, who made himself personally acquainted 
 with the poet there, in the year 1 800. According to 
 Mr. Cupel Lofft's own narration, prefixed to the latest 
 editions of the Farmer's Boy, he received in November 
 1798> a IMS. which he was requested to read and to give 
 his opinion of. It was left for him by Mr. George 
 Bloomfield, the brother of the author, and he had 
 recommended it with a very modest, sensible, and 
 candid letter. It had before been shewn to some per- 
 sons in London, whose indifference toward it may be 
 probably explained, when it is considered that it came 
 to their hands under no circumstances of adventitious 
 recommendation. With some, Mr. Lofft observes, a 
 person must be rich, or titled, or fashionable as a 
 literary name, in some respect good or bad, before any 
 thing he can offer will be thought worthy of notice. 
 " I had/' he continues, " been a little accustomed to 
 the effect of prejudices, and I was determined to judge 
 in the only just .and reasonable way of the work, by 
 the work itself. At first, J confess, seeing it divided 
 into the Four Seasons, I had to encounter a preposses- 
 sion not very advantageous to any writer, that the 
 author was treading in a path already so admirably 
 trod by Thomson, and might be adding one more to 
 an attempt already so often, but so injudiciously and 
 unhappily made, of transmitting that noble poem from 
 blank verse into rhyme j from its own pure native 
 gold, into an alloyed metal of incomparably less 
 splendour, }>ennancnce, and worth. I had soon, how-
 
 SUFFOLK. 93 
 
 ever, the pleasure of finding myself relieved from that 
 apprehension, and of discovering, that although the 
 delineation of rural scenery naturally branches itself 
 into these divisions, there was little except the general 
 qualities of a musical ear, flowing numbers, feeling, 
 piety, poetic imagery and animation, a true sense of 
 the natural and pathetic, force of thought, and liveli- 
 ness of imagination, which were in common between 
 Thomson and this author. 
 
 " But with these general characters of true poetry, 
 ' The Farmer's Boy' has a character of its own. It is 
 discriminated as much as the circumstances and habits, 
 and situation, and ideas, consequently associated, which 
 are so widely diverse in the two authors, could make it 
 different. Simplicity, sweetness, a natural tenderness, 
 that mol/e atque focetum, which Horace celebrates in 
 the eclogues of Virgil, will be found to belong to it." 
 
 Mr. Lofft then proceeds to give the account of the 
 author himself, such as he received from his brother, 
 to whom he was entirely a stranger, but of whose can- 
 dour and good sense he had not the least doubt. " Mr. 
 George Bloomfield," says he, " concludes this clear, 
 affectionate, and interesting narrative, by a very kind 
 address to the writer of this preface j but pleased as I 
 am with the good opinion of a man like him, I must 
 not take praise to myself for not having neglected or 
 suppressed such a work when it came into my hands. 
 And I have no further merit than that of seeing what it 
 was impossible for an unprejudiced mind not to see, 
 and of doing what it was impossible not to do. 
 
 "My part has been this, and it has been a very 
 pleasing one; to, revise the MS. making occasional 
 corrections with respect to orthography, and sometimes
 
 94 SUFFOLK. 
 
 in the grammatical construction. The corrections, in 
 point of grammar, reduce themselves almost wholly to 
 a circumstance of provincial usage, which even well 
 educated persons in Suffolk and Norfolk do not wholly 
 avoid, that of adopting the plural for the singular ter- 
 mination of verbs, so as to exclude the s ; but not a 
 line is added or substantially altered through the whole 
 poem. I have requested the MS. to be preserved, for 
 the satisfaction of those who may wish to be satisfied 
 on this head. And those who have shewn themselves 
 the friends of the Farmer's Boy, must excuse me if I 
 mention some of them whose liberal and zealous 
 attention had excited those feelings in the heart of his 
 brother, and have filled his with sentiments of thank- 
 fulness. The Duke of Grafton has every way shewn 
 himself attentive to the genius, the worth of Mr. Bloom- 
 field : he has essentially added to his comforts. His 
 royal highness the Duke of York, by Captain Bun- 
 bury, has made a liberal present, as an acknowledgment 
 of the pleasure received from the perusal of his excel- 
 lent poem. This attention of his royal highness, 
 liberal and amiable in itself, has been the cause of like 
 liberality in others. It suggested to Dr. Drake, and 
 other gentlemen at Hadleigh, the idea of a local sub- 
 scription of a, guinea each, in that town and neigh- 
 bourhood. This has been carried into effect by him- 
 self and 1 1 other friends. With a large proportion of 
 those who have thus stood forth the friends of genius 
 and worth, I have the pleasure of being acquainted. 
 
 " Sir Charles Bunbury has warmly expressed his ap- 
 probation of the poem, as not only excellent for a 
 Farmer's Boy, but such as would do honour to any 
 person, whatever his education, and he has also con-
 
 SUFFOLK. 95 
 
 tributed to make it early and advantageously known. 
 Mr. Green of Ipswich has spoken of it as a charming; 
 composition, reflecting in a very natural and vivid 
 manner the series of interesting images which touched 
 the sensibility of a young, an artless, but a most intel- 
 ligent observer of nature,, placed in a situation highly 
 favourable to observation, though in fact not often 
 productive of it. That originality in such a subject is 
 invaluable, and that this poem appears to him (I know 
 few men so qualified to judge on such a point) through- 
 out original. And literary characters who have earned 
 to themselves much of true praise by their own pro- 
 ductions, Mr. Dyer and Dr. Drake, of Hadleigh, have 
 given full and appropriate encomium to the excel- 
 lence, both in plan and execution, of this admirable 
 rural poem. My friend, Mr. Black, of Woodbridge, 
 has noticed it in a very pleasing and characteristic 
 letter, addressed to me, in verse. I believe I shall not 
 be just to the Farmer's Boy, if I omit to notice that the 
 taste and genius of Mrs. Opie, born to do honour to 
 every department of the fine arts, have given her a 
 high sentiment of its merits. I understand there is a 
 prose translation of the Farmer's Boy into French, 
 and it is translating into Italian. This is one instance 
 of its immediate celebrity : another will be, that in the 
 latter end of the year 1602, when the seventh edition 
 was published, 26,000 copies had been printed in two 
 years and three quarters, to which several large im- 
 pressions have since been added." These circum- 
 stances are sufficient to justify Mr. Lofft and his Suffolk 
 friends for the partiality they have shewn for their 
 favourite poet.
 
 Q SUFFOLK. 
 
 From Troston a road leads us back into the high 
 road, and we proceed to 
 
 BARNHAM, which consists of two parishes, St. 
 Martin and St. Gregory, having formerly had two 
 parish churches : that of St. Martin has long been in 
 ruins. It was once the lordship of John de Shyrtle. 
 Between this place, Rushford, Euston, and Thetford, 
 there is a row of 10 or 11 tumuli, and here Mr. Blome- 
 field, the Norfolk historian, supposes the great battle 
 between King Edward and the Danes to have been 
 fought, in the year 87 1. 
 
 Barnham Water is a small rivulet which crosses the 
 road from Euston to Thetford : " it is in the midst of 
 a bleak unwooded scene/' and justifies the Suffolk 
 poet's lamentation in its fullest extent, who from this 
 spot beholds 
 
 The Danish mounds of partial green, 
 
 Still as each mouldering tower decays, 
 Far o'er the bleak unwooded scene 
 
 Proclaim their wondrous length of days. 
 No mountain charms have I to sing, 
 
 No loftier minstrel's rights invade ; 
 From trilles oft ray raptures spring, 
 
 Sweet Burnham Water wants a thadc. 
 
 Proceeding along the border of the county, we next 
 arrive at 
 
 THETFORD. The whole or the greatest part of this 
 once celebrated place seems to have been originally on 
 the Suffolk side of the water ; and there is still one 
 parish, that of St. Mary, consisting of about 3O houses, 
 avowedly in Suffolk. In the reign of Edward III. 
 then- were 13 parishes on the Suffolk side, and only
 
 SUFFOLK. 97 
 
 seven on the Norfolk. The priory of Cluniac monks, 
 though soon removed to the opposite one, was first 
 founded on the Suffolk side ; but the houses of the 
 canons of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Dominican 
 friars, continued on this side till the dissolution. 
 
 We now turn towards the south-west, taking the 
 road to Newmarket, and proceed to 
 
 ELVEDON. This contains Monk's Hall manor. Here 
 certain justices of the peace, when the king's commis- 
 sioners only indicted the inhabitants of Bury for a 
 trespass, after they had committed their ravages upon 
 the abbey of that place, boldly and officiously pro- 
 ceeded against the offenders as felons, on which they 
 were brought to trial, and 19 persons suffered death. 
 
 To the right of Elvedon is Elvedon Hall, late the 
 seat of the Earl of Albemarle : the present owner is R. 
 Newton, esq. 
 
 From Elvedon, passing over nearly eight miles of 
 uncultivated country, we arrive at 
 
 BARTON MILLS, or LITTLE BARTON j so called to 
 distinguish it from another Barton, in the hundred of 
 Thedwastre. The manor here was given to the abbot 
 of Bury by one Robert Hoo, but the advowson of the 
 church was given to the college of Stoke by Clare. 
 
 Nearly adjoining to this place is 
 
 MILDENHALL, situated upon the river Larke : it is 
 a large, pleasant, well built place, constitutes half a 
 hundred of itself, and has a weekly market on Fridays, 
 well supplied with fish, wild fowl, and all other pro- 
 visions. Towards the fens which extend eastward to 
 Cambridgeshire, are several large streets called by the 
 inhabitants rows, as West-row, Beck-row, Holywell- 
 row, most of them as large as ordinary villages. The
 
 98 SUFFOLK. 
 
 river here being navigable for barges, has considera- 
 bly added to the trade and navigation of the town, 
 which contains 351 houses, and 24Q3 inhabitants, and 
 has an annual fair on the 10th of October. The 
 church is a large handsome structure, with a rich roof 
 of carved wood work, and consists of a spacious nave, 
 two side aisles, a proportionate chancel, and a neat 
 Gothic porch. It contains several monuments be- 
 longing to the family of the Norths. The noble man- 
 sion of Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, bart. late one of 
 the representatives of this county, is situated to the 
 north of this edifice. It was formerly the residence of 
 his great uncle, Sir Thomas Hanmer, speaker of the 
 House of Commons in Queen Anne's reign : he died 
 in 1746. A manor of this town was given by Ed- 
 ward the Confessor to the Abbey of Bury, that the re- 
 ligious might eat wheaten instead of barley bread. 
 This prince, who, by the leave of his clergy, was also 
 a mighty hunter before the Lord, received yearly from 
 the single manor of Barton, near Gloucester, " three 
 thousand loaves of bread for the maintenance of his 
 dogs." The ancient mansion of the Norths is of the 
 time of Eli/abeth, or early in the reign of James I. 
 It contains numerous apartments, and a gallery the 
 whole length of the front j but the rooms in general are 
 of small dimensions. On the 17th of May, 1507, this 
 town suffered severely by a (ire, which, in two hours, 
 destroyed thirty-seven dwelling houses, besides barns, 
 stables, &c. 
 
 A good road from Mildenhall leads to Brandon, 
 which \vc shall pursue, observing the villages of Eres- 
 well and Wangford, which lie between us and that place. 
 
 EKESWEI.L. This manor was held of the king in
 
 SUFFOLK. 99 
 
 capite, as of his Honour of Boulogne, by Ralph of 
 Koucestre and his descendants ; and in the first year of 
 Edward II. was so held by Robert de Tudenham, and 
 Eve his wife. Besides the parish church, there was at 
 the north end of the parish a chapel dedicated to St. 
 Lawrence ; and in one of these a chantry, of the yearly 
 value of gl. 
 
 WANGFORD was the seat of Lord Chief Justice 
 Wright, well known in the reign of King James II. 
 The church is partly built of bricks, and partly of flints, 
 and has a newly-erected spire and steeple, for the ex- 
 pense of which a peal of bells was sold by the parish. 
 
 BRANDON is agreeably situated on the Little Ouse, 
 and had formerly a market, now discontinued. It 
 contains 206 houses and 1360 inhabitants, and has 
 three annual fairs for cattle and toys, on the 14th of 
 February, llth of June, and llth of November. The 
 river being navigable from Lynn to Thetford, has a 
 bridge over it at this place, and a mile lower down a 
 ferry over for conveying goods to and from the Isle of 
 Ely. Brandon is well built, and the church is a good 
 structure. Some extensive rabbit warrens in the neigh- 
 bourhood largely contribute to the supply of the Lon- 
 don markets. One of these alone is said to furnish 
 forty thousand rabbits in a year. Here is also a ma- 
 nufactory of gun- flints, the refuse of which, thrown 
 together at the end of the town, forms such heaps as 
 would astonish a stranger on account of their magni- 
 tude. This town gave name to the illustrious family 
 of the Brandons, and afterwards conferred the title of 
 baron on Charles Gerard, who, for his zeal in the ser- 
 vice of Charles I. was created by that monarch Lord 
 Gerard of Brandon, and advanced by his son Charles
 
 100 SUPFOLK. 
 
 to the dignity of Earl of Macclesfield. On the extinc- 
 tion of this family, Queen Anne, in 17 11, created the 
 Duke of Hamilton a peer of England by the title of 
 Baron Button and Duke of Brandon. Simon Eyre, 
 who was lord mayor of London in 1445, was a native 
 of Brandon. At his own expense he erected a granary 
 for the metropolis, with a handsome chapel on the east 
 side of the square of Leadenhall market, and over the 
 porch was this inscription : Dextra Domini exnltavit 
 me; " The right hand of the Lord hath exalted me." 
 He moreover left 5000 marks, a very large sum in 
 those days, for charitable purposes ; and dying in I45p, 
 was interred in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lom- 
 bard-street. About three miles to the north-east of this 
 place, and bordering on Norfolk, is 
 
 DOWNHAM, also called Sandy Downham, a village 
 seated on the Little Ouse, and remarkable for an 
 inundation of sand, which, in 1(568, threatened to over- 
 whelm the whole place. This circumstance is related 
 at large in a letter written by Thomas Wright, esq. 
 who had been a great sufferer by it. Mr. Wright sup- 
 poses that at the eruption of this sand from some sand- 
 hills at Lakenheath, it did not cover more than eight 
 or ten acres of ground j but before it had travelled 
 four miles from its first abode, it increased so as to 
 cover more than a thousand. All the opposition it met 
 with from Lakenheath to Downham was from one 
 farm-house, which the owner endeavoured to secure 
 by building bulwarks against it ; but perceiving this 
 would not answer his purpose, he changed his plan, 
 and instead of endeavouring to prevent its approach, 
 he gave it free passage, and, by slighting his works, 
 was fairly rid of it in four or five years time. After
 
 SUFFOLK. 101 
 
 tliis sand had reached Downham, it continued ten or 
 twelve years in the outskirts of the place without doing 
 any considerable damage. One end of the town, how- 
 ever, met with a worse fate, where many houses were 
 overthrown or buried, and their pastures and meadows, 
 which for a small town were considerable, were de- 
 stroyed. The Little Ouse here at the same time was 
 nearly choked up. 
 
 Having thus noticed these places to the northward, 
 we now proceed from Mildenhall towards the south, 
 and a mile distant observe 
 
 WOKLINGTON. This is thought to be the same as 
 Wredelington, which William de Valence had the ad- 
 vowson of in the reign of Edward I. There is nothing 
 remarkable in the present state of this village : but 
 in this parish lived the late Sir Guy Cooper, bart. and 
 his son, Colonel Cooper, now does or lately did live 
 here. Pursuing the same direction, we next arrive at 
 
 FEECKINGHAM, which has been a peculiar of the 
 diocese of Rochester ever since the time of William 
 the Conqueror. This place lies on the borders of Cam- 
 bridgeshire. A road from hence leads us past Red 
 Lodge to Heringswell : this belonged to the abbot and 
 convent of Bury, and lies in the high road from Little 
 Barton, at about three miles distance from that place. 
 We now cross a part of Cambridgeshire to notice New- 
 market, which, though mostly in that county, has a 
 considerable part of it lying within our limits. 
 
 NEWMARKET is sixty miles and three quarters from 
 London, and contains 256 houses and 1431 inhabitants. 
 The market is held on Thursdays j and here is an an- 
 nual fair on Whit Tuesday, and on the 8th of Novem- 
 ber. The northern side of this town, which is in the 
 K3
 
 102 SUFFOLK. 
 
 county of Suffolk, contains the greatest number of the 
 houses, which are chiefly disposed in one long wide 
 street, being mostly modern and well built. Many of 
 them have been erected as residences for the nobility 
 and private gentlemen who attend the races ; these are 
 extremely handsome. Two of the coffee-houses are 
 very conveniently furnished for the use of the Betters, 
 when they meet to ratify their agreements or settle 
 matches. Billiard and other rooms are also prepared for 
 the reception of those gentlemen who prefer games of 
 skill or hazard to the more boisterous diversions of the 
 turf, and excellent accommodations for visitors may be 
 found in the numerous inns with which the town is 
 provided. Here are two churches, one in Suffolk, the 
 other in Cambridgeshire j but neither of them contain 
 any thing remarkable. Newmarket has been twice 
 destroyed by fire ; the first time in 1683, in the pre- 
 sence of Charles II. his queen, and the Duke of York ; 
 the second fire happened about the commencement of 
 the last century. The races are holden twice a year ; 
 in the Easter week; and in the month of October ; at 
 each of which the king gives a plate, in addition to 
 those contributed by the nobility. Newmarket gave 
 birth to Thomas Weeks, Bishop of Carlisle, the steady 
 adherent to Richard II. Several coins of Trajan, 
 one of Maximianus Herculeus, and one of Faustina, 
 were found near the heath in the course of the last 
 century. 
 
 EXNING, or IXNING, is a village about a mile from 
 Newmarket, in the centre of a small portion of Suf- 
 folk, joined only by the high road to the rest of the 
 county, and otherwise surrounded by Cambridgeshire, 
 to which, in the reign of Edward I., it gave the name
 
 SUFFOLK. 1O3 
 
 of a half hundred. This village, situated in a small 
 vale, has a rivulet running through the midst of it, 
 and is well shaded with fine poplars, producing an 
 agreeable contrast to the monotony of the surrounding 
 country, which in general presents one uniform naked 
 plain. The church is a good and spacious building, 
 with a lofty square tower that commands a very ex- 
 tensive prospect, and is seen at a great distance. In 
 the chancel, very near the communion table, is a square 
 altar tomb, close to the wall, of a coarse sort of grey 
 marble, and was formerly adorned with brasses, of 
 which it has been despoiled. Neither history nor tra- 
 dition has preserved the name of the person for which 
 this monument was raised. A few panes of painted 
 glass remain in the window over the altar, but most 
 of the figures are mutilated. One of these, without a 
 head, has a golden wand, which probably formed part 
 of a crosier. A large square brick mansion here was 
 formerly the seat of the Shepherds, who possessed a 
 good estate in this county. One side of the town of 
 Newmarket is situated in the parish of Exning, as is 
 also part of the heath so celebrated in the annals of 
 racing. This village was the birthplace of Ethelred, 
 whom the pope canonized for a virgin, though she was 
 married to two husbands. Here, too, Ralph Waher 
 planned his unsuccessful conspiracy against William 
 the Conqueror, with Roger de Britolio, Earl of Here- 
 ford, Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland, and some 
 other persons of high rank, which was soon stopped, 
 partly by the desertion of Earl Waltheof, and some of 
 the confederates, and partly by the vigilance of the 
 king's friends, the Bishops of Worcester and Bayeux. 
 Ralph, finding his situation hopeless, fled first into
 
 104 SUFFOLK. 
 
 France, and then to Denmark, leaving his possessions, 
 and those of his adherents,, to the mercy of their ad- 
 A'ersaries. From Newmarket we now pursue the mail 
 road leading us back to Bury. But few places lie im- 
 mediately on our direct road ; we shall therefore turn 
 tc the right, and notice those situated in the south-east 
 corner of the county bordering on Cambridge and 
 Essex, which we have not already observed. 
 
 MOULTON contains nothing remarkable : a road 
 about a mile and a half from Newmarket leads us to 
 it, and thence to 
 
 GAZELEY. The church here was given to the college 
 of Stoke by Clare, as the portion of one of the pre- 
 bendaries. Kentford is a hamlet to Gazelo.y. Passing 
 Carwick bridge, we next arrive at 
 
 DALHAM. This was the lordship of Walter do Nor- 
 wich, a parliamentary baron, in the reign of Edward 
 II. Passing to William de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, 
 it afterwards belonged to the families of Stuteville, 
 Patrick, and Affleck, which last was elevated to the 
 honours of baronetage in 1782. Dalham Hall has 
 since this period been their regular residence, and is 
 at present that of Lieutenant General Sir James Af- 
 fleck. This mansion was built about J705 by Dr. Pa- 
 trick, Bishop of Ely. The offices below are arched, 
 and at the top there is a noble gallery, twenty-four feet 
 wide, that runs quite through the building. On the 
 summit of the steeple of Dalham Church is this inscrip- 
 tion : " Keep my sabbaths, reverence my sanctuary." 
 .Proceeding along the borders of Cambridgeshire, 
 OWSDEN lies to our left. 
 
 Owsdcti Hall is the seat of the llevcrend J. Hand. 
 
 About three miles from Dalham is
 
 SUFFOLK. 1O5 
 
 L IDG ATE. Here was a mount, moated round near 
 the church; but the place is more memorable for 
 giving birth and name to John Lidgate, who was a 
 Benedictine monk of Bury St. Edmund's, and much 
 celebrated among his contemporaries for his learning 
 and poetry. He died in 1440. 
 
 Proceeding about three miles further in the same 
 direction, we arrive at 
 
 COWLING. This place has been distinguished for a 
 good seat called The Branches, which with the manor 
 was the estate of William Longsword, Earl of Salis- 
 bury, and the illegitimate son of Henry II. by Fair 
 Rosamond. These were afterwards vested in Fran- 
 cis Dickins, esq. who had here a handsome man- 
 sion. Here was also a free chapel dedicated to St. 
 Margaret, on whose feast-day, July 20, one of the fairs 
 is kept ; the other is on October the 6th. 
 
 From hence we proceed by Great and Little Brad- 
 ley, two inconsiderable villages, to Great and Little 
 Thurlow. 
 
 GREAT THURLOW. Here was once a small hospital 
 or free chapel, granted by Edward IV. to the Maison 
 de Dieu, now part of King's College, Cambridge. 
 The hall here with the lordship formerly belonged to 
 the Waldegraves, and afterwards to Sir Cordel Fire- 
 brace, who sold them to James Vernon, esq. 
 
 LITTLE THURLOW contains a noble old mansion, 
 long the residence of the family of Soame, which was 
 built by Sir Stephen Soame' during the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth : he had been Lord Mayor of London 5 he 
 also founded a free-school and an almshouse here, and 
 died in 1619. The church contains a handsome monu- 
 ment to his memory. Passing Great and Little Wrat- 
 ting, we next arrive at
 
 106 SUFFOLK. 
 
 HAVERHILL. This is a long town : the south end 
 of the street is partly in Suffolk and partly in Essex. 
 Here is a market on Wednesdays, and two fairs. 
 
 Here were formerly two churches, at least a church 
 and a chapel, one of which was called Lc nether Chirche 
 in Haverhill. The principal street is wide, but the 
 houses are indifferent. The church is a large ancient 
 structure, and there are two meeting-houses and a 
 charity-school. This town was formerly of much 
 greater extent than at present : the ruins of the other 
 church and a castle are still visible. Turning to the 
 eastward, and proceeding along the border of Essex, 
 at about three miles distance we arrive at 
 
 KEDINGTON, now vulgarly Kctlun. This was long 
 the property of the Barnardiston family, which pro- 
 duced many persons of eminence, who resided at the 
 fine mansion of Kedington Hull. The church contains 
 many monuments to their memory, and in the south 
 window one of them was represented with seven sons 
 behind him, and his wife with the same number of 
 daughters. At a little distance from this is a tomb 
 for Sir Thomas Barnardiston and Elizabeth his wife, 
 by whom that window was built. On. the north side 
 of the church is also a monument to another Sir Thomas 
 Barnardiston, with his portraiture, and that of his lady, 
 Elizabeth, who died in the commencement of the six- 
 teenth century. 
 
 The celebrated Archbishop Tillotson was rector of 
 this place in 1663, but held it a very short time. 
 
 BAKXAKDISTON, commonly called Barnson, lies ubout 
 a mile to the northward, and gave its name to a family 
 whose several branches have had seats at Kedington, 
 Brightwell, and Wyverston, in this county. This place
 
 SUFFOLK. 107 
 
 formerly belonged to Thomas de Woodstock, Earl of 
 Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester, sixth son of 
 Edward III., and it was one of the estates with which 
 he endowed the college of Fleshy, in Essex, on its 
 foundation, 16 Richard II. 
 
 HUNDON lies on a line with Barnardiston, about a 
 mile to the eastward. Here was a manor, or reputed 
 manor, with the parks called Great Park, Estry Park, 
 and Broxley Park, granted to Sir John Cheke, in the 
 third of Edward VI. as parcel of the possessions of 
 Stoke by Clare. Stansfield and Denston lie still further 
 to the north. 
 
 DENSTON, or Denardeston. Here was a college or 
 chantry, granted in the second of Edward VI., with a 
 manor called Beaumonds, to Thomas and John Smith. 
 The lordship afterwards came to John Robinson, esq. 
 lieutenant-colonel in the Coldstream regiment of 
 Guards, and now a general officer, who occupies a beau- 
 tiful seat in this parish. 
 
 STANSFIELD, and STRADDISHALL, on a line with it, 
 contain nothing remarkable. 
 
 HAWKBDON lies to the eastward of Stansfield, and 
 is about a mile distant* There were two manors here ; 
 one belonged to Philip Hammond, esq. who had a seat 
 Jin this place, the other to the family of Maltyward. 
 jThe seat of Swan Hall was long in the possession 
 jof the Abbots, but was afterwards purchased by the 
 jStewart family. 
 
 WICKHAM BROOK lies rather more than a mile to 
 the northward of Denston : to this place it appears 
 ;hat several hamlets have been annexed. There was 
 i free chapel here dedicated to St. Mary, of which Sir 
 John Hastings, Lord Bergavenny, and his descendants,
 
 10S SUFFOLK. 
 
 were patrons : this chapel was granted by Queen 
 Elizabeth, in 1583, to William Mansey, ironmonger, 
 of London. Gifford's Hall manor was once in the 
 family of Francis. Clopton, or Wickham House, was 
 successively the residence of Major .Robert Sparrow, 
 and Robert Edgar, csq. 
 
 DEPDEN lies about two miles to the north-east of 
 Wickham Brook. 
 
 Depden Hall formerly belonged to the Jermyns, and 
 afterwards to the Coels ; it then became the seat of 
 Coel Thornhill, esq. &c. This is remarkable as having 
 been the birthplace of Anthony Sparrow, Bishop of 
 Norwich, whose father, an opulent man, resided here. 
 
 Ched burgh, about a mile and a half further in the 
 same direction, contains nothing remarkable. 
 
 REED lies still further to the eastward ; and here is 
 Reed Hall, the manor-house of Reed, and another 
 mansion called Downings, the inheritance of the an- 
 cient family of Sparrowe, with Pickards manor, &c. 
 The church is in the gift of the crown. 
 
 On our way towards the high road we pass South 
 Park, Southwood or Southwell Park, an extra-parochial 
 place ; nearly on a line with which are Hargrave and 
 Chevington. The manor and advowson of the former 
 belonged to the abbey of Bury; and William the 
 Conqueror gave this latter lordship to the convent at 
 Bury, by the desire of abbot Baldwin. 
 
 DENHAM lies in our way from these villages towards 
 the great road, and was extra-parochial till Sir Edward 
 Lewknor built a church or chapel here, and endowed it 
 with the tithes. Denham Hall is still standing, near; 
 the church. 
 
 Passing Desniug or Desnage Hall, we now rejoin
 
 SUFFOLK. l9 
 
 the road at Kentford, crossing Great Cameron Bridge, 
 we leave Disnage Lodge on our left, and go on to 
 Saxham White Horse, proceeding from which towards 
 Great Saxham, we pass 
 
 BARROW. This was anciently the lordship and eat 
 of the Countess of Gloucester. Robert, the son of John 
 de Tybetot, died seized of Harewe in the 46th of Edward 
 III ; afterwards it belonged to Lord Badlesmere, who 
 adhering to the Earl of Lancaster against Edward II, 
 was taken prisoner in Yorkshire, and afterwards 
 hanged. In the church is the monument of Sir 
 Clement Higham, the last Roman Catholic speaker of 
 the house of commons in the time of Queen Mary. 
 Here, too, Mr. Gough observes, " The turnpike road 
 from Bury to Newmarket is, unfortunately for the 
 repose of some brave warriors, carried through a 
 tumulus or barrow, in which human bones may at any 
 time with very little trouble be discovered." 
 
 SAXHAM MAGNA. This lies at some distance from 
 the high road, and the manor with the advowson of the 
 church, which belonged to Bury abbey, was granted by 
 Henry VIII. to Sir Richard Long and his wife. For 
 several descents it was in the family of Eldred, one of 
 whom built the house so long known by the name of 
 Nutmeg Hall, in the reign of James I. In 1641, his 
 son, Revet Eldred, was created a baronet. The estate 
 continued in this family till about 1750, when it wa* 
 purchased by Hutchinson Mure, esq. who greatly 
 improved and embellished the whole. In 1779 the old 
 house was accidentally burned down, and a new one 
 erected north-west of this from a plan by Mr. Adam. 
 
 At the upper end of the chancel on the south side of
 
 110 SUFFOLK. 
 
 the church, is a bust as large as life, of painted stone, 
 and underneath this singular inscription : 
 
 Alemoriae Sacrum 
 
 John Eldred. 
 
 New Buckingham in Norfolk was his first being ; in Babilon he 
 spent some part of his time ; and the rest of his earthly pilgrimage 
 he spent in London, and was alderman of that famous cittie. 
 His a^e 
 His death 
 
 The Holy Land so called I have scene, 
 And in the land of Babilon have been ; 
 But in yt land where glorious saints do live, 
 Aly soul doth crave of Christ a roome to give; 
 And there with holy angells hallelujahs sing 
 With joyful voice to God our heavenly king: 
 No content but in thee Lord. 
 
 Under the bust of a raised monument, with a black 
 marble on the top, very neatly inlaid in brass, is the 
 figure of a man, about two feet long, with a ruff and 
 furred gown, well engraven with the arms of Eldred, 
 Revett, city of London, East India, Turkey, and Russia 
 companies. At his feet, on three brass plates, are the 
 following : 
 
 Curriculum vita; percgre mercando peregi, 
 JEgyptuin atqueArabes, Syrosque visens : 
 Exiroix rcduci et meritse crevere coronas 
 Nati, (iivitin-, perennc nomen. 
 Felix grandsevus morior ; longissima quamvis 
 Sit vitae via terminus sepulchrum. 
 
 Might all my travels me excuse 
 
 For being deadc and lying here ; 
 Or if my riches well to use, 
 
 For life, to death might me endcurc ;
 
 SUFFOLK. Ill 
 
 I had my fate or quite outgone, 
 
 Or purchased death's compassion ; 
 But riches can no ransom buy, 
 
 Nor travels pass the destiny. 
 
 In Hackluyt's collection, an account is given of the 
 voyage of this traveller to Tripoli in Syria, and his 
 journey thence to Babylon in 1583. His son, Revett 
 Eldred, being created a baronet, he thought he could 
 not do too much for his father's memory in the monu- 
 mental way. He married Anne Blackwell, and died 
 without issue. In Olivers, the family seat of the 
 Eldred family in Essex, many years since, was the por- 
 trait of an old man, with a ruff, short heard, and 
 whiskers, supposed to represent this gentleman. This 
 was sold with two other curious old paintings. A 
 lady Aim Eldred left several charities to Saxham 
 Magna in 1671. Saxham Magna is now the seat of 
 Thomas Mills, esq. 
 
 SAXHAM PARVA lies nearer to Bury. This was 
 formerly the seat of the family of Lucas and Crofts. 
 Several individuals of the Crofts received the honour of 
 knighthood, and one of them, in the 36th of Queen 
 Elizabeth, was high sheriffofthe county. His grand- 
 son William, having been brought up from his youth 
 at court, was appointed captain of the guard to Hen- 
 rietta, queen of Charles I., gentleman of horse to the 
 Duke of York, and gentleman of the bed-chamber to 
 Charles II. He was a great sufferer by his adherence 
 to the Stuart family. During his exile at Brussels, 
 this monarch created him a peer of the realm, by the 
 title of Lord Crofts of Saxham; but djing in 1677, 
 without male issue, the title became extinct. His 
 monument, and that of his lady, who died in 1 672, are
 
 112 SUIFOLK. 
 
 to be seen in this church, where several other indi- 
 viduals belonging to that family are interred. The 
 east window contains various coats of their arms in 
 painted glass, and many of these, put up by the father 
 of Colonel Rushbrook, had by him been removed to 
 Rushbrook Hall. This church is remarkable for one 
 of those round towers commonly ascribed to the Danes, 
 56 fe;> high and 59 in circumference. The upper part 
 of this tower is embattled, and beautifully ornamented 
 with window frames. Th.e mansion-house, to which 
 1/ord Crofts had added a grand apartment for the 
 reception of Charles II. was of brick, and probably 
 built in the reign of Henry VII. It was pulled down 
 in 17/1 when it appeared as sound as at its first 
 erection. The painted glass in the church was removed 
 thither from this edifice. 
 
 WKSTLEY brings us within three miles of Bury. 
 This place was anciently a lordship of the abbot of 
 ljury, by the gift of Bishop Alfric, surnamed the Good, 
 but granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Thomas Kitson. 
 
 RisB'i is about a mile distant from the road on the 
 left. King Edward the Confessor gave this manor to 
 Bury Abbey, and Henry VIII. granted it to Sir Thomas 
 Kitson. Rit-by is at present only remarkable on account 
 of the form of the church steeple, which being round 4 
 has been conjectured to be of Danish erection.
 
 SUFFOLK. 113 
 
 EXCURSION III. 
 
 From Bury St. Edmund's through Barton, Ix- 
 worth, Stantori, Hepworth, Snape Green, Botes- 
 dale, to Sturston. 
 
 BARTON, or GREAT BARTON, so called to distinguish 
 it from Little Barton, or Barton Mills, was the 
 estate of the ancient family of the Cottons at Nacton 
 
 Hall. The present mansion here was built by 
 
 Audley, esq. and was the seat of the Rev. Sir William 
 Bunbury, bart. and afterwards much improved by his 
 sonj Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, one of the repre- 
 sentatives of the county in nine parliaments, who built 
 the fine large room which forms part of this mansion. 
 
 About two miles from Barton, and about a mile to 
 the right of the road, is situated 
 
 PAKENHAM. This was for a long period the seat 
 of the Spring family, originally from Houghton le 
 Spring, in the county of Durham. Thomas Spring, 
 the rich clothier, was buried at Lavenham. From him 
 descended William Spring, of Pakenham, who was 
 created a baronet in l64l. The ancient family of the 
 L'Estranges possessed a seat here, as did also the Ash- 
 fields, at Nether Hall, in this parish. John Ashfield 
 was the first high sheriff of Suffolk (separated from 
 Norfolk) in the 17th of Queen Elizabeth. This family, 
 as well as the Springs, have long been extinct. At 
 the distance of seven miles from Bury we arrive at 
 L 3
 
 114 SUFFOLK. 
 
 IXWORTH, situated on the road from Bury to Yar- 
 mouth. This village is memorable for a religious 
 house, founded by Gilbert le Blund, or Blount, about 
 the year 110O, in a pleasant valley by the river side. 
 At the dissolution, as appears by a monumental inscrip- 
 tion on the north side of the altar, this manor was 
 granted by Henry VIII. in exchange for the manor of 
 Nonsiuh in Surrey. The Norton family afterwards 
 built a neat mansion upon the site of the ancient 
 priory. 
 
 Lriuorth Thorpe is about a mile and a half to the left 
 of Ixworth. The chief estate here belonged to this 
 priory, and was granted to Richard and Elizabeth 
 Codington. 
 
 Here dwelt Anne Rayner, Bloomfield's distracted 
 girl of Ixworth Thorpe, but who afterwards arriving 
 at a state of sanity, the poet acknowledged that he 
 proved an indifferent prophet. However, the picture 
 he drew of her has all the pathos, and perhaps more 
 native interest about it than Sterne's Maria. 
 
 Nature's pride 
 
 Was lovely Ann, who innocently try'd 
 
 With liat of airy shape, and ribbons gay, 
 
 <ove to inspire, and stand in J I ynun'.s way ; 
 
 jliut ere her twentieth summer could expand, 
 
 Or ycuth was render'd h:ippy by her hand, 
 
 Jlcr mind's serenity, her peace was gone, 
 
 Her eye grew languid, and she wept alone : 
 
 Yet causeless seeni'd her grief, for quick restrain'd, 
 
 Mirth fuJlow'd loud, or indignation reign'd ; 
 
 \V him; wild and .simple Jed her from her home, 
 
 The heath, the common, or the fields to roam; 
 
 Terror and joy alternate rul'd her hours, 
 
 Now blithe she sung, and gathcr'd useless flow'rs. 
 
 * *
 
 SUFFOLK. 115 
 
 The damp night air her shiv'ring limbs assails, 
 
 lu dreams she moans, aud fancied wrongs bewails. 
 
 When morning wakes, none earlier rous'd than she, 
 
 When pendant drups fall glitt'ring from the tree ; 
 
 But nought her rayless melancholy cheers, 
 
 Or soothes her breast, or stops her streaming tear*. 
 
 Her matted locks unomamented flow, 
 
 Clasping her knees, and waving to and fro; 
 
 Her head bow'd down her faded cheek to hide, 
 
 A piteous mourner by the path-way side. 
 
 Some tufted molehill through the live long day, 
 
 She calls her throne, there weeps her life away : 
 
 And oft the gaily passing stranger stays 
 
 His well tira'd step, and lakes a silent gaze, 
 
 Till sympathetic drops unbidden start, 
 
 And pangs quick springing muster round his heart, 
 
 Aud soft he treads with other gazers round, 
 
 And fain would catch her sorrow's plaintive sound : 
 
 One word alone is all that strikes his ear, 
 
 One short, pathetic, simple word, " Oh dear!" 
 
 A thousand times repeated to the wind, 
 
 That wafts the sigh, but leaves the pang behind. 
 
 For ever of the proffered parley shy, 
 
 She hears th' unwelcome foot advancing nigh. 
 
 Nor quite unconscious of her wretched plight, 
 
 Gives one sad look, and hurries out of sight. 
 
 Pursuing the cross road which leads from Ixworth 
 to Euston, on leaving Ixworth Thorpe, at less than a 
 mile, we arrive at Honington. 
 
 HONINGTON. This lordship formerly belonged to 
 the abbots of Bury. This village has lately been more 
 distinguished on account of its having been the birth- 
 place of Robert Bloomfield, author of the Farmer's 
 Boy, &c. than for any circumstance connected with its 
 previous history. He was the younger son of George 
 Bloomfield, a tailor, and Elizabeth, daughter of Robert
 
 116 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Alanby, the village school-mistress, who instructed 
 her own offspring, with those of her neighbours. His 
 father died a victim to the small-pox \vhen his son was 
 less than a twelvemonth old, and his mother was left 
 a widow with six children. 
 
 It is observable that Bloomfield has incorporated the 
 most material events of his life in his poems, in such 
 a manner, that if all the passages were selected and 
 duly arranged, his history would want but few addi- 
 tional particulars to be told in the descriptive language 
 of his own muse. Thus in his " Good Tiding*," after 
 alluding to the distress occasioned by the small-pox in 
 his family, he notices his parent's death, and the general 
 horror which the contagion at that time inspired, in 
 these words : 
 
 Heaven restor'd them all, 
 But destin'd one of riper age to fall. 
 Midnight beheld the close of all his pain, 
 His grave was clos'd when midnight came again ; 
 No bell was heard to toll, no funeral pray'r, 
 No kindred bow'd, no wife, no children there; 
 Its horrid nature could inspire a dread 
 That cut the bonds of custom like a thread. 
 The humble church tow c r higher sccm'd to show, 
 Illumin'd by the trembling light below ; 
 The solemn night breeze struck each shiv'ring cheek, 
 Religious reverence forbad to speak : 
 The starting sexton his short sorrow chid, 
 When the earth munuur'd on the coffin lid, 
 And falling bones, and sighs of holy dread, 
 Sounded a requiem to the silent dead. 
 
 The lowly occupation of Mrs. Bloomfield, and the 
 number of her children, which was increased by the 
 issue of a second marriage, deprived her of the means
 
 SUFFOLK. 117 
 
 of giving her son Robert any regular schooling ; and 
 nearly all the tuition that he ever received out of her 
 own cottage was from Mr. Rodwell of Ixworth, 
 senior clerk to the magistrates of the Blackburn Hun- 
 dred, to whom he went for about two or three months 
 to be improved in writing. During the harvest of 
 1782 or 1783, the village of Honington suffered 
 severely by tire. Four or five double tenemented cot- 
 tages, a farm-house, and all its appurtenances, were 
 levelled in little more than half an hour. Mrs. Bloom- 
 field's cottage was in the immediate line of the flames, 
 and was saved almost miraculously by the exertions of 
 the neighbours, assisted by Mr. Austin of Sapiston and 
 his men. Mrs. Bloomfield then kept a school at the 
 cottage, and retreated from the distressing scene into 
 the fields, with a clock and the title deeds of the house 
 in her lap, surrounded by a group of infant scholars, 
 in full persuasion that her habitation was feeding the 
 flames ; but contrary to her expectation, under its 
 friendly roof where she had long resided, she finished 
 her earthly career, and was buried close to the west 
 end of the church, near her first husband, whose death 
 by the small-pox has been previously noticed. A stone 
 was erected to her memory by the late Duke of Grafton, 
 on which is the following inscription, written by the 
 Rev. R. Fellowes, of Fakenham : 
 
 " Beneath this stone are deposited the mortal re- 
 mains of Elizabeth Glover, who died December 1804. 
 Her maiden name was Manby, and she was twice 
 married : by her first husband, who lies near this spot, 
 she was the mother of six children, the youngest of 
 whom was Robert Bloomfield, the pastoral poet. In 
 her household affairs she was a pattern of industry, 
 cleanliness, and every domestic virtue. By her kind,
 
 118 SUFFOLK. 
 
 her meek, and innocent behaviour, she had conciliated 
 the good will of all her neighbours and acquaintance : 
 nor amid the busy cares of time was she ever forget- 
 ful of eternity. But her religion was no hypocritical 
 service, no vain form of words ; it consisted in loving 
 God and keeping his commandments, as they have 
 been made known to us by Jesus Christ. 
 
 Reader, 
 Go thou and do likewise." 
 
 Nathaniel Bloomfield, the brother of Robert, has an 
 elegy on the enclosure of Honington Green, lately re- 
 printed in the " Suffolk Garland" by Mr. John Raw of 
 Ipswich, with a note prefixed, by which it appears that 
 the subject of this verse is less than half an acre, but 
 was certainly an ornament to the village, &c. " As a 
 poetical effusion," says Capel Lofft, " it strikes me that 
 this elegy has the tone, simplicity, sweetness, and pleas- 
 ing melancholy of the ballad. There is a stroke or two 
 of indignant severity, but the general character is such 
 as I have described." A view of the church and green 
 was prefixed to this poem : 
 
 The proud city's gay wealthy train, 
 
 Who nought but refinements adore, 
 3Iay wonder to hear me complain 
 
 That Ilonington Green is no more; 
 But if to the church you e'er went, 
 
 If you knew what ihe village has been, 
 You will sympathize while I lament 
 
 The enclosure of Honington Green. 
 
 Still had labour been blest with content, 
 
 Still competence happy had been, 
 Nor indigence utter'd a plaint, 
 
 Had avarice spar'd but the Green.
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Could there live such an envious man. 
 
 Who endur'd not the halcjon scene, 
 When the infantine peasantry ran, 
 
 And roll'd on the daisy-deck'd Green. 
 While the Green, though but daisies its boast, 
 
 Was free as the flowers to the bee; 
 In all seasons the Green we lov'd most, 
 
 Because on the Green we were free. 
 
 Tho' the youth of to-day must deplore 
 
 The rough mounds that now sadden the gcene, 
 Th' vain stretch of misanthropy's power, 
 
 TV enclosure of Honington Green : 
 Yet when not a green turf is left free, 
 
 When not one odd nook b left wild, 
 Will the children of Honington be 
 
 Less blest than when I was a child - 
 
 No! childhood shall find the scene fair ; 
 
 Then here let me cease my complaint ; 
 Still shall health be inhal'd with the air 
 
 Which at Honington cannot be taint ; 
 And tho' age may still talk of the Green, 
 
 Of the heath, and free commons of yore, 
 Youth shall joy in the new-fangled scene, 
 
 And boast of that change we deplore. 
 
 SAPISTON is almost joined to Honington, being only 
 separated from it by a branch of the Ouse. This lord- 
 ship was anciently made part of the endowment of the 
 priory of Gilbert le Blund, at Ixworth ; but was granted 
 to the Codington family by Henry VIII. 
 
 This pleasant village has lately risen into notice 
 from being the place where the Suffolk poet, Bloom- 
 field, commenced his humble career as " the Farmer's 
 Boy," a situation that introduced him to the know-
 
 120 SUFFOLK. 
 
 ledge of those rural employments and occupations 
 which he has delineated with so much felicity and cor- 
 rectness. The scenery round the farmhouse here in 
 which he lived, has been greatly injured within the 
 last 40 years, by felling most of the timber. The tall 
 trees near the house are the remaining elms under which 
 the cows were collected for milking in Bloomfield's 
 early years. Sapiston church, like many others in 
 .Suffolk, is covered with thatch, and consequently has 
 been many times nearly unroofed by the pilfering of 
 the jackdaws. 
 
 FAKEXHAM, about a mile and a half from Jloniugton, 
 is a small village situated in a pleasant valley, watered 
 by a branch of the Ouse, and has furnished the scenes 
 of several of the pieces of Robert Bloomfield. In this 
 village, nearly opposite the church, is a cottage in 
 which the poet's mother was born. A moated emi- 
 nence in this place is supposed to have been the pite of 
 a mansion to which the name of Brent Hall lias been 
 given, in consequence of the tradition that reports its 
 having been destroyed by fire. 
 
 The moat remiiins, the dwelling is no more! 
 
 Its name denote* its inelancholv fall, 
 
 For village children call the s|>ot Burnt I fall. 
 
 Xear the inner margin of the moat several decayed 
 trees may be observed, that, according to the poet, onn; 
 surrounded the mansion. This lie describes as the re- 
 sidence of one of the characters introduced into the 
 tale of the firofcen Crutch, and he has probably taken 
 up his ideas of the ancient hospitality of the place from 
 some tradition current in the neighbourhood.
 
 SUPPOLK. 121 
 
 his kitchen smoke 
 
 That from the tow'ring rookery upward broke, 
 Of joyful import to the poor hard by,' 
 Stream'd a glad sign of hospitality. 
 
 Fakenham was anciently divided into Great and 
 Little, but the latter has been mostly imparked with 
 Euston : there are no remains of a church, but there i 
 a sinecure in the gift of the Duke of Grafton. 
 
 Fukenham Wood, near Euston Hall, is still, perhaps, 
 the largest in the county, and covers an extent of 314 
 acres. It was the frequent resort of Bloonifield's Farmer , 
 Mr. Austin and his family, on a Sunday afternoon ii* 
 the summer months ; and here the Farmer was wont 
 to indulge his juniors with a stroll to recreate them 
 after the labours of the week ; and this was the poet's 
 favourite haunt in his boyish days, whenever his nu- 
 merous occupations left him sufficient leisure to muse 
 on the beauties of nature. A view of Fakenham from 
 Euston Park, taken near " the darksome copse that 
 whisper'd on the hill," and presenting the " White 
 Park Gate" through which the terror-struck villager 
 fled, who is the subject of the F.akenham Ghost, is 
 given in Storer and Greig's Illustrations of Bloum- 
 field, 1806. 
 
 Benighted was an ancient dame, 
 
 And fearful haste she made 
 To gain the vale of Fakenham, 
 
 And hail its willow shade. 
 
 Darker it grew, and darker fears 
 
 Came o'er her troubled mind, 
 When now a short quick step she hears 
 
 Come patting close behind.
 
 122 SUFFOLK. 
 
 She turn'd it stopp'd nought could she see 
 
 Upon the gloomy plain, 
 But as she strove the sprite to see 
 
 She heard the same again. 
 
 Still on pat, pat the goblin went 
 
 As it had done before 
 Her strength and resolution ^tent, 
 
 She fainted at her door. 
 
 An ass's foal had lost its dam 
 _ Within the spacious park, 
 And, simple as the playful lamb, 
 Had followed in the dsirk. 
 
 Hence many a laugh went through the vale, 
 
 And some conviction too ; 
 Each thought some other goblin tale, 
 
 Perhaps, was just as true. 
 
 EUSTON is situated a mile from Fakenham, but the 
 park extends nearly to that place. This village was 
 formerly the lordship of a family of that name, and 
 afterwards descended to Sir Henry Bennet, who, by 
 King Charles II., was made Secretary of State, and 
 created Lord Arlington, Viscount Thetford, and Earl 
 of Arlington. He built Euston Half, and leaving only 
 . one daughter, Isabella, married to Henry Fitz Roy, 
 one of the natural sons of King Charles II. by the 
 Duchess of Cleveland, he was by his father created 
 Earl of Euston and Duke of Grafton, and this was the 
 seat of his great grandson, the late duke.' The mansion 
 of Eutton Hall is large and commodious, of a modern 
 date, built with red brick, and without any gaudy de- 
 corations within o'r without. The house is almost 
 surrounded by trees of uncommon growth, and the
 
 SUFFOLK. 123 
 
 most healthy and luxuriant appearance, and near it 
 glides the river Ouse. Over this stream is thrown a 
 neat and substantial wooden bridge. The scenery about 
 the house and park combines the most delightful assem- 
 blage of rural objects that can well be imagined, and 
 is justly celebrated by the author of the Farmer's Boy. 
 
 Where noble Grafton spreads his rich domains 
 Round Eustou's water'd vale and sloping plains ; 
 Where woods and groves in solemn grandeur rise, 
 Where the kite brooding unmolested flies ; 
 The woodcock, and the painted pheasant race, 
 And skulking foxes, destin'd for the chase. 
 
 The estate of Euston is not less than between 30 
 and 40 miles in circumference, including a number of 
 villages and hamlets. 
 
 On an elevated situation in Euston Park stands the 
 temple : this elegant structure was designed for a 
 banqueting house, and was built by the celebrated 
 Kent, under the auspices of the late duke, who laid 
 the first stone himself in the year 1746. It consists of 
 an upper and lower apartment, and is in the Grecian 
 style of architecture. It forms a pleasing object from 
 many points of view in the neighbourhood of Euston, 
 and commands a wide range of prospect. Bloomfield, 
 in his Autumn, thus eulogizes this place and its late 
 noble proprietor. 
 
 Bereft of^song, and ever cheering green, 
 The soft endearments of the summer scene, 
 New harmony pervades the solemn wood, 
 Dear to the soul, and healthful to the blood; 
 For bold exertion follows on the sound 
 Of distant sportsmen and the chiding hound ;
 
 124 SUFFOLK. 
 
 First heard from kennel bursting, mad with joy, 
 Where smiling EUSTON boasts her good FJTZROY? 
 Lord of pare alms and gifts, that wide extend, 
 The fanner's patron and the poor mail's friend ; 
 Whose mansion ! i>ters with the eastern ray, 
 Whose elevated temple points the way 
 O'er slopes and lawns, the park's extensive pride, 
 To where the victims of the chase reside. 
 
 Returning towards the high road from Bury, we 
 pass BAUD WELL. This place is said to have given 
 name to the family of Berdwelle, who resided here as 
 early as the time of William the Conqueror. Sir 
 William Berdwell, a celebrated soldier, whose effigies 
 in painted glass still remain in the north window of 
 the church, died in possession of this manor in the 
 year 1434. 
 
 Having rejoined the road at Ixworth, on the right, 
 we observe Langham and Stowlangtoft. 
 
 LANGHAM. Here is the seat of Sir Patrick Blake, 
 whose father was created a baronet in 1/72. 
 
 STOWLANGTOFT. The church here, a handsome 
 building, was erected about 13/0, by Robert Dacy, 
 esq. or by one of the Davy family, that afterwards 
 took the name of Ashfield. It stands within a double 
 trenched camp , and in a field about half a mile 
 from it was found, in 1764, a pot full of Roman 
 coins of the lower empire. In a farm called Red 
 Castle, in the adjoining parish of I'akenham, a fine 
 tesselated pavement was discovered. At Stowlang- 
 toft resided Sir Simon D'Ewes, one of the most 
 learned and indefatigable antiquarians of the 17th 
 century. Part of his mansion-house, palled Stow Hall, 
 was pulled down several years ago; but the remains.
 
 SUFFOLK. 125 
 
 in 1/83, received great additional improvements from 
 Sir Walter Rawlinson, who inherited it from his father 
 Sir Thomas, Lord Mayor of London in 1754, by whom 
 the whole parish was purchased in 1760. The chancel 
 of the church here contains a fine monument to the 
 memory of Sir Simon D'Ewes, knt. About a mile to 
 the south of this place is 
 
 NORTON. Here is Little Latu, or Little Loe Hall,. 
 and in this parish Henry VIII. is said to have been 
 induced by a credulous kind of avarice to dig for gold, 
 but without success. The vestiges of these excava- 
 tions were visible only a few years ago. 
 
 HUNSTON, about half a mile to the east of Norton, 
 was a parcel of the possessions of Ixworth Priory. 
 Here is Hunston Hall. 
 
 Proceeding northward from Stowlangtoft, we pass- 
 Little Ashfidd, or Badivdl Ash. Here is the manor of 
 Shackerland. This is an obscure village, but remark- 
 able for being the birthplace of the late Lord Thurlow, 
 and his brother the late Bishop of Durham. Their 
 father, the Rev. Thomas Thurlow, vicar of this parish, 
 married Miss Elizabeth Smith, whose family had long 
 resided here at a seat called The Lee, and died in 1 762. 
 Edward, their eldest son, was born 1735. He was 
 educated under the auspices of his parent, and at a pro- 
 per age removed to Caius College, Cambridge, but did 
 not obtain a degree. On leaving the university, he en- 
 tered himself of the Inner Temple, was called to the bar, 
 and remained unemployed and unknown until his abili- 
 ties appeared in the Douglas cause. He now attained 
 to such professional distinction, that he was appointed 
 solicitor general in 1770. attorney general the follow- 
 ing year, and lord high chancellor in 1778; on which 
 M 3
 
 125 
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 occasion he was elevated to the peerage by the title of 
 Baron Thurlow of Ashfield. In April 1783, he resigned 
 the seals, which were again delivered to him in De- 
 cember the same year. In 1/86 he obtained the lucra- 
 tive appointment of teller of the exchequer, and was 
 afterwards created Baron Thurlow of Thurlow. But 
 the most remarkable epoch of his life was that of his 
 majesty's illness in 1788, 1789. His attachment to 
 the monarch then shone forth conspicuously ; and his 
 speeches on the regency question will remain a record 
 of his unshaken regard to the king and constitution. 
 That declaration which may be said to have electrified 
 the house of peers, " when I forsake my king in the 
 hour of his distress, may my God forsake me!" is 
 worthy of being engraven upon his tomb. In 1 793, 
 disapproving the course adopted by the ministry of 
 that day, he again resigned his high office, and passed 
 the remainder of his life in dignified retirement. The 
 talents of Lord Thurlow, even out of the line of his 
 profession, were so splendid, that Ur. Johnson himself 
 appears to have been afraid of him. " I would pre- 
 pare myself," said the great lexicographer, " for no 
 man in England but Lord Thurlow. When I am 
 about to meet him 1 should wish to know a day 
 before." His lordship, who was never married, died 
 at Brighton, Sept. 12, 1806. Another anecdote may 
 IK; added, illustrative of the firmness of his character. 
 In consequence of his being counsel for Mr. Douglas, 
 lie received a challenge from Mr. Andrew Stuart, who 
 had been one of the guardians of the Duke of Hamil- 
 ton. The meeting took place in Kensington gardens, 
 and his antagonist remarked, that Mr. Thurlow ad- 
 vanced ami stood up to him like an elephant.
 
 SUFFOLK. 127 
 
 WALSHAM LE WILLOWS is about a mile and a half 
 to the north-east of this place. Gilbert le Blund had 
 a lordship here in the Conqueror's time, which he pro- 
 bably made part of his endowment of Ixworth Priory, 
 as at the dissolution, a manor in Walsham and the 
 rectory and lands called East House Lands, were 
 granted as parcels of the possessions of that priory to 
 Richard and Elizabeth Codington. Another manor in 
 Walsham belonged to William de la Pole, Duke of 
 Suffolk, in the reign of Henry VI. ; but this was after- 
 wards granted by Henry VIII. to George, Earl of 
 Shrewsbury. We now turn to the left, and rejoin the 
 high road at Stanton. 
 
 STANTON. This place consists of two parishes, St. 
 John and All Saints, and is situated on the road from 
 Ixworth to Botesdale. Here is a fair yearly on the 
 first day of May and the last day of June. The two 
 rectories were consolidated in the year 1457- 
 
 HEPWORTH is a mile from Stanton, but has nothing 
 remarkable to detain us. 
 
 A road from this place leads to MARKET WESTON, 
 about a mile to the left of the road. This was anciently 
 the lordship of Hugh Hovel; from him it passed to 
 the Tyrrels, and afterwards to the Thrustons, who had 
 their residence here. 
 
 CONEY WESTON is about a mile north-west of Market 
 Weston, and was formerly the lordship of the abbot of 
 Bury. 
 
 BARNINGHAM, which we pass in our way to rejoin 
 the road, is situated to the southward of the two Wes- 
 tons. This was formerly the lordship of John de 
 Mountfort in the reign of Edward I. The family of 
 the Sheltons long resided here ; from them the Duke
 
 128 SUFFOLK.. 
 
 of Grafton purchased the house and estate in or near 
 this parish, called Barningham park. 
 
 Having rejoined the road at Hepworth, we notice a 
 few villages lying to our left ; the principal of these are 
 Hopton> Thelnetham, and Hinderclay. 
 
 HOPTON. This manor belonged to the abbot of 
 Bury, but afterwards came to the Cavendish family. 
 
 THELNETHAM, corruptly called Feltham, was formerly 
 the lordship and demesne of John de Thelnetham. 
 
 HINDERCLAY was another lordship belonging to the 
 abbot of Bury, but afterwards devolved to Lord Chief 
 Justice Holt. 
 
 We now proceed to RICKENHALL, or RICKINGALE 
 INFERIOR, another manor transferred to Lord Chief 
 JusticelHolt by Sir Edward Bacon. 
 
 RICKINGHALL SUPERIOR lies on the opposite side of 
 the road. Here is the manor of Facons Hall. About a 
 mile and a half from this place is 
 
 GISLINGHAM. The manor called Swatsal Hall is 
 situated in this parish : the hall was rebuilt by Charles 
 Bedirigfield, esq. 
 
 Proceeding about a mile from Rickenhall Inferior, 
 we arrive at BOTESDALE, an abbreviation of Botulph's 
 Dale, a market town, but ill built and small, con- 
 taining only 69 houses, and 575 inhabitants. It re- 
 ceives its name from a chapel dedicated to St. Botulph, 
 the mother church of which is Redgrave, about two 
 miles distant. This chapel having been for many 
 years disused, has, by means of the subscriptions of 
 the inhabitants and the neighbouring gentry, been 
 substantially repaired, and fitted up for divine service; 
 besides which a provision has been made for a salary 
 to the master of the free grammar school, for a sermon
 
 SUFFOLK. 131 
 
 in his judicial robes, with the figures of Justice and 
 Mercy on either side of him. Two Corinthian columns 
 support the alcove under which he is seated. Under- 
 neath is the following inscription, from the pen of the 
 celebrated Dr. Halley : 
 
 M.S. 
 
 D. Johannis Holt, Equitis Aur. 
 
 Totius Angliae in Banco Regi% 
 
 per 21 annos continues 
 
 Capitalis Justitiarii; 
 Gulielrno Regi, Annaeque Reginse, 
 
 Consiliarii perpetui ; 
 
 IJbertatis ac Legum Anglicaruni 
 
 Assertoris, Vindicis, Custodis 
 
 Vigilis, Acris et Intrepid!. 
 
 Rolandus Frater unicus et Hw res 
 
 Optimo de semerito 
 
 Pouit. 
 Die Martis Vto 1 709, sublatus est 
 
 ex Oculis nostris. 
 Nat us 30 Decembris, Anno 1640. 
 
 Among the memorabilia of Redgrave it may be ob- 
 served, that Thomas Wolsey, afterwards the famous 
 cardinal and archbishop of York, was instituted to 
 this rectory, June 8, 1506, on the presentation of the 
 abbot and convent of Bury. 
 
 About a mile from Botesdale, on the right of the 
 road, is 
 
 BURGATE. This was formerly the manor of Sir 
 William de Burgate, who resided in this parish, and 
 was interred beneath a good tomb in the chancel. 
 
 Proceeding along the high road towards Sturston, 
 on our left, we observe the villages of Wortham and 
 Palgrave.
 
 132 SUFFOLK. 
 
 WORTHAM. Here is Wortham Hall, that formerly 
 belonged to the Jenney family. 
 
 PALGRAVE. This lordship anciently belonged to the 
 abbey of Bury ; and in the west part of the parish was 
 a chapel of St. John Baptist, where five secular priests 
 under the abbot's jurisdiction resided, and said mass 
 every day. In the porch of the church, in this village, 
 is interred, with others of his family, Thomas Martin, 
 better known by the familiar appellation of honest Tom 
 Martin of Patgrave. 
 
 Thomas Martin, F. A. S. an antiquary and author of 
 the History of Thetford, was born March 8, 1696-7, 
 at the school-house in St. Mary's, of which parish liis- 
 father, the B.ev. William Martin, was many years 
 rector. Thomas was the seventh of nine children, and 
 received his education in the grammar-school of his 
 native place. He was articled to his brother, who was 
 an attorney. He married early, when the care of a 
 large family engaged his attention ; and though, on a 
 second marriage with the widow of Peter Le Neve, he 
 came into possession of considerable property, with a 
 large collection of antiquities, valuable manuscripts, 
 prints, books, &c. yet his want of attention to frugality 
 and economy constantly kept him in an embarrassed 
 etate, and dying poor, March / ' , \JJ\, he was interred, 
 as before said, in the church porch at Palgrave. 
 
 THRANDISTON is at a short distance from the road 
 on the right. Here is Thrandiston Hall. At the dis- 
 tance of five miles from Botesdale, we arrive at Stur- 
 ston, where we conclude our present excursion. 
 
 STUKSTON. The hall was in the possession of 
 the Castlctons ; but the manor of Faucons here, and 
 most of the village, were church lands before the re"-
 
 SUFFOLK. 133 
 
 formation. The middle part of the hall was built by 
 Bishop Nix j the two wings are of later date. There 
 was an oratory on the north side of the chancel, de- 
 dicated to St. Katharine. 
 
 EXCURSION IV. 
 
 From Ipswich, through Copdock and Bentley, to 
 Stratford Bridge. 
 
 IPSWICH is generally supposed to have derived its 
 
 name from its being seated where the fresh river Gip- 
 
 pen, or Gipping, empties itself into the Orwell. It is 
 
 spelt in Domesday Book Gyppeswid, Gyppestoiz, Gyp- 
 
 \peivic; afterwards by dropping the guttural, it was 
 
 j written Yppeswyche, and then as our spelling improved, 
 
 I by leaving out the superfluous letters, Ipswich. This 
 
 i ancient, well built, populous town forms part of a circle 
 
 round the bend of the river Orwell. 
 
 Being a place of consequence before the Norman con- 
 quest, it was twice plundered by the Danes in the years 
 991 and 1000, who demolished the ditch, and the ram- 
 parts that surrounded the town, and forced the in- 
 habitants to pay 10,OOO/. a very large sum in those 
 days. Ipswich, in the Conqueror's time, contained 
 nine parish churches, which afterwards increased to 
 J21, though at present only 12 remain. The fortifica- 
 tions round the town were renewed and repaired in the 
 
 N
 
 134 SUFFOLK. 
 
 fifth year of King John. The town had formerly four 
 gates, named from their situation after the four prin- 
 cipal points of the compass ; and from these gates 
 were named the four leets, or wards, into which the 
 place was divided. A fifth gate is mentioned, called 
 the Lose Gate, as standing on the bank of the Orwell, 
 on the spot where once was a ford over that river. 
 Though the rampart raised in the time of King John 
 has in many places been broken through, and in others 
 entirely levelled, considerable remains of it still exist, 
 and it may be easily traced from the Bowling-green 
 Garden, or Grey Friars Walk, to St. Marthew's-street -, 
 and from Bull Gate to North Gate- street, and thence 
 to the end of Cross Keys-street, it is almost entire. 
 From these remains it is apparent that the whole of 
 the parishes of St. Austin, St. Clement, and St. Helen, 
 with great part of St. Margaret and St. Matthew's, were 
 not included within the gates, but were called the 
 suburbs of Ipswich in old writings. The castle that 
 stood in Ipswich, in a part still called the Castle Hills, 
 previously to the disaffection of one of the Bigods, was 
 demolished by Henry II., and never since rebuilt. The 
 town had charters and a mint as early as the reign of King 
 John ; but its last charter was obtained from Charles 
 II. It is incorporated in the name of two bailiffs, a 
 recorder, twelve portmen, the bailiffs being two of 
 them ; a town clerk, two chamberlains, two coroners, 
 and 24 common council men. The bailiffs and four of 
 the portmen are justices of the peace. Camden called 
 Ipswich " the eye of this county." 
 
 Ipswich enjoys several privileges peculiar to itself, 
 such as passing fines and recoveries, trying causes 
 criminal and civil, and even crown causes. The town
 
 SUFFOLK. 135 
 
 regulates the assize of bread, beer, &c. ; no freeman can 
 be obliged against his consent to serve on juries out of 
 the town, or bear any office for the king, sheriffs for 
 the county excepted ; nor are they obliged to pay any 
 tithes or duties in any other part of the kingdom, 
 having established this point in a trial with the city of 
 London : they are entitled to all waifs, strays, and 
 goods cast on shore within their admiralty jurisdiction, 
 which extends to the Essex coast, beyond Harwich, 
 and on both sides the Suffolk coast. The quay and 
 custom-house here are most conveniently seated. 
 
 No place, it has been observed, is so well calculated 
 for the Greenland trade as Ipswich ; as besides the con- 
 veniency for boiling the blubber, and erecting store- 
 houses, the same wind that carries the vessels out of 
 the harbour will convey them to Greenland. 
 
 Ipswich has sent two members to parliament since 
 the 25th year of Henry VI. The right of election is 
 in the bailiffs, portmen, common council men, and 
 freemen at large, not receiving alms. The number of 
 voters is between six and seven hundred, and the re- 
 turning officers are the two bailiffs. 
 
 The streets of Ipswich are rather narrow and irre- 
 gular, and consequently have not the advantageous 
 appearance of those that run in straight lines, though 
 at present they are well paved, &c. At the corners of 
 many of these, various images, curiously carved, yet 
 remain, and a great number of the houses are adorned 
 in a similar manner, almost to profusion. Ipswich 
 contains many good buildings ; several of these, even 
 iu the heart of the place, like Norwich, possess con- 
 venient gardens, which contribute to its salubrity and 
 the cheerfulness of its situation. In Domesday Book
 
 136 SUFFOLK. 
 
 the following churches are mentioned as standing in 
 Ipswich and its liberties : the Holy Trinity, St. Austin, 
 St. Michael, St.Mary, St. Botolph (or Whitton church), 
 St. Laurence, St. Peter, St. Stephen, and Thurleston. 
 Of these the three former are demolished and not re- 
 built. They were probably destroyed by the tempest 
 recorded by Stowe, as occurring on the night of New 
 Year's day 1 287, " when, as well through the vehemence 
 of the wind, as the violence of the sea, many churches 
 were overthrown and destroyed, not only at Yarmouth, 
 Dunwich, and Ipswich, but in divers other places in 
 England." 
 
 The I'i churches that remain out of the 2 1 are those 
 of St. Clement, St. Helen, St. Laurence, St. Margaret, 
 St. Mary at Elms, St. Mary at Kay, St. Mary at Stoke, 
 St. Mary at Tower, St. Matthew, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, 
 St. Stephen ; and within the liberty of the borough 
 those of Thurleston, Whitton, and Westerlield. In 
 St. Clement's church is interred Thomas Eldred, who 
 accompanied Cavendish in his circumnavigation of the 
 globe, with an inscription expressing that he went out 
 of Plymouth the 2d of July, 1556, and arrived there 
 again on the <;th of September, 1658. 
 
 Jn this parish is the hamlet of Wykes, given by King 
 Richard to John Oxenford, bishop of Norwich, for 
 which the town was allowed to deduct from the fee 
 farm rent the sum of JO/, per annum, which it had 
 been accustomed to pay to that prelate. The hamlet 
 and manor, hence called Wykcs Bishop, belonged to the 
 bishops of Norwich till 1535, when both were surrendered 
 to Henry Vljl., who, in 1545, granted them to Sir John 
 Jermic, knt. Whilst the manor was in possession of the 
 bishops, they frequently used to reside at their house
 
 SUFFOLK. J37 
 
 situated on the south side of the road, leading from 
 Bishop's Hill towards Nacton, where is now a square 
 field, which appears formerly to have been surrounded 
 by a moat. The church of Wykes is sometimes men- 
 tioned in old writings, but it is not known where it 
 stood, and might possibly be no more than a chapel 
 for the use of the bishop and his household. In this 
 parish is part of the hamlet of Wykes Ujford, so called 
 from the Earls of Suffolk of that name. The Wil- 
 loughbys afterwards possessed it by descent from Charles 
 Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. In the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth, it was held by Sir John Brewes, then by 
 Sir Edmund Withipol, and has ever since gone with 
 the Christ church estate, being now vested in the Rev. 
 Charles Fonnereau. 
 
 Beyond St. Clement's church, and between the two 
 hamlets, stood St. James's chapel, now wholly demo- 
 lished, and is thought to have belonged to St. James's 
 Hospital, between which and the leperous house of St. 
 Mary Magdalen some connexion is supposed to have 
 existed : this house, it is said, stood somewhere oppo- 
 site to St. Helen's church ; however, when it was dis- 
 solved by Henry VIII. its revenues were annexed to 
 the rectory of St. Helen's, and with them probably those 
 of St. James's Hospital. 
 
 St. Helen's, though formerly appropriated to the hos- 
 pital of St. James or St. Mary Magdalen, has been 
 instituted into a rectory ever since the Reformation. 
 In a field almost opposite to Caldwell Hall, now called 
 Cold Hall, on the south of the road leading to Kes- 
 grave, stood the church of St. John Baptist, in Cald- 
 well, of which there are no remains. It was impro- 
 priated to Trinity priory, and granted with that house 
 
 N3
 
 133 SUFFOLK. 
 
 to Sir Thomas Pope. In this parish also, at the south- 
 west corner of Rosemary-lane, Brook-street, was for- 
 merly a chapel dedicated to St. Edmund a Pountney, 
 and impropriated to St. Peter's priory; but being, like 
 St. Helen's, in the patronage of the Bishop of Norwich, 
 they were both given to the same incumbent till they 
 were united. 
 
 St. Lawrence is said in Domesday to have possessed 
 twelve acres of land. This church was given to 
 Trinity priory, to which it was impropriated ; but as 
 there had for many years been no prsedial tithes be- 
 longing to it, there was no grant of the impropriation 
 at the dissolution. The present edifice was begun by 
 John Bottold, who died in 1431, and was interred here, 
 with this inscription, which, as Weaver informs us, 
 was discovered on removing a pew in this church : 
 
 Subjacct hoc lapide Jnhn Bottnld vir probus ipse, 
 Isiius ccclesia? primus inccptor fuit iste, 
 Cujus aiiiniie, Domine, miserere tu bone Cliriste. 
 Obiit MCCCCXXXL Dtera Doiuiuicalis G. 
 
 The chancel was built by John Baldwyn, draper, 
 who died in 144Q, and his name is in the stone- work 
 under the east window, now plastered over. About 
 that rime several legacies were loft towards the erection 
 of the steeple. In 15J4, Edward Daundy, then one 
 of the representatives of this borough in parliament, 
 founded a chauntry in this church, for a secular priest 
 to officiate at the altar of St. Thomas, in behalf of him- 
 self and his relations, among whom he reckoned Thomas 
 Wolsey, then dean of Lincoln, and his parents, Robert 
 and Jafic Wolsey, deceased. This Mr. Daundy was 
 one of the most respectable men of the town in his
 
 SUFFOLK. 139 
 
 time: all his daughters married gentlemen of good 
 fortune, and the wife of lord-keeper Bacon was the 
 issue of one of them. 
 
 The Rev. Richard Canning, M. A. a gentleman of 
 distinguished character and abilities, editor of the 
 second edition of Kirby's Suffolk Traveller, and com- 
 piler of the account of the Ipswich charities, was forty 
 years minister of the church of St. Laurence, and died 
 June 9, 1775. 
 
 St. Margaret's was impropriated to the priory of the 
 Holy Trinity. Trinity church, after which this house 
 is supposed to have been named, stood near St. Mar- 
 garet's churchyard, and is mentioned in Domesday 
 as being endowed with 2(5 acres of land in the time of 
 the Conqueror. The priory was founded, and chiefly 
 endowed before the year 1 1 77, by Norman Gastrode, 
 for black canons of the order of St. Austin, and the 
 founder became one of its first inhabitants. King 
 Henry II. granted the prior and convent a fair on 
 Holyrood day, September 14, to continue three days. 
 Not long after the foundation of the monastery, the 
 church and offices were consumed by fire ; but they 
 were rebuilt by John of Oxford, bishop of Norwich, 
 on which Richard I. gave the patronage of the priory 
 to him and his successors. The grant of the fair was 
 afterwards confirmed by King John, who moreover 
 granted to the priory all the lands and rents " for- 
 merly belonging" to the churches of St. Michael and 
 St. Saviour in Ipswich. From this expression it may 
 be inferred that both these churches were even then 
 dilapidated ; at present their site is unknown, but a 
 rague tradition reports that the latter stood behind St.
 
 140 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Mary Elms, and that the former, which is said in 
 Domesday to have possessed eight acres of land, was 
 situated near the church of St. Nicholas. At the sup- 
 pression, 26 Henry VIII. the possessions of Trinity 
 priory were valued at 88^. 6s. Qd, per annum, and in 
 the 36th year of the same reign were granted to Sir 
 Thomas Pope. The strong foundation of the steeple 
 of Trinity church was about fifty years ago under- 
 mined and blown up with gunpowder. 
 
 St. Margaret's is not mentioned in Domesday, 
 whence it is natural to infer that it was not then in 
 existence ; but as the church of the Holy Trinity was 
 appropriated to the use of the prior and convent, this 
 edifice was most probably erected for the parishioners. 
 
 In this parish, on the site of Trinity priory, a spa- 
 cious brick mansion, called Christ Church, was erected, 
 and surrounded with a pale, by Sir Edmund Withipol, 
 whose only child was married to Leicester, Lord 
 Viscount Hereford. His successor sold the estate to 
 Claude Fonnereau, esq. in whose descendant, the Rev. 
 Mr. Fonnereau, it is at present vested. That gentle- 
 man, with a liberality not very common, allows free 
 access to this park, which is a most agreeable pro- 
 menade, to the inhabitants of the town. 
 
 St. Mary at El/i:s, is one of the four churches 
 dedicated to that saint, now standing in Ipswich, 
 though in Domesday book only one is mentioned, 
 which is conjectured to be St. Mary at Tower. St. 
 Mary at Elms probably succeeded the dilapidated 
 church of St. Saviour, and is thought to have been 
 built on the site of that edifice. It was given to 
 Trinity priory by Alan, the son of Edgar Alcto, and his
 
 SUFFOLK. 141 
 
 son, Richard ; but there seems to have been no grant of 
 the impropriation since the dissolution of that mo- 
 nastery. 
 
 Opposite to the church of St. Mary at Elms is an 
 alms-house for twelve poor women, erected about fifty 
 years ago, in pursuance of the will of Mrs. Ann Smyth, 
 who left SOOOl. for this charitable purpose. 
 
 St. Mary at Kay was impropriated to the priory of 
 St. Peter, and all the tithes belonged to it were granted, 
 7 Edward VI. to Webb and Breton. The church must 
 have been built since 1448, when Richard Gowty was 
 a considerable benefactor to it ; for by his will made 
 in that year, he ordered his body to be interred in the 
 churchyard of St. Mary at the Kay ; and gave Calyon 
 stone for the whole new church, which was to be 
 erected in that churchyard. 
 
 In this parish, northward of the church, was a house 
 of black friars, Dominicans, commonly called preachers, 
 who settled here in the latter end of the reign of 
 Henry III. The extensive site of this convent was 
 granted, 33 Henry VIII. to William Sabyn, but after- 
 wards purchased by the corporation, with the design 
 of founding in it a hospital for the relief and main- 
 tenance of aged persons and children, for the curing of 
 the sick poor, and for the employment of the vicious 
 and idle. It was confirmed to them by charter in 
 1572, by the appellation of Christ's Hospital, and was 
 at first supported by annual subscriptions ; but after- 
 wards the corporation made an order that every free- 
 man, on being admitted to his freedom, should pay a 
 certain sum towards its support. 
 
 Part of this edifice is now occupied as a hospital for 
 poor boys, in which they are maintained, clothed, and
 
 142 SUFFOLK. 
 
 educated. Their number in l68(), as Kirby informs 
 us, was only twelve ; but about the middle of last 
 century there were sometimes double that number, 
 in consequence of a donation of Qol. per annum left by 
 the will of Nicholas Philips, esq. a portman of this 
 town, " towards the learning and teaching poor 
 children, providing books, ink, paper, and convenient 
 apparel, binding them out apprentices, and for the 
 providing of flax, hemp, wool, or such other needful 
 things, as well for the setting such poor children to 
 work as for the help of them j and also for the pro- 
 viding bedding convenient and necessary for such 
 children, and also a convenient house for such children 
 to be taught in." 
 
 Another portion of the monastery was till within 
 these few years used as a hall, in which the quarter 
 sessions for the Ipswich division were held, and a 
 Bridewell for offenders within the limits of the cor- 
 poration. Here is also a spacious room, now the town 
 library, the keys of which arc kept by the bailiffs and 
 the master of the grammar-school, and out of which 
 every freeman has a right to take any of the books on 
 giving a proper receipt. 
 
 The cloisters are still entire, and in the spacious 
 refectory on the south side is now held the Free Gram- 
 mar School. It was not kept here till the time of 
 James I. though the town had a grammar school as 
 early as 1<477> when it was under the direction of the 
 Bishop of Norwich. In 1432 Richard Felaw, who had 
 been eight times bailiff, and twice member of parlia- 
 ment for Ipswich, gave the produce of some lands and 
 houses to this institution, and also a house for the 
 master's residence ; but these possessions were alienated
 
 SUFFOLK. 143 
 
 20 Henry VIII. at the request of Cardinal Wolsey, and 
 given to his new college in this town. His short- 
 lived institution was evidently the cause of the charter 
 afterwards granted by King Henry for the present 
 foundation. This charter was renewed and confirmed 
 by Queen Elizabeth, who authorised the corporation 
 to deduct annually from the fee-farm payable by this 
 borough the sum of 24/. 6s. Sd. for the master's salary, 
 and I4l. 6s. 8d. for that of the usher, to which some 
 additions have since been made. The nomination of 
 both is vested in the corporation, which is empowered 
 to make such rules as it may think fit for the regu- 
 lation and government of the school. In 15Q8 Mr. 
 William Smart, one of the portmen of Ipswich, con- 
 veyed a farm at Wiverstone, then of the clear yearly 
 value of 19^. to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, for the 
 maintenance of one fellow and two scholars from this 
 school, who are to be called after his name. In 1601 
 Mr. Ralph Scrivener, who married Mr. Smart's widow, 
 at her request settled on the same college an annuity 
 of 21/. for the erection of four new scholarships, to be 
 filled out of the free grammar school at Ipswich. 
 
 Another considerable part of the buildings once 
 belonging to the monastery of the Black Friars is now 
 occupied by the poor on Tooley's foundation. This 
 benevolent institution, established in 1551 by Mr. 
 Henry Tooley, a portman of Ipswich, and confirmed 
 by a charter of Philip and Mary, was originally in- 
 tended for the relief of 10 poor persons only, who were 
 unfeignedly lame by reason of the king's wars, or 
 otherwise, or such as could not procure a subsistence ; 
 the numbers, however, have since been considerably 
 increased.
 
 144 SUFFOLK. 
 
 On the quay, which borders the Orwell, stands the 
 Custom House of this port, a commodious brick build- 
 ing; ; in an unfrequented apartment contiguous' to 
 which is still preserved the ducking-stool, a venerable 
 relic of ancient customs. 
 
 A malt-kiln on the quay, formerly known by the 
 name of the Angel, was in ancient times a house of 
 Cistertian monks. From the remains it appears to 
 have been about 81 feet by 21 . 
 
 St. Mary at Stoke was given, as we are informed in 
 the Domesday survey, by King Edgar to the prior and 
 convent of Ely. This grant, made about O/O, was 
 executed with great solemnity, as appears from the 
 words of the deed itself: Ego Eadgarus, &c. Basilcvs 
 non clam in angulo, sed palam, sub dio svbucripsi ; and it 
 was attested by his queen, St. Dunstan, archbishop of 
 Canterbury, and many of the principal officers and 
 nobles. The gift included the hamlet, Avliieh takes in 
 part of the parish of Sproughton, together wkh the 
 advowson of the rectory and the manor of Stoke Hall, 
 or, as it is at present called, Stoke Park. It is now 
 vested in the dean and chapter of Ely. 
 
 In this parish is the manor of Godlesford, now 
 denominated Gusford Hall, which, with its appur- 
 tenances in (iodlesford, Iklsted Parva and VVherstead, 
 was granted 32 Henry VIII. to Sir John Ravens worth, 
 as parcel of the possessions of the priory of Canon's 
 Leigh, Devonshire. In a perambulation in 26 Edward 
 III. this house is described as belonging to Robert 
 Andrews, whose family seems to have been long settled 
 here, for in J3 Henry VIII. it is denominated " the 
 gate some-time of old Robert Andrews, now of Sir 
 Andrews Windsor," who took his Christian name
 
 SUFFOLK. 145 
 
 from that family, and was afterwards created Lord 
 Windsor. 
 
 St. Mary at Tower was given by Norman, the son of 
 Eadnorth, to Trinity priory. The tower of this church, 
 which was blown down in the great storm, February 
 3 8, l6Si , was adorned with a handsome spire ; and Mr. 
 William Edgar, of Ipswich, left by will 20O/. towards 
 erecting another ; but owing to some misunderstanding 
 among the persons entrusted with the management of 
 this business, the money was thrown into chancery, 
 and the object of the testator was never carried into 
 execution. 
 
 In Upper Brook-street, in this parish, is the house 
 of the Archdeacon of Suffolk, sometimes called the 
 Archdeacon's Place, or Palace. The original edifice, 
 of which the outer wall and gates seem to have formed 
 a part, was erected in 14/1, by William Pykenham, 
 Archdeacon of Suffolk, and principal official, or Chan- 
 cellor of Norwich, the initials of whose name are still 
 upon the gateway. 
 
 St. Matthew's has always been termed a rectory, and 
 the incumbent is instituted into it as such ; but the 
 great tithes, formerly impropriated to St. Peter's priory, 
 were granted, 7 Edward VI. to Webb and Breton, and 
 now belong to the family of Fonnereau. The crown 
 did not obtain the advowson by the dissolution of the 
 priory, having always presented anterior to that event 
 
 This parish once contained four churches or chapels, 
 long since demolished or disused : these were, All 
 Saints, St. George's, St. Mildred's, and St. Mary's. 
 The site of All Saints cannot now be ascertained ; but 
 so much is known, that it was consolidated with St. 
 Matthew's before 1383, when Thomas Moonie was 
 o
 
 146 SUFFOLK. 
 
 instituted into that church, with the chapel of Alt 
 Saints annexed. 
 
 St. George's Chapel was used for divine service so 
 late as the middle of the sixteenth century, when Mr. 
 Bilney, who suffered martyrdom, was there appre- 
 hended as he was preaching in favour of the Reforma- 
 tion. Considerable remains of this edifice are yet left, 
 but it is now converted into a barn. 
 
 St. Mildred's church, once parochial, and impro- 
 priated to St. Peter's priory, is one of the most ancient 
 buildings in Ipswich. The principal part of this has 
 lately been taken down. Part of it had been con- 
 verted into a Town- Hall, under which were three 
 rooms used as warehouses. Contiguous to the hall was 
 a spacious council- chamber, below which were the 
 kitchens formerly used at the feasts of the merchant's 
 and other guilds, since occupied as workshops, and 
 supposed to have been rebuilt, or thoroughly repaired, 
 on the restoration of Charles II. We are informed by 
 Grose, that some years ago a piece of the plastering in 
 the middle of the front of this edifice, near the top, 
 fell down, and discovered a stone, on which were 
 quartered the arms of England and France, much de- 
 faced by time. A board of the same shape, with a 
 painting of the arms, was put over it at the private 
 expense of one of the portmcn. The writer just quoted 
 says, that the brick building at the end of the hall, in 
 the upper part of which the records of the corporation 
 were kept, appeared to have been erected about the year 
 144Q- The prior and convent of the Holy Trinity, in 
 1393, granted to the burgesses of Ipswich a piece of 
 ground in the parish of St. Mildred, twenty-four feet 
 long, and eighteen wide, the north end abutting on the
 
 -SUFFOLK. 147 
 
 Cornhill. On this ground, as we are told, the edifice 
 in question was erected ; and there is an order made at a 
 great court, 26 Henry VI. that all the profits of eschea- 
 tor and justice of the peace should be applied towards 
 the expense of the building at the end of the hall of 
 pleas. If this information be correct, the structure in 
 question must be one of the oldest brick buildings in 
 the kingdom, as the date assigned to its erection is 
 earlier by some years than the period usually considered 
 as the sera of the introduction of that material. 
 
 St. Mary's Chapel, commonly called our Lady of 
 Grace, is said to have stood at the north-west corner 
 of the lane without the west gate, which to this day 
 goes by the name of Lady-lane, opposite to the 
 George Inn. This chapel was very famous for an 
 image of the Blessed Virgin, which, in Catholic times, 
 had numerous visitors, and to which, in old wills, 
 many pilgrimages were ordered to be made. In the 
 third part of the homily against peril of idolatry, this 
 image is mentioned, together with our Lady of Wal- 
 singham, and our Lady of Wilsdon, by the style of 
 Our Lady of Ipswich. This venerated image, how- 
 ever, shared the fate of other relics of superstition of 
 the same kind, being conveyed to London, and there 
 publicly burned. The site of the chapel is now co- 
 vered with buildings. 
 
 The alms-houses in Lady-lane were erected by Mr. 
 Daundy, who by his will, bearing date 1515, gave 
 wood to each of his alms-houses, " beside our Lady 
 of Grace." 
 
 The church of St. Nicholas was impropriated to St. 
 Peter's priory, on the dissolution of which the impro- 
 priation was granted to Webb and Breton. It is not
 
 148 SUFFOLK. 
 
 mentioned in Domesday, and might probably have 
 been erected to supply the place of the dilapidated 
 church of St. Michael, which is said in that record to 
 have had eight acres of land, and is conjectured to have 
 stood not far from the spot occupied by this edifice. 
 
 In this parish, on the south side of the passage lead- 
 ing from St. Nicholas'-street to the churchyard, stands 
 the house in which tradition reports that Cardinal 
 Wolsey was born. The front has been rebuilt, but 
 the back and out-houses, says Mr. Gough, have marks 
 of antiquity. The Cardinal's father, in his will, be- 
 queathed 6s. 8d. to the high altar of St. Nicholas, 
 and forty shillings to the painting of the archangel 
 there. 
 
 Westward of the church of St. Nicholas, and on the 
 bank of the Gipping, stood a convent of Franciscan 
 Grey Friars Minors, founded in the reign of Edward I. 
 by Lord Tibetot, or Tiptot, of Nettlestead, who, with 
 many of his family, was buried in the church belong- 
 ing to this house. A small portion of this edifice, con- 
 taining some of the lower range of windows, and part 
 of the exterior wall, are yet to be seen in a gardener's 
 ground, which now occupies its site. 
 
 Another convent of White Friars Carmelites stood 
 partly in this parish, nnd partly in that of St. Lawrence. 
 It was founded about the year 1279, by Sir Thomas 
 Loudham, and other benefactors; and at the dissolu- 
 tion was granted to John Eger. It was of consider- 
 able extent, reaching from St. Nicholas'-street to St. 
 Stephen's lane. Part of it was standing in the early 
 part of the last century, and served as a gaol for the 
 county, before the latter agreed with the corporation 
 for the common use of their gaol by the west gate.
 
 SUFFOLK. 149 
 
 Of this house, which produced many persons eminent 
 for their learning, no remains are now left. 
 
 St. Peter's had, as appears from Domesday book, 
 large possessions in the time of Edward the Confessor. 
 It was afterwards impropriated to the priory of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul, which stood contiguous to the 
 churchyard, and was founded in the reign of Henry II. 
 by Thomas Lacy, and Alice his wife, for Black Canons 
 of the order of St. Augustine. This house was sup- 
 pressed in 152/, by Cardinal Wolsey, who, willing to 
 bestow some marks of regard on the place of his na- 
 tivity, as well as desirous of erecting there a lasting 
 monument of his greatness, resolved to build and en- 
 dow a college and grammar-school, to serve as a 
 nursery for his new college at Oxford. For this pur- 
 pose, being then in the meridian of his prosperity, he 
 obtained bulls from the Pope for the suppression, and 
 letters patent from the King for the site and estate of 
 the priory of St. Peter and St. Paul, where, in the 20th 
 Henry VIII. he founded a college, dedicated to the 
 honour of the Blessed Virgin, consisting of a dean, 12 
 secular canons, eight clerks, and eight choristers, to- 
 gether with a grammar-school : and for its farther 
 endowment he procured part of the possessions of the 
 late monasteries of Snape, Dodnash, Wike', Harkesley, 
 Tiptree, Romborough, Felixtow, Bromehill, Blyth- 
 burgh, and Montjoy. The first stone was laid with 
 great solemnity, by the Bishop of Lincoln, on which 
 occasion a grand procession was made through the 
 town, from the college to the church of Our Lady. 
 But this noble foundation was scarcely completed 
 before the disgrace of the Cardinal, when, in 23 
 Henry VIII. this building, with its site, containing by 
 03
 
 150 SUFFOLK. 
 
 estimation six acres, was granted to Thomas Alverde j 
 and in 9 James I. to Richard Percival and Edmund 
 Duffield. 
 
 No part of this college now remains except the gate, 
 which stands adjoining to the east side of St. Peter's 
 churchyard, the rest having been long demolished to 
 the very foundations. In the second edition of Kirby's 
 Suffolk Traveller, published in 1764, we are informed 
 that the first stone was not long before found in two 
 pieces, worked up in a common wall in Woulform's- 
 lane, with a Latin inscription to this effect : " In the 
 year of Christ 1528, and the 20th of Henry VIII. king 
 of England, on the 15th of June, laid by John bishop 
 of Lincoln." This was John Longland, who likewise 
 laid the first stone of Wolsey's college at Oxford. 
 
 This gate, with the exception of a square stone 
 tablet, on which are carved the arms of King Henry 
 VIII. is entirely of brick, worked into niches, wreathed 
 pinnacles and chimnics, flowers, and other decorations, 
 according to the fashion of that time. It is supposed 
 to have been the great or chief gate ; for as the Car- 
 dinal, by setting the king's arms over a college of his 
 own foundation, meant to flatter that monarch, it is 
 not probable that he would put them over any other 
 than the principal entrance. If this conjecture be cor- 
 rect, the specimen but ill agrees with the character 
 given of the college by the writer of Wolsey's secret 
 history, who says, that it was a sumptuous building: 
 and, indeed, the Cardinal himself, in an exhortatory 
 Latin preface to Lilly's Grammar, then lately pub- 
 lished, styles it " no ways inelegant." This gate now 
 leads to a private house, in the apartments of which 
 are some coats of arms.
 
 SUFFOLK. 151 
 
 In St. Peter's parish stood the mansion granted in 
 the reign of Edward VI. to the Bishop of Norwich, by 
 the appellation of Lord Curson's House. It was after- 
 wards called the King's Hospital, having been applied 
 to that purpose for seamen during the Dutch wars. 
 The strong and stately brick porch belonging to this 
 edifice was demolished in 1 760 ; it was subsequently 
 known as the Elephant and Castle, and is now a malt- 
 kiln. By a statute enacted 20 Henry VIII. Ipswich 
 was appointed for the seat of a suffragan bishop ; and 
 the common notion is, that this house was intended for 
 his residence. Thomas Manning, prior of Butley, con- 
 secrated by Archbishop Cranmer, in 1525, was the 
 first and last suffragan bishop of Ipswich, after whose 
 decease, as it is supposed, this mansion was granted to 
 the Bishop of Norwich. 
 
 In the suburbs beyond the river stood the church of 
 St. Austin, near the green of the same name. It is 
 often called a chapel ; but in the time of the Conqueror 
 it possessed eleven acres of land, and procurations were 
 paid for it by the prior of St. Peter's, so that it was 
 parochial, and probably impropriated to that priory. 
 It was in use in 1482. All the houses and land on the 
 south side of the Orwell, at present forming part of 
 St. Peter's parish, are supposed to have once belonged 
 to that of St. Austin. Not far from this church, and 
 probably opposite to it, stood St. Leonard's Hospital, 
 now a farm-house belonging to Christ's Hospital in 
 this town. 
 
 St. Stephens is a rectory, the presentation to which 
 devolved, with the Christ-church estate, to the family 
 of Fonnereau. An Unitarian chapel, in St. Nicholas' - 
 street, is adorned about the pulpit with some elegant
 
 152 SUFFOLK. 
 
 carving. The Anabaptists have a chapel at Stoke ; 
 and a handsome stone bridge connects the town of 
 Ipswich with its suburb, Stoke hamlet. 
 
 In Brook-street, in this parish, was a mansion be- 
 longing to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, on the 
 spot where now stands the Coach and Horses inn. 
 Some remains of an older building may still be traced 
 on the walls forming the back part of the present 
 house. 
 
 The Tankard public-home, next door to the Coach 
 and Horses, formed part of the residence of Sir An- 
 thony Wingfield, knight of the garter, vice-chamber- 
 lain, privy-counsellor, and one of the executors of 
 Henry VIII. Some curious remains of the decorations 
 of this ancient edifice still exist, particularly in a room 
 on the ground-floor, the oak wainscot of which, cu- 
 riously carved in festoons of flowers, formerly gilt, is 
 now painted blue and white. Here the arms of Wing- 
 h'eld are yet to be seen ; the ceiling is of groined work ; 
 and over the fire-place is a basso-relievo in plaster, 
 coloured, which uninterrupted tradition referred, till a 
 tew years since, to the battle of Bosworth. This in- 
 terpretation is adopted by Mr. Gough, who describes 
 it as exhibiting " Leicester-town in one corner; seve- 
 ral warriors in the middle; Sir Charles William Bran- 
 don, who is supposed to have lived here, father to 
 Charles Hrnntlnn Duke of Suffolk, and standard-bearer 
 to the Earl of Richmond, lies dead by his horse, and 
 on the other side the standard : at a distance '-corns to 
 be the carl, with the crown placed on his head by Sir 
 William Stanley ; in another is Leicester-abbey, the 
 abbot coming out of the porch to compliment tlu 
 earl." But as an instance how far conjecture may be
 
 SUFFOLK. 153 
 
 carried, a recent writer supposes this relievo to be a 
 delineation of the Judgment of Paris ! 
 
 Another part of the mansion of the Wingfields having 
 successively served as a popish chapel for Judge Wil- 
 ton, in the reign of James II., and a dancing-school, 
 has since been converted into a Theatre. Ipswich en- 
 joys the honour of having first witnessed and acknow- 
 ledged the inimitable powers of David Garrick, who, 
 under the assumed name of Lyddal, is said to have 
 made his first dramatic essay on this stage about 1 73p 
 in Dunstal's company from London, in the part otDick, 
 in the Lying Valet. 
 
 Besides the churches already mentioned, Ipswich 
 had formerly one dedicated to St. Gregory, and im- 
 propriated to Woodbridge priory : but nothing farther 
 is known concerning it. Mention is also made of the 
 church of Osterbolt, as being antiquated so early as 
 21 Edward III. It is conjectured to have stood near 
 the east gate, and to have derived its appellation from 
 that circumstance ; and as St. Clement's is not named 
 in Domesday, it might probably have been erected 
 instead of this dilapidated church of Osterbolt. 
 
 Ipswich has a spacious Market-place for corn only, 
 now called the Corn-hill, in the centre of which was a 
 handsome cross, with commodious shambles, first built 
 by Mr. Edmund Daundy, in 15 1O, though the vulgar 
 notion ascribes their erection to Cardinal Wolsey. In 
 1812 it was deemed necessary, in furtherance of the 
 improvements that were then taking place in the town, 
 to pull down the Market Cross, which was effected 
 with great difficulty, as the timber and every part of it 
 were in the most excellent, preservation. In the same 
 year, Mr. Raw, of Ipswich, published by subscription
 
 154 SUFFOLK. 
 
 a handsomely engraved view, in aquatinta, of the Mar- 
 ket Cross and Town Hall, from a drawing by that in- 
 genious artist, Mr. George Frost. It is a valuable 
 memorial and record of the latest state and appearance 
 of those two ancient and venerable buildings. Some 
 further notices of it, extracted from the accounts oi 
 the Treasurer of the Corporation, may not be unin- 
 teresting. " Benjamin Osmond, by will dated June 
 iSip, gave 50/. towards building this cross. In 1628.. 
 34l. was paid to the town in lieu of 50/. which was 
 given by B. Osmond. Paid to Thomas Allen, in part 
 of the framing of the cross, 231. More paid to hirr 
 by warrant for building the same cross. More paid t 
 said Allen in full of 38^. for framing the said cross. 
 Several entries are in the above accounts respecting 
 the timber taken from Ulveston Hall lands, for the us 
 of the cross, and of the sums paid by the corpora 
 tion to Tooley's charity for it. " May 10, 1660, th 
 cross was ordered to be beautified for the proclama- 
 tion of King Charles II. and five or six guns to be pro 
 vided at the common quay, and to be discharged a- 
 the same time. April 12, l6Q4, it was ordered that 
 new Justice should be set upon the cross, and the cros: 
 repaired at the charge of the town. April 15, 1/23 
 ordered that the town-treasurer repair the market cros 
 at the charge of the corporation ;" and this year th 
 thanks of the corporation were ordered to Franci 
 Negus, esq. for his present of the statue of Justice 
 which was brought from his seat at Dallinghoe. Thi 
 gentleman represented the borough in the parliament 
 of 1717, 1722, and 1727. From these notices it ap 
 pears tlmt the cross pulled down in 1812 was probabl 
 not the cross built by Mr. Daundy, but a new one 01
 
 SUFFOLK. J55 
 
 :he old site 3 and it will not be thought extraordinary 
 ;hat, after a lapse of more than a century, it might 
 stand in need of such repairs as induced the corpora- 
 ;ion to take it down and rebuild it, in 1619. The 
 irms on the cross above each pillar were those of Ips- 
 ,vich; of the families of Daundy, Bloss, Long, Spar- 
 owe, and the two tradesmen's marks of C. A. and 
 B. K. M. 
 
 The cross was a large octagon building of wood, 
 ;he roof being supported by eight pillars, and sur- 
 nounted with a good figure of Justice with her usual 
 ttributes. It was twenty- seven feet in diameter, and 
 bout fifty feet in height to the top of the figure. This 
 gure has been since placed over the entrance of the 
 Corn Exchange, having been first transformed 
 nto that of Ceres by an exchange of the sword and 
 cales for the sickle and wheat-ears. This gave oc- 
 asipn to the following jeu d'esprit : 
 
 Long, in Ipswich market-place, 
 Astrea look'd with languid face 
 Upon the proud Agrarian race ; 
 
 Broken her sword, her scales uneven ; 
 Resolv'd that corn again shall rise, 
 Ceres the lofty space supplies, 
 And holds her sample to the skies, 
 
 While scorn'd Astrea flies to heaven! 
 
 Another ill-natured wag further insinuated in verse, 
 :iat this loyal protestant borough deemed it disgrace- 
 ul that a popish symbol like the cross should stand in 
 public place, 
 
 So, Dowsing like, down with the structure they pull'd, 
 
 Of a moment without e'en the loss, 
 
 And thus they for ever each sinner debarr'd 
 
 From again looking up to the cross.
 
 156 SUFFOLK. 
 
 This Dowsing, whose name occurs more than once 
 in the county history, was William Dowsing, of Strat- 
 ford. He was born at Luxh'eld, and was appointed 
 the principal of the parliamentary visitors in 1 643, to 
 inspect and remove all superstitious images, paintings, 
 inscriptions, &c. from the churches in this county j 
 which, to the regret of all modern antiquaries, he 
 most effectually did. The Journal of this tasteless and 
 fanatical zealot was published in 1786, in quarto, by 
 R. Loder, of Woodbridge. 
 
 The market, prior to 1810, was held in the narrow 
 street called the liutter- market, running parallel to 
 Tower-street, which being found inconvenient, it was 
 removed. 
 
 In 1810, five public- spirited gentlemen of this town 
 undertook to erect a new market at their joint expense, 
 which was completed in November, 1811. This is at 
 no great distance from the old butter market. It is 
 composed of an outer and inner quadrangle, round each 
 of which runs a range of buildings, supported by stone 
 columns, that afford accommodation and protection 
 from the weather to the persons who attend the market 
 and pay a small annual or weekly rent. In the centre 
 of the interior quadrangle is a fountain, the pedestal 
 surmounted with a pyramid of Portland stone, forming 
 an obelisk about twenty feet in height. On each side 
 of the pedestal a bason is cut into the solid stone, and 
 supplied with water from a lion's head above, liy 
 these means the water, which before ran waste through 
 the town, is made to contribute to the ornament and 
 convenience of the market. The whole undertaking, 
 which cost about L0,000/. was executed from the de- 
 ngns and under the direction of Mr. William Brown,
 
 SUFFOLK. I -57 
 
 architect of Ipswich, and is highly creditable to his 
 professional abilities. Adjoining is an enclosed cattle 
 market, an arrangement truly desirable in every po- 
 pulous town, the work of the same proprietors. The 
 market days are Tuesday and Thursday for small meat, 
 Wednesday and Friday for fish, and Saturday for all 
 kinds of provisions. 
 
 The Counti/ Gaol here has been erected with such 
 attention to the health and morals of the prisoners, as 
 to call forth the warmest approbation from the late 
 Mr. Neild, many years the coadjutant with the late 
 Dr. Lettsom. The same applies to that at Bury. The 
 boundary wall of the former incloses about an acre 
 and a half of ground, and is twenty- four feet high. 
 The turnkey's lodge is in the front, and has a leaden 
 roof, on which executions take place. From the lodge, 
 an avenue ninety-eight feet long leads to the keeper's 
 house in the centre of the prison, from which the 
 several court-yards are completely inspected. The 
 prison, consisting of four wings, has spacious and 
 airy courts about 75 feet by 45 attached to it, and 
 three smaller about 44 feet, in one of which a fire- 
 engine is kept. The chapel is up one pair of stairs in 
 the gaoler's house ; and here, as well as in the prison, 
 the persons confined, both debtors and felons, are kept 
 separate. 
 
 The House of Correction stands in an airy situation 
 near the borough gaol, and is surrounded by a wall 17 
 feet high. It contains three court-yards, each 50 feet 
 by 30, and has a chapel in the keeper's house. 
 
 The Town and Borough Gaol is situated in St. 
 Matthew's-street, and is both handsome and com- 
 modious. The prisoners here employ themselves in 
 p
 
 158 SUFFOLK. 
 
 spinning, making garters, cutting skewers, and such 
 like operations, and receive the full amount of their 
 earnings. 
 
 Among the benevolent institutions of this town are 
 three charity schools, in two of which are seventy boys, 
 and in the third, forty girls. Besides these, it has a 
 school on the plan of Mr. Lancaster, opened July 8, 
 J811, with 200 boys. 
 
 An excellent charity for the relief and support of the 
 widows and orphans of poor clergymen in the county 
 was begun here in 1704, by the voluntary subscriptions 
 of a few gentlemen of Ipswich and Woodbridge, and 
 their vicinity ; an institution which has since been 
 eminently successful in effecting the laudable purpose 
 for which it was designed. 
 
 A small distance from the town, on the Woodbridge 
 road, some extensive barracks were erected for in- 
 fantry and cavalry, but since the peace they have been 
 taken down. Towards N acton is the race-course, 
 forming part of an extensive common, which, being 
 the property of the corporation, was sold in 181 1 to 
 several private individuals ; so that the sports of the 
 turf will probably soon be supplanted by more bene- 
 ficial pursuits. Ipswich contained, in 1811, 2733 
 houses, and 13,670 inhabitants: it has six annual fairs-. 
 This town was formerly famous for its manufactures 
 of broad cloth, and the best canvas for sail-cloth, 
 called Ipswich double. While those manufactures 
 continued to flourish, it had several companies of 
 traders incorporated by charter, as clothiers, merchant- 
 taylors, merchant-adventurers, and others. About the 
 middle of the seventeenth century the woollen trade 
 began to decline here, and gradually dwindled entirely
 
 SUFFOLK. 159 
 
 away. Its loss was so severely felt for a long time, 
 that Ipswich acquired the character of being " a town 
 without people." Favourably seated for commercial 
 speculations, it has at length recovered this shock, 
 and is now rapidly increasing in consequence and po- 
 pulation. Its principal traffic at present is in malt- 
 ing and corn, the exportation of which by sea is 
 facilitated by the aestuary of the Orwell, navigable for 
 light vessels up to the town itself, while those of 
 greater burden are obliged to bring-to at Downham 
 Keach, three or four miles lower down. This port is 
 almost dry at ebb ; but the returning tide, generally 
 rising about twelve feet, converts it into a magnificent 
 sheet of water. Here are two yards employed in ship- 
 building ; and though the number of vessels belonging 
 to Ipswich is said to have declined from the decrease of 
 the coal-trade, yet more than 30,OOO chaldron are an- 
 nually imported into this town. 
 
 Vessels fitted up for the accommodation of pas- 
 sengers, like the Gravesend boats at London, sail every 
 tide from Ipswich to Harwich, and back again ; an 
 excursion that is rendered truly delightful by the 
 beauty of the surrounding scenery. The Orwell, 
 which, for its extent, may be pronounced one of the 
 finest salt-rivers in the kingdom, is bordered on either 
 side almost the whole way with gently rising hills, 
 enriched with gentlemen's seats, villages with their 
 churches, woods, noble avenues, parks stocked with 
 deer, extending to the water's edge ; and, in a word, 
 almost every object that can give variety to a land- 
 scape. In the passage from Ipswich, the view is ter- 
 minated in front by the main ocean ; on the right with
 
 160 SUFFOLK. 
 
 a prospect of Harwich, and the high coast of Essex ; 
 on the left with Languard Fort, and the high land of 
 Walton, and Felixtow cliffs behind it. On the return 
 to Ipswich, the scene closes with a view of that town, 
 which appears to great advantage, accommodating it- 
 self in a sort of hall'-moon to the winding of the river. 
 In a word, the banks of the Orwell are, in general, 
 highly picturesque, especially when it becomes the 
 jestuary at Downham Reach, about three or four miles 
 below Ipswich 5 to which place it is na\ igable for 
 ships of considerable burthen. The banks there rise 
 into pleasing elevations, clothed with a rich luxu- 
 riancy of wood, and adorned with several good seats ; 
 and the river assumes the feature of a large lake, 
 being, to all appearance, land-locked on every side. 
 We must now leave Ipswich, but not without borrow- 
 ing a tribute to this highly-favoured town and its 
 beautiful river, for which we must be indebted to the 
 taste and industry of one of its ingenious inhabitants, 
 though the tribute be only a simple flower from the 
 richly variegated wreaths that compose The Suffolk 
 Garland, printed by Mr. Raw, of Ipswich. 
 
 Orwell, delightful stream, whose waters flow, 
 
 Fring'd with luxuriant beauty to the main ! 
 
 Amid thy wooHlands taught, the Muse would fain 
 On thee her grateful eulogy bestow ; 
 
 Smooth and majestic though thy current glide, 
 And bustling commerce plough t'ly liquid plain ; 
 
 Though grac'd with loveliness thy verdant side, 
 While all around enchantment seems to reign ; 
 
 These glories still with filial love I taStr, 
 And feel their praise, yet thou host one beside
 
 SUFFOLK. l6l 
 
 , To me more sweet; for on thy banks reside 
 
 Friendship and truth combin'd, whose union chaste 
 Has sooth'd my soul, and these shall bloom sublime, 
 When fade the fleeting charms of Nature and of Time. 
 
 At the distance of three miles from Ipswich is 
 
 WASHBROOK, or Great Belstead. The manor of 
 Hamer Hall here formerly belonged to the abbey of 
 Aumerle, or Albemarle, in Normandy ; and afterwards 
 to the nunnery of Dartford, in Kent. At the dis- 
 solution it was granted to Sir Percival Hart. Within 
 the bounds of this parish there was formerly another 
 church, and perhaps a hamlet, called Felchurch, or 
 Velechurch, which was impropriated to the abbey of 
 Albemarle ; and upon the dissolution of the alien prio- 
 ries, given to the nunnery of Dartford. The ruins of 
 this church were some years since visible in a fiel(| 
 bordering on the road leading from Sproughton to 
 Copdock Water. The church of Washbrook was con- 
 solidated with Copdock about half a century ago. 
 About two miles north-west from this place is 
 
 BURSTAL, called a berewic, or hamlet of Bramford. 
 The manor of Harrolds, in Burstal, was granted to 
 Cardinal Wolsey, as parcel of the possession of St. 
 Peter's priory, in Ipswich. A cross road to the west- 
 ward, at the distance of a mile, brings us to 
 
 HINTLESHAM. This was anciently the lordship of the 
 Talbots, Pipards, and for many years of the Timperleys. 
 The hall, &c. was bought of them by Richard Powis, 
 esq. sometime member for Orford. From him it was 
 purchased by Sir Richard Lloyd, knt. one of the barons 
 of his majesty's Court of Exchequer, and is now the 
 seat of R. S. Lloyd, esq. The church was impropriated 
 to King's Hall, now part of Trinity College, Cam- 
 P 3
 
 162 SUFFOLK. 
 
 bridge, about 1349 ; but before the year 1400, the 
 impropriation was given up, and the minister presented 
 and instituted into the rectory. Here was formerly i\ 
 chapel in this parish, and there is yet a place called 
 Chapel Field. Another manor in Hintlesham belonged 
 to Bury Abbey, and was granted to Robert Downs by 
 Henry VIII. : this came afterwards to the Veseys ; and 
 a third manor or estate here belonged to St. Peter's 
 Priory in Ipswich, and was granted with that to Car- 
 dinal Wolsey, ip Henry VIII. In the chancel of the 
 parish church are several monuments of the Timper- 
 leys, and it has been said a tomb of blue marble, 
 on which was the portraiture in brass of a man in 
 complete armour, and a woman with a hound at 
 her feet, with this inscription, " Here lyeth the ve- 
 nerable man, John Timperley, esq. heir and lord of 
 Hintlesham, and Margaret his wife, which John died 
 an. I'lOO." This tomb, if such it ever was, is now 
 reduced to a stone in the pavement, the brasses all 
 gone, except a single shield. The inscription was in 
 Latin, and may be found in Weever. 
 
 Turning southwards toward the high road, a mile 
 distant, is 
 
 CHATTISHAM. The manor, impropriation, and ad- 
 vowson of the vicarage belonged formerly to the 
 priory of Wykes in Essex, and wer?. granted first to 
 Cardinal Wolsey, and then to the provost and fellows 
 of Eton. 
 
 COHOOCK, two miles from Chattisham, brings us 
 again to the high road. The hall-house here is the 
 property ot Lord Walsiuglmm, who is also patron of 
 the church and lord of the manor. 
 
 BHLSTEAD, or Little Bclstead, lies about a mile to
 
 SUFFOLK. 163 
 
 the left of the road, and adjoins Copdock. In King 
 John's time, or that of Henry III. at the latest, William 
 de Goldingham, lord there, paid fines to Ipswich for 
 freedom from toll for himself, and for his villains in 
 Belstead. The same family continued to present to 
 the church till after the year 1560, when the manor 
 was purchased hy Mr. Bloss, a wealthy clothier of Ips- 
 wich. It now belongs to Sir Robert Harland, bart. 
 
 WHERSTEAD lies two miles farther to the left, near 
 the bank of the Orwell. Gilbert de Reymes had this 
 lordship in King John's time, and was admitted a bur- 
 gess of Ipswich, and compounded for an exemption 
 from toll, custom, &c. there for his villains. The 
 church was early impropriated to the prior and con- 
 Tent of Ely, and the rectory now belongs to the dean 
 and chapter there ; but the advowson of the vicarage 
 is in the crown. 
 
 In this parish is Wherstead Lodge, beautifully situ- 
 ated on the banks of the Orwell. It was the mansion 
 of the late John Vernon, esq. but now of Sir Robert 
 Harland, whose ancestor, a distinguished naval officer, 
 was created a baronet in \TJ\, by the title of Sir 
 Robert Harland, of Sproughton, where he had at that 
 time a seat, since taken down. In the same year he 
 sailed as commander in chief of his majesty's fleet to 
 the East Indies; in 1778 he was second in command 
 to Admiral Keppel ; in 1782 he was appointed one of 
 the lords of the Admiralty, and died in 1/84. 
 
 FRESTON is about the same distance from the road 
 as Wherstead, rather more than a mile south of 
 that place. This manor was anciently vested in a 
 family who took their name from it, and who were 
 proprietors of the estate till about the time of Henry
 
 164 SUFFOLK. 
 
 VIII., when it devolved to the Latymers. Not far from 
 the bank of the Orwell stands Freston Toiaer, a strong 
 quadrangular brick building, about ten feet by twelve, 
 with a polygonal turret at each angle. It is six stories 
 high, and contains as many rooms, one above another, 
 communicating by a winding staircase, which, on the 
 exterior, forms the principal face of the edifice, having 
 three sides and numerous windows. The best apart- 
 ment seems to have been on the fifth story; it is 
 higher than any of the others, and was probably hung 
 with tapestry, as the small nails yet left in the wood 
 seem to indicate. The top is formed by a number of 
 open arches, and each of the small turrets at the angles 
 terminates in a pinnacle. The windows are square ; 
 and, except in the principal apartment, very small. In 
 this building there is but one fire-place, which is on 
 the ground-floor, and even that seems to be of recent 
 construction, and to have no chimney ; whence it is 
 probable that this place was rather an occasional 
 pleasure retreat, or watch-tower, than designed for the 
 purpose of permanent habitation. Excepting a farm- 
 house, at the distance of a few yards, no trace of any 
 building appears near the tower. " As there is among 
 the records of the manor," says the Suffolk Traveller, 
 " a very exact and particular account of the manor- 
 house, and all the out-buildings and offices to it, in 
 Henry the VII. 's time, and no mention is there made 
 of the tower, it is pretty certain it was not then built ; 
 so that it is reasonable to suppose it to have been the 
 work of the Latymers. From the smallness of the 
 windows in all the other rooms, it looks as if they 
 wore built chiefly for the support of the uppermost 
 room, which, having large windows on three sides of
 
 I7iepri>perft> of CJlaTLcrs EsqT 
 
 SVFS'OX.'K.
 
 SUFFOLK. 165 
 
 it, seems to have been contrived by some whimsical 
 man, for taking rather a better view of the river 
 Orwell than can be had on the neighbouring hill." 
 
 WOOLVERSTON joins to Freston. The hall, the 
 elegant mansion of Charles Berners, esq. now high 
 sheriff for the county, stands in a most delightful situa- 
 tion on the west bank of the river Orwell. The house 
 is built of Woolpit brick ; the centre of the principal 
 front, adorned with a pediment, supported by four Ionic 
 columns, is connected with the wings on each side by a 
 colonnade. The bow front next the river commands 
 the most pleasing views of the water and the opposite 
 shore of Nacton, through the trees which embellish the 
 park. 
 
 The interior of this edifice corresponds with its ex- 
 terior. The apartments are fitted up with great taste ; 
 they contain some good pictures, and the ceilings are 
 beautifully painted. The stables, which are an orna- 
 mental building, stand detached from the house, on the 
 spot occupied by the old mansion. The present hall 
 was erected in 1776, by the late William Berners, 
 esq. proprietor of the stately street in London called 
 after his name. 
 
 At some distance from the house, in the park, and 
 between it and the river, an interesting monument of 
 filial affection presents a pleasing object, that is seen to 
 a considerable distance in passing up and down the 
 river. This is a square obelisk of free-stone, ninety-six 
 feet high, with an ascent in the interior to the top, 
 which is surmounted by a globe, encircled with rays. 
 The base is encompassed with iron railing. On one 
 .-ide of it is this inscription :
 
 166 SUFFOLK. 
 
 In 
 
 Memoriam 
 
 Gulielmi Berners, Armig : 
 Patris optimi 
 
 et 
 
 hene merentis 
 hunc obeliscum extruxit 
 
 filius 
 
 Carolus Berners 
 1793. 
 
 On the contrary side, next to the river, is the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Gulielmus Berners 
 
 Natus 
 Jul. 10. A. D 1709. 
 
 Denatus 
 Septemb. IS. 1733. 
 
 The park contains about 900 acres. It is well 
 stocked with beautiful spotted deer, and abounds with 
 game of every kind. The estate, early in the last 
 century, belonged to a Mr. Tyson, \vlio became a 
 bankrupt in 1/20, when the infamous John Ward, of 
 Hackney, claimed it in right of a mortgage which he 
 had upon it. The matter was brought before the 
 Court of Chancery, and for upwards of half a century 
 the cause remained undecided. At length, about 1/73, 
 the property was ordered to be sold, and was pur- 
 chased by the father of Charles Berners, esq. 
 
 Chelmondiston, commonly called Chemton, is also 
 near the Orwell, about two miles from Woolverston, 
 &c. ; here is Chelmondiston-hall. The advowson of 
 the church is in the crown. 
 
 Pursuing the course of the river towards the sea, we 
 next arrive at
 
 SUFFOLK. 167 
 
 SHOTLEY. Here was anciently a hamlet, called 
 Kirketon. A market and a fair were granted at this 
 place to William Visedelou, who was lord here in 
 3 1 Edward I. Sir Thomas Mosel was lord afterwards. 
 The Feltons had the lordship for some ages ; and at 
 last it came, with the other estates of that family, to 
 the Earl of Bristol. 
 
 Turning to the westward, we observe the villages of 
 Harkstead and Erwarton, lying near the north bank of 
 the Stour river, near its junction with the Orwell. 
 
 HARKSTEAD. According to the Domesday Survey, 
 Odo de Campania was lord here at that time. King- 
 Edward III., in his charter to the nunnery of Dartford, 
 gives and confirms to it the manor of Brandiston in 
 Herkestede in Suffolk. This manor was granted, 
 31 of Henry VIII. to Sir Perceval Hart, knt. It 
 came afterwards, with the advowson of the rectory, 
 to the family of the Cocks in Worcestershire, who had 
 it some time, and then sold the manor, hall, house, 
 &c. to Knox Ward, esq. Clarencieux king at arms, 
 whose heir sold them to Thomas Staunton, of Hoi- 
 brook, esq. The advowson was sold to the Rev. 
 Richard Canning, who was editor of the second edi- 
 tion of Kirby's Suffolk Traveller. Beside the parish 
 church, here was formerly a chapel dedicated to St. 
 Clement, no vestiges of which have remained for many 
 years ; but it stood at the south-east corner of a field, 
 from thence called Chapel Down. A legacy was left to 
 this chapel of St. Clement in 1528 ; and a house was 
 bequeathed in 1685, with the garden, and one pightle 
 abutting south upon St. Clement's churchyard, and 
 upon the millway towards the north. 
 
 ERWARTON. The lordship of this place formerly
 
 168 SUFFOLK. 
 
 belonged to the family of the D'Avilers j but after- 
 wards came to the Bacons, when Sir Robert Bacon 
 married Isabel, the daughter of Bartholomew D'Avi- 
 lers, about the year 1330. About 1345, this family 
 procured the grant of a market and a fair here. In 
 1577> the estate was purchased of Sir Drue Drury by 
 Sir Philip Parker, lent, whose descendant of the same 
 name was, in l6\5l, created a baronet. It now belongs 
 to Charles Berners, esq. 
 
 Envarton Hall is situated on a point of land at the 
 junction of the Orwell and Stour, commanding a fine 
 view of these rivers. Neither the house nor the offices 
 are remarkable for their antiquity or appearance, 
 though the gate of this mansion has attracted con- 
 siderable notice. It has been urged, from the whim- 
 sical taste of its construction, that it must have been 
 erected in the time of Elizabeth, or James I. when ar- 
 chitecture seems to have been at its lowest ebb, the 
 buildings of those days being neither Grecian nor 
 Gothic, but an unnatural and discordant jumble of 
 both styles. 
 
 About a mile to the north-west of Harkstead is 
 HOLEHOOK. This, in the time of King Henry III., 
 was the lordship of Richard de Ilolbrook, who paid 
 fines to Ipswich for himself and his villains here and 
 at Tattingstone. It was afterwards Mr. Daundy's, 
 then the Clench's. Judge Clench, who died here in 
 J607, lies buried in the church, with this inscription. 
 
 In obitum Colendissimi Suiq Temporis, 
 Anii<|tiiisiiiii Judicis Joliannts Clencbe, 
 ui obiit XIX. Die August!, Anno Salratoris 
 I ('07.
 
 SUFFOLK. 169 
 
 Ecce jacet subter venerandus marmore judex 
 
 'J'erram terra petit, pulvere corpore iaest, 
 
 Ast aninia ad superos suiniq; palutia cceli, 
 
 Fertur et aeterni vivit in arce Dei. 
 
 STUTTON is about two miles from Holbrook, and 
 is seated on the Stour. The manor of Stutton Hall 
 once belonged to Mr. Thomas May, but was purchased 
 by the Earl of Dysart. Another hall in this parish, 
 called Crow's Hall, was vested in the family of Bowes. 
 The manor of Greping, or Creeping Hall in Stutton, 
 was granted to Humfry Wingfield, 29 Henry VIII. ; 
 and in 4 Eliz. to Thomas Seckford, as parcel of the 
 possessions of the priory of Coin in Essex. A family 
 of the Jennys formerly lived here, as appears by the 
 monuments in the church. To the right of this place 
 are the houses called Alton Hall and Hales Grove, 
 which we leave on turning towards the high road, 
 and proceed to 
 
 TATTINGSTOXE. Here was an old seat called the 
 place, or palace, that belonged to the Beaumonts, but 
 was purchased and rebuilt by Thomas White, esq. and 
 which new erection was the residence of his son in the 
 year 1764. It is now the property of Thomas Western, 
 esq. Here was formerly a free chapel in this parish, 
 which belonged to the Earl of Oxford, who presented 
 to the rectory in the time of Henry VIII. In the years 
 1458 and 1459i legacies were left towards building the 
 chancel. In this parish is the house of industry for 
 the hundred of Samford, incorporated in 1765. The 
 number of parishes is twenty-five ; and the sum ori- 
 ginally borrowed was 9250/. The edifice was erected 
 in 1766, and the average number of poor annually ad- 
 mitted into it 260. They are principally employed in
 
 I/O SUFFOLK. 
 
 spinning for Norwich. The rates were settled at two 
 and sixpence in the pound annually. From this place 
 we proceed to 
 
 BENTLEY, which brings us back to our road. In the 
 reign of Henry III. the manor of Little Bentley ap- 
 pears to have belonged to the Tallemaches, ancestors 
 of the Earl of Dysart, as Hugh Tallemache paid a fine to 
 Ipswich for himself and his villains. The church here 
 was given by Henry of Dodneis to the priory of the 
 Holy Trinity in Ipswich; and the manor of Bentley, 
 the rectory and advowson of the vicarage, with two 
 woods, Portland Grove and New Grove, were granted 
 as part of the possession of that priory to Lionel Tal- 
 mage, 36 Henry VIII. This family removed hence to 
 Helmingham, in Claydon hundred. At a place called 
 Dodneis, in this parish, there was a small priory of 
 black canons, which was suppressed by the first bull 
 of Clement VII. and granted to Cardinal Wolsey. 
 
 LITTLE WEN HAM is about two miles to the right of 
 the road. The hall here has generally been deemed a 
 fine old building. It was built in 1569, by R. Brews, 
 as appears by an inscription over the doorway. Al- 
 though this building has been very little noticed, it is 
 highly deserving of the antiquaries' attention, as a good 
 specimen of the architecture of the time ; and though 
 not inhabited, is still in a good state of preservation. 
 
 CAP EL is on the same side of the road. Here are 
 three manors, Churchford Hall, Boitwell Hall, be- 
 longing to Queen's College, Cambridge, and another 
 small manor. On the opposite side of the road 
 lies 
 
 EAST BERGHOLT, which, with Brant hum, is situated 
 on the Stour opposite to Manningtree in Essex. King
 
 SUFFOLK. 171 
 
 Henry II. gave the Templars all his lands in Bergholt, 
 and a manor here was granted to John, Earl of Oxford, 
 36 Henry VIII. as lately belonging to the preceptory 
 at Battisford. The relict of John Vere, twelfth Earl 
 of Oxford, held the manors of Chelsworth, East Berg- 
 holt, and Brook Hall in Suffolk, as her own inherit- 
 ance, A. D. 1472. East Bergholt is still a considerable 
 village, the church of which has been consolidated 
 with the rectory of the contiguous parish of Brantham. 
 It is supposed to have been a market- town, and a con- 
 siderable place of trade in the cloth manufactures. 
 The church is a good structure, and many parts of it 
 are of very elegant workmanship ; but the building of 
 the steeple, towards which many legacies were left in 
 the sixteenth century, has not yet been undertaken. 
 
 The bells, five in number, are fixed in a shed in the 
 churchyard. South from the church is a neat mansion 
 built by Thomas Chaplin, esq. which, together with 
 the manor and advowson, devolved by marriage to the 
 family of Hankey. It is now the residence of Peter 
 Godfrey, esq. 
 
 BRANTHAM. King William Rufus gave the church 
 of Brantham, with the berewics of Bercold, Scotlege, 
 Meelflege, and Benetlege, to the abbey of Battle in 
 Sussex ; and the advowson of this rectory, as late be- 
 longing to that abbey, was granted to John, Earl of 
 Oxford, 36 Henry VIII. In the hamlet of Cattiwade, 
 in this parish, there was a chapel near the bridge over 
 the Stour into Essex. About the year 1460, Sir John 
 Braham, of Braham Hall in Cattiswade, is mentioned, 
 and afterwards William Lancaster, esq. who married 
 a daughter of the Brahams.
 
 172 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Having noticed all the places of any interest on our 1 
 left, on our right we first observe 
 
 GREAT WEN HAM, or Burnt Wcnliam. Robert de 
 Vaux, who was one of the knights of Roger Bigod, 
 Earl of Norfolk, was admitted a freeman of Ipswich 
 in the reign of King John, and paid fines for himself 
 and villains in Wenham. The manor and advowson 
 of the rectory formerly belonged to the priory of 
 Leigh in Essex ; in the 28 of Henry VIII. it was 
 granted to II. Cavendish ; but afterwards came to the 
 heirs of Sir Philip Parker Long, bart. About two 
 miles westward of this place is 
 
 HOLTOS. This lordship belonged formerly to the 
 family of Fastolf, then to the Mannocks, and after- 
 wards to Sir John Williams. About a mile to the north 
 is Raydon, now nowise remarkable. 
 
 HIGH AM is about a mile and a half to the south-west 
 of Holton. This was given to Trinity Priory, in 
 Ipswich, by Maud de Munchensi, and was impropriated 
 thereto ; but the impropriation was purchased by Mr. 
 Gibbs and Mr. Smith, and given to the minister. About 
 a mile south of this place lies Stratford, which will 
 conclude our present excursion. 
 
 STRATFORD is the southern limit of the county. 
 William de Munchensi had an estate here in the four- 
 teenth year of Edward I. Michael de la Pole pro- 
 cured a special charter to hold a court leet in his lord- 
 ships of Stratford and Heigham, in this county, in the 
 7th of Kichard II., and likewise for a market here on 
 Thursday in every week, and a fair on the eve, day, 
 and morrow, of the Translation of St. Thomas the 
 Martyr, in the third year of Henry V. The advowson
 
 SUFFOLK. 173 
 
 belonged formerly to the Dukes of Suffolk ; but ever 
 since the reign of Henry VIII. it has been in the 
 crown. The north aisle of this handsome church was 
 built about the year 15OO. The family of Mors were 
 such great benefactors towards it, that some of their 
 names were expressed in the stone work of the water 
 table. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile south-west of this place, 
 on the bank of the Stour, is a camp, where some 
 antiquarians fix the much disputed Roman station Ad 
 Ansam. The opinions on this subject are thus summed 
 up by the late Mr. Gough, and his conclusion seems to 
 be perfectly satisfactory : " Ad Ansam seems to be 
 the most undetermined station of any in the county 
 (Essex, in which it was placed by various writers). 
 Mr. Burton declines fixing it, and only tells us that 
 Mr. Talbot, in some copies, set it at Catawade Bridge, 
 where the Stour makes an island. One would think 
 he had read it ad Insulam ; and thereabouts, or at Strat- 
 ford, Dr. Stukeley places it, as does Richard of Ciren- 
 cester, changing its name to Ad Sturium amnem. Mr. 
 Horsley, by the fifteen miles between Combretonium 
 and Ad Ansam, is induced to carry the last to Mersey 
 island, where are great remains of the Romans. After- 
 wards supposing the military ways to have met at Col- 
 chester, and coincided for four or five miles, he carries 
 it to Casterford, called in Dr. Stukeley's map, Chester- 
 Jord and Canonium ; but unfortunately the Doctor mis- 
 took Easterford, or Kelvedon, for Casterford, else we 
 had had a Roman station beyond controversy. Mr. 
 Horsley, in his table, page 443, makes the road take 
 a course perfectly answerable to his friend Ward's idea 
 of an Ansa, a curve : carrying it by Witham, Maldon, 
 ft 3
 
 174 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Fambridge, Chelmsford, Leiton, to London, which is 
 in the form of an inverted z. If we allow Camalodu- 
 num to be Colchester, Ad Ansam is to be sought for 
 on the Suffolk edge of the county, and then Richard 
 of Cirencester's Ad Slurium has the fairest claim, sup- 
 posing Ansa to be another word for the flexure of that 
 river." 
 
 EXCURSION V. 
 
 From Ipswich through WTiitton, Claydon, Bldken-* 
 ham Magna, Baylham, Needham, Stow Market, 
 Haughley New Street, Woolpit, and Brighton,, 
 to Bury Saint Edmunds. 
 
 WHITTON, the first place we arrive at in our present 
 Excursion, is within two miles of Ipswich. The 
 church here is sometimes called Whitlon chapel, but 
 improperly, as it has been instituted as a parochial 
 church, upon the presentation of the Bishop of Ely, 
 ever since the year 1299. Kirby remarks, if any of 
 the churches now in being (in or near Ipswich) were 
 built in the Conqueror's time, which may well be 
 questioned, we think this bids as fair to be one of 
 them as any ; and the neighbouring church of Thurle- 
 ston seems to be of the like kind, and lies about a mile 
 to the right of the road. On the opposite side, about 
 a mile and a half from the road, is 
 
 BRAMFORD. This, in the 22(1 Edward I. was the 
 lordship and demesne of Robert de Tibetot ; but for
 
 SUFFOLK. 175 
 
 many years the Acton family were the residents of the 
 hall here. The church, with the berewic of Burstal 
 and Albrighteston, belonging to it, was given to Battle 
 Abbey by King William Ruf us, and that abbey had the 
 rectory, and were patrons of the vicarage, till 33 Henry 
 VIII. when it was granted to Christ Church, Canter- 
 bury, in exchange. An uncommon tenure is attached 
 to the manor here, for the tenants hold of the lord by 
 a lease of twenty-one years, renewed from time to time 
 upon a fine ; and upon the death of a tenant, or an aliena- 
 tion, the new tenant is admitted to the remainder of 
 the time unexpired, so that the lord has more profit of 
 the lands than the tenants have. There was another 
 manor in Bramford belonging to the Bishop of Ely as 
 late as the year 15Q3. From this place a good road 
 leads directly to Great Blakenham, at which place we 
 turn to the left, quitting the mail road, and proceed 
 towards Bury by a good high road. 
 
 GREAT BLAKENHAM. The manor and advowson 
 here was given to the abbey of Bee, in Normandy, by 
 Walter Gifford, Earl of Buckingham, and afterwards 
 granted by Henry VI. to the provost and fellows of 
 Eton. 
 
 LITTLE BLAKENHAM lies about two miles to the left 
 of Great Blakenham. The lords of Nettlestead were 
 patrons of this rectory when the Tibetots, Despensers, 
 and \Ventworths, had that lordship. After the manor 
 and advowson were in the Milner's family, they were 
 vested in the Right Honourable Lord Orwell, late 
 James Vernon, esq. 
 
 NETTLESTEAD is about a mile to the left of Little 
 Blakenham. The Earls of Richmond and Brittany 
 had the lordship here from the Conquest to the Jft
 
 1/6 SUFFOLK. 
 
 of Henry II. when Conan, the last earl, died. In the 
 25th of Henry III. Peter de Savoy had a grant of it, 
 It was after the property of the lords Tiptot, from 
 whom it went to the Despensers. About the year 145O 
 it became the estate of Roger Wentworth, whose de- 
 scendants were created lords by Henry VIII., and it 
 continued in the Wentworth family till the time of 
 Charles I. when Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Cleve- 
 land, sold it to William Lodge, citizen of London. 
 
 SOMERSHAM is about a mile south of Nettlestead. 
 The family of Bohun, Earls of Northampton, were 
 many years patrons of this rectory, and lords of the 
 manor, which, with that of Offton, were granted to 
 Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, by Richard III. 
 in 1423. Katherine, Queen of England, presented to 
 it, in right of the manor of Somersham, which she 
 had by the grant of King Henry VI. The old wills 
 make mention of a chapel in Somersham-street. Aid- 
 ham and Elmsett lie about three miles to the left of 
 Somersham, and nearly join each other. 
 
 ALDHAM. This was the lordship of the second 
 Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, in the twenty-fourth 
 year of Edward III. From the Earl of Leicester it was 
 afterwards bought by Sir Joshua Vanneck, and was 
 late the property of Lord Hunting-field. 
 
 ELMSETT. The church of this village, pleasantly 
 situated on a hill, is built of flints, and covered with 
 slate. The interior is particularly neat and clean. On 
 a mural monument in the chancel is a kneeling figure 
 of a man with a book open before him, his arms above, 
 and underneath this inscription : 
 
 " Here lyeth the body of Edward Sherland, of Gray's 
 Inn, esquire, descended from the ancient family of the
 
 SUFFOLK. 177 
 
 Sherlands, in the Isle of Sheppy, in Kent, who lived 
 his whole life a single man, and died in this parish the 
 13th of May, 1609. 
 
 " Tombes have no use unless it be to showe 
 
 The due respect which friend to friend doth owe} 
 
 >Tis not a mausolean monument, 
 
 Or hireling epitaph, that can prevent 
 
 The flux of fame : a painted sepulchre 
 
 Is but a rotten trustlesse treasurer, 
 
 And a fair gate built to Oblivion. 
 
 But he whose life, whose ev'ry action, 
 
 Like well wrought stones and pyramides, erecte 
 
 A monument to honour and respecte, 
 
 As this man's did he needs no other herse, 
 
 Yet hath but due, having both tombc and verse." 
 
 Nea*"the north side of the church stands the house 
 formerly the parsonage, now much decayed, but once 
 surrounded by a moat. On the descent of the opposite 
 hill is a dropping well, which deserves the inspection 
 of the curious. 
 
 Elmsett is remarkable as the native place of John 
 Boyse, an eminent scholar and divine, who was born 
 here in 1560. His father, himself a great proficient in 
 the Greek and Hebrew languages, was first curate, and 
 afterwards rector, of this parish. The son, who is said 
 to have manifested such a precocity of talents, that by 
 the time he had attained his fifth year he could read 
 the Hebrew bible, was educated at St. John's college, 
 Cambridge. Here he acquired the reputation of being 
 the first Greek scholar of his time, and was chosen 
 Greek lecturer. He used to deliver his lectures at four
 
 1/8 SUFFOLK. 
 
 o'clock in the morning, in his own chamber j and so 
 numerous was the attendance, that it was said, " there 
 used to be as many candles lighted in St. John's at 
 that early hour, as the bell which then rang gave 
 tolls." He once designed to apply himself to the study 
 of physic, with a view of making it his profession ; 
 but being troubled with a weakness frequently incident 
 to persons of a delicate constitution/ that of believing 
 themselves to be afflicted with every disease of which 
 they read, he turned his attention entirely to divinity. 
 On the death of his father, he succeeded him in the 
 rectory. When King James I. ordered the new version 
 of the Bible to be made, Mr. Boyse was chosen one of 
 the Cambridge translators, and executed not only his 
 own share, which was part of the Apocrypha, but like- 
 wise that of one of his colleagues. He was also ap- 
 pointed one of the committee of six to revise the avhole, 
 each member of which, while engaged in the task, was 
 paid by the Stationers' Company thirty shillings per 
 week. After this he assisted Sir Henry Savile in trans- 
 lating the works of Chrysostom, for which laborious 
 task he received only a copy of the book. The highest 
 preferment which this indefatigable divine obtained 
 was a prebend in the cathedral of Ely, given him by 
 Bishop Andrews. He died January 14, 1643. 
 
 WHATFIELD, or WHEATFIELD, has four manors in it, 
 and lies about three miles to the left of Elmsett. The 
 manor of Cosford, that of Burrards, Hornham, and 
 that of Whatfield Hall, were once in the possession of 
 William Vesey, for whom there is a handsome monu- 
 ment of white marble in the church. " Whatfield, or 
 Wheatfield, is chiefly remarkable," says the Suffolk
 
 SUFFOLK. 1/9 
 
 Traveller, " for growing the most excellent seed 
 wheat," from which circumstance the name may per- 
 haps be derived. The Rev. John Clubbe was rector of 
 this parish, and among other things published, in 1758, 
 " The History and Antiquities of the ancient Villa of 
 Wheatfield, in the County of Suffolk." In this he en- 
 deavours to ridicule Morant, the historian of Col- 
 chester, and antiquarians in general, and not without 
 some portion of success. 
 
 OFFTON lies about two miles from Elmsett, on our 
 way towards the road, and is remarkable for a castle built 
 on a chalky hill, by Offa, king of the Mercians, after 
 he had slain Etheldred, king of the East Angles ; and 
 from him it is said the town took its name. Not the 
 least vestige of this castle has been seen for many 
 years. The prior and convent of monks at Thetford 
 had the advowson of the church, and thirty acres of 
 land here ; and these were granted as their possessions 
 to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, 32 Henry VIII. 
 
 WILLISHAM is about a mile north of Offton. The 
 church here was given by Albert Grelli, to the prior 
 and convent of the Holy Trinity at Ipswich, before 
 the year 1 203 ; and at the dissolution, the tenement, 
 canons, and the impropriation, were granted as parcels 
 of the possessions of that priory, to Andrews, Lord 
 Windsor, in 31 Henry VIII. It was afterwards Bishop 
 Brown rigg's. 
 
 BAYLHAM brings us back to the high road. About 
 the year 1300 this was the lordship of John de Burna- 
 ville, and afterwards belonged to his descendants till 
 near 1400. About 1450 it came to John Andrews, 
 and, by the marriage of his daughter, to Thomas
 
 180 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Windsor, esq. Afterwards it became the possession of 
 their son, Sir Andrew Windsor, of Stanwell, after- 
 wards Lord Windsor. It now belongs to Mr. Acton. 
 
 DORMSDEN lies on the left of the road, about a mile 
 from Baylham. This is a hamlet of Barking. The 
 manor of Taston Hall, in Darmsden, belonged to Lord 
 Windsor in the year 1HQ6, and devolved to the family 
 of the Crowleys. About the same distance from, and 
 on the same side of the road, is BARKING, and Barking 
 Half, the seat of R. I. A. Kemys, esq. but the property 
 of the Earl of Ashburnham. 
 
 From the time of King Edward the Confessor to the 
 fourth year of Queen Elizabeth, the manor of Barking, 
 with the advowson of the rectory, belonged to the 
 church of Ely, and were then alienated from it. Sir 
 Francis Needham bought them of James I. His eldest 
 son sold them to Francis Theobald, esq. whose son was 
 eminent for his skill in the Oriental languages. 
 
 NEEDHAM is on the high road, about eight miles 
 from Ipswich. This is a hamlet of Barking, and had 
 a fair granted to the Bishop of VAy, in the tenth year 
 of Henry III. It was formerly a place of considerable 
 trade from its woollen manufactures. The town is 
 tolerably well built. The church, a mean building, 
 with a wooden belfry, is a chapel of ease to barking. 
 The authors of the Magna Britannica assert, that Need- 
 ham became so much decayed, that its poverty was 
 proverbial. The Stow-market canal passes by the 
 place, and has greatly augmented its corn trade. Near 
 Needham is a lake of thirty or forty acres, called J3os- 
 ntcre, which gives its name to the hundred. The Gipr 
 ping passes through it ; and is said to be of great depth,
 
 SUFFOLK. 181 
 
 and to abound in fish. Needham contains 28 1 houses 
 and 1301 inhabitants : its weekly market is on Wednes- 
 day, and its annual fair on November 8. 
 
 BATTISFORD is less than a mile to the left of Barking. 
 Here was an hospital or preceptory of knights dedi- 
 cated to St. John of Jerusalem, of the yearly value of 
 53/. 1 Os. which at the dissolution was granted to Sir 
 Richard Gresham. One of the manors in this parish 
 belonged formerly to the Bishop of Norwich. Being 
 surrendered to Henry VIII. , he granted it, in 1545, to 
 Sir Richard Gresham and Richard Billingford. Philip 
 Bacon, esq. had his seat at the hall in right of his 
 mother, which was taken down about the year 1/64. 
 The frame of the Royal Exchange, built by Sir Thomas 
 Gresham, was made upon Battisford Tye (a large com- 
 mon of about 200 acres, lately inclosed), and most of 
 the timber used for that work was taken off this manor. 
 Nearly two miles to the westward is 
 
 RINGSHALL. Besides the parish church, here was 
 formerly a free chapel belonging to the prior and con- 
 vent of Norwich, endowed with thirty acres of land. 
 Sir William Barker, bart. of Ireland, had the hall and 
 manor here ; but, upon his death, before 1 764, they 
 were sold, and vested in William Watson, esq. but 
 soon after in the Wollastons. 
 
 BRICET is a mile to the south of Ringshall. This 
 place was remarkable for a priory founded by Ralph 
 Fitz Brian and Emma his wife, and made a cell to 
 Nobiliac in France, which occasioned its suppression 
 as an alien priory : its revenues were granted to the 
 provost and fellows of King's College, Cambridge, 
 who are lords of the manor, and lessors of the tithes. 
 
 BRICET PARVA. The prior and convent of Cluniac 
 R
 
 182 SUFFOLK. 
 
 monks at Thetford had the advowson of the church 
 and twelve acres of land, of the gift of Robert de 
 Reims. The church having been long down, the 
 living has been annexed to Offton ever since the year 
 3503. Talmash Hall, in this place, is said to have been 
 sometime the seat of the Kemps, but it afterwards came 
 to the family of John Luther, esq. member for Essex. 
 
 About two miles from Bricet is WATTISHAM, held 
 by a singular tenure of serjeantry. The church was 
 impropriated to the priory of Bricet. The impropria- 
 tion now belongs to King's College, Cambridge. About 
 three miles farther to the left is 
 
 BILDESTON, a small town, containing 762 inhabit-, 
 ants and 110 houses, once noted for its manufacture 
 of blue cloth and blankets, which afterwards dwindled 
 away to the mere spinning of yarn. The place had 
 formerly a market, and has now two fairs, on Ash Wed- 
 nesday and Ascension day. The church, which is a good 
 building, stands on a hill on the west side of the town. 
 Here was also a chapel dedicated to St. Leonard, in 
 which there was a chantry called Erdingtons, where, 
 long after the Reformation, divine service used often to 
 be performed, on account of the distance of the church 
 from town. At this place is a neat cottage, the seat 
 of Richard Wilson, esq. About a mile south of this 
 place is Nedging, now an inconsiderable village. 
 
 KETTLEBARSTON is about two miles north-west of 
 Bildeston. William de la Pole, Marquis of Suffolk, 
 obtained a grant of the manors of Kettlebarston and 
 Nedding, in this county, 23 Henry VI., to hold by the 
 service of carrying a golden sceptre, with a dove upon 
 the head of it, upon the coronation day of the king's 
 heirs and successors ; and another .sceptre of ivory,
 
 SUFFOLK. 183 
 
 with a golden dove on the head of it, upon the day of 
 the coronation of the then queen, and all successive 
 queens of England. It is said the Waldegraves had 
 their seat at the hall here : this afterwards descended 
 to the Lemans, and from them to the Beachcrofts. 
 
 From Kettlebarston, returning towards the high 
 road, we pass Hitcham, an inconsiderable place, and 
 about three miles northward arrive at 
 
 BRETTENHAM, at the head of the little river Breton. 
 This is supposed, by the author of the Suffolk Travel- 
 ler and some antiquaries, arguing from the sound and 
 signification of the name, to be the Combretonium of 
 Antoninus ; and the vestiges of a camp, a quarter of a 
 mile south-west of the place, seem to confirm the con- 
 jecture. Others, however, place this station at Ick- 
 lingham, near Mildenhall, in the hundred of Lackford. 
 The family of Wenyeve resided at this place almost two 
 centuries. It now belongs to Mr. Marric, who married 
 the heiress of that family. 
 
 Passing Houstead Green, a good road leads us to 
 Great and Little Finborough, the latter lying about 
 two miles south of the former. 
 
 GREAT FIN BOROUGH. The descendants of Ranulf 
 Glanville gave possessions here to the prior and con- 
 vent of Butley, who had the rectory and advowson of 
 the vicarage till the dissolution : but in the year 1559, 
 they were granted to the Bishop of Ely in exchange. 
 
 Finborough Hall was built by Mr. Wollaston, but 
 very much improved in 1795 by the present proprietor 
 and lord of the manor, Roger Pettiward, esq. under 
 the direction of Mr. Francis Sandys. This elegant 
 mansion is constructed of Woolpit brick. In the 
 centre of the front is a projecting bow adorned with
 
 184 SUFFOLK. 
 
 a pediment, supported by four columns likewise of 
 brick, formed in moulds made expressly for the pur- 
 pose. The house stands in one of the most delightful 
 situations in the county. The park, comprehending 
 about 200 acres, gently slopes from the mansion into 
 a valley, which nearly forms a circle from west to 
 south. Through the greater part of this valley, a 
 river, rising in the parish of llattlesden, winds its 
 course to join the Gipping below Stowmarket. Be- 
 yond the river the park again rises to the north, and is 
 skirted by a wood. It is diversified by clumps of very 
 fine timber. An embowered walk, winding behind the 
 hall on the summit of the hill, leads to the church, 
 which contains several handsome monuments of the 
 Wollaston family, formerly the proprietors of Fin- 
 borough, and particularly one to the memory of William 
 Wollaston, the author of the Religion of Nature De- 
 lineated, who resided, and is interred here. He was 
 born in 165Q at Coton Clanford, in Staffordshire, and 
 died in 1724. 
 
 BUXIIALL, nearly adjoining Great Finborough, was 
 the estate of Bartho de Burghersh, in the reign of 
 Edward III., and is remarkable as being the birthplace 
 of Sir William Coppinger, Lord Mayor of London, 
 nnno domini 1512. At his death he gave half his 
 estate to charitable purposes, and half to his relations, 
 who lived here in good circumstances. This family 
 was so hospitable, that to live like the Coppingers 
 became proverbial. Close to the church stands the 
 elegant house of the Kev. Henry Hill, rector of the 
 parish, and also lord of the manor of liuxhall. 
 
 BADLEY lies about three miles to the right of Little 
 Finborough, bringing us nearly back to the roud.
 
 SUFFOLK. 185 
 
 This was formerly the seat of the Mortimers. The 
 Pooleys had it from about the year 1460. Richard 
 Gipps, esq. married a heiress of the Pooleys., and sold 
 it to Mrs. Crowley. It was afterwards vested in the 
 Earl of Ashburnham and Charles Boone, esq. The 
 impropriation was given to the Templars by Robert 
 Fitz Jefferey and Beatrice his wife j and a chantry 
 here was valued at 10/. per annum. About a mile from. 
 Badley, on the same side of the road, is 
 
 COMBS. This, in the 43d of Edward III., was the 
 lordship of Robert de Ufford j then it came into the 
 family of the Willoughbys, Lords of Eresby, and from 
 them to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who mar- 
 ried the heiress of the Willoughbys. It came after- 
 wards into the possession of the Daundys. It was for 
 some time the seat of the Bridgmans. William Bridg- 
 man (son of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of 
 Chester, who was brother of Sir Orlando, Keeper of 
 the Great Seal in the reign of Charles II.) was clerk of 
 the council in the reigns of King Charles II., James 
 II., King William and Queen Mary. His son, Orlando 
 Bridgman, esq. rebuilt the hall, which, after his death, 
 was sold to Mr. Crowley, by whose heirs it was after- 
 wards pulled down. 
 
 Another manor here was granted to Dartford nun- 
 nery, and afterwards, in the thirty-fifth of Henry VIII., 
 to Sir Richard Gresham, knt. 
 
 On the other side of the road, and about two miles 
 to the right, is situated 
 
 CRESTING ST. PETER, or WEST GREETING. This 
 
 is a rectory in the hundred of Stow. The three other 
 
 Creetings are in the hundred of Bosmere, and will be 
 
 noticed hereafter. The manor and advowson of this 
 
 R 3
 
 186 SUFFOLK. 
 
 church were some years since vested in the heirs of 
 Mr. Glover of Frostenden. About twelve miles from 
 Ipswich, on the high road, is 
 
 STOWMARKET. This appellation is given to distin- 
 guish it from Stowlangtoft, Stow-upland, West Stow, 
 &c. Stowmarket is very nearly in the centre of the 
 county, at the junction of the three rivulets which 
 form the river Gipping. The two that rise near the vil- 
 lages of Gipping and Wetherden wash the east side of 
 the town ; and the other, rising at Rattlesden, meets 
 them at the south end of it, near Combs Ford. Stow- 
 market is a thriving town, and, according to the re- 
 turns of 1811, contains 3QO houses and 2006 inhabit- 
 ants. Its fairs are on the 10th of Junto/and on the 12th 
 of August. The chief ornaments of Stowmarket are 
 the church and its spire. The church is a spacious and 
 beautiful building, with a square tower, surmounted 
 by a steeple 120 feet high, which, though of wood, has 
 a light and elegant appearance. It contains a peal of 
 eight bells, and a good organ. In this church are in- 
 terred several individuals of the family of the Tyrrels, 
 of Gipping Hall, in this hundred. Here is also a mo- 
 nument for Dr. Young, once vicar of this place, and 
 tutor to the immortal Milton. The contiguous parish 
 of Stow-upland, which has neither church nor chapel, 
 is now consolidated with Stowmarket, but they have 
 still distinct officers for each parish. 
 
 The county meetings are chiefly held in this town ; 
 and here is a manufacture of sacking, ropes, twine, 
 and hempen, which has succeeded that of stuffs and 
 bombazines. Being well situated for the barley- trade, 
 the market of this town is much frequented by the 
 fanners, for a considerable distance round, and con-
 
 SUFFOLK. 187 
 
 scquently much business is done here in the malting 
 line, in which there are from fifteen to twenty houses. 
 
 A principal source of the prosperity of Stowmarket 
 is the navigable canal from this place to Ipswich, 
 opened in 1 7Q3. It is sixteen miles in length, and has 
 fifteen locks, each sixty feet long, and fourteen wide j 
 three built with timber, and twelve with brick and 
 stone. The total expense incurred in this undertaking 
 was 26,380/. The charges for the conveyance of goods 
 upon it are one penny per ton per mile, from Stow to 
 Ipswich, and half as much from the latter town to 
 Stowmarket. Some idea may be formed of the be- 
 neficial effects of this navigation from the statement, 
 that soon after its completion it had reduced the price 
 of land- carriage more than one-half, and the carriage 
 only upon coals four shillings per chaldron, and con- 
 sequently raised the rent of land considerably. Inde- 
 pendently of its utility, this canal is a great ornament 
 to the town : from the bason there is an agreeable 
 walk, about a mile in length, along the towing-path, 
 winding chiefly through hop-plantations, of which 
 there are about 150 acres in this neighbourhood. 
 
 An old mansion-house, called Abbot's Hall, together 
 with the manor of Stowmarket, was given by King 
 Henry II. to the abbey of St. Osyth, in Essex, but was 
 granted, 38 Henry VIII., as part of the possession of 
 that monastery, to Thomas Darcie. 
 
 The house of industry for the hundred of Stow 
 stands on an eminence about a mile from the town. It 
 has rather the appearance of a gentleman's seat than 
 of a receptacle for paupers. It was erected at an ex- 
 pense of more than 1 2,000'. and opened in 178!.
 
 188 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Proceeding from Stowmarket, we pass Tot Hill, 
 and about a mile farther is 
 
 HAUGHLEY, variously written in old records, and 
 was in ancient times a market-town, out of the ruins 
 of which Stow seems to have arisen. In the third 
 year of Edward IV. William Hoxon, of Stow, was 
 fined for lying in wait near the town of Haughley, 
 and buying chickens, eggs, and the like ; and in 3 1 
 Henry VIII. the butchers of the former place were 
 amerced 3*. 4d. because they sold meat out of the 
 market on a market-day, contrary to the custom of 
 this manor. In the following year the amercement 
 was doubled, but the market has long been disused. 
 The village has a fair yearly, on August 15, being the 
 Assumption of the Virgin Mary, to whom the church 
 is dedicated. 
 
 Near the church are the remains of a very strong 
 castle, which is conjectured to have been a Saxon 
 structure. Kirby takes it for granted that it was the 
 same building which went by the name of Hageneth 
 Castle, which was in the custody of Half de Broc, and 
 was demolished in 1 173 by the Flemings under Robert, 
 Earl of Leicester, who committed great devastations 
 in this county. It afterwards belonged to the de 
 Uffords, Earls of Suffolk, the last of whom died pos- 
 sessed of it, 43 Edward III., as did William de la Pole, 
 who enjoyed the same title, 28 Henry VI. The figure 
 of this castle approaches to a square, fortified with a 
 deep ditch, or moat ; and except on the north side, a 
 proportionable rampart, still entire. Toward the north, 
 upon a high artificial hill of steep ascent, and also sur- 
 rounded with a deep moat, stood the keep, or strong
 
 SUFFOLK: 189 
 
 tower, the foundation of which now remaining is very 
 thick, and apparently circular. On the west side is 
 a pretty large space, in form resembling an oblong 
 square, that seems to have been an out-work of the 
 castle, the east side of which abuts upon the moat 
 before-mentioned, and is somewhat irregular. The 
 north and west sides are rectangular, and encompassed 
 with a smaller moat, as was perhaps the south side, 
 though there is now no appearance of it. The ground 
 exceeds seven acres, which is occupied or enclosed by 
 these works. 
 
 The manor and park of Haughley were the estate of 
 Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, from whom they 
 came by purchase or exchange to the crown, and were 
 afterwards granted to Sir John Sulyard, of Wetherden. 
 The manor is very extensive, and the lord formerly 
 possessed a jurisdiction of Oyer and Terminer, trying 
 all causes in his own court, of which instances may be 
 found so late as 1 1 Elizabeth. Thus at a court held 
 15 Edward IV. the lands, tenements, &c. of John 
 Buxton, of Stow, were seized because he had vexed 
 one William Turner, by the writ of our lord the king, 
 contrary to the ancient custom of the manor, that no 
 tenant should prosecute another tenant in any court 
 except this. At another court in the same year, it was 
 ordered, that the abbot of Hales in Gloucestershire, to 
 whom the parishes of Haughley and Shelland were 
 impropriated, should erect a new pair of gallows in 
 Luberlow-field in Haughley, under a penalty of forty 
 shillings ; and in the 8th year of the same reign, 
 William Baxteyn held certain lands by the service of 
 finding a ladder for the lord's gallows. 
 
 Haughley Park was lately the residence of G, W.
 
 1QO SUFFOLK. 
 
 Jerningham, esq. eldest son of Sir W. Jerningham, 
 bart. who married Frances, daughter and co-heiress of 
 the late E. Sulyard, esq. ; but the public papers state, 
 that in October, 1811, this manor,, extending over 244 2 
 acres, 22 dwelling-houses, and 28 messuages, with the 
 spacious mansion-house and offices, and a park and 
 land containing about 396 acres, were sold for 27,840l. 
 exclusive of timber. Here is the seat of Charles Tyrell, 
 esq. who married Mr. Ray's heir. William Crawford, 
 esq. is now possessor. 
 
 Newton was one of the estates belonging to Mar- 
 garet, Countess of Salisbury, at her death, 33 Henry 
 VIII. This lady was the daughter of George, Duke of 
 Clarence, brother to Edward IV. by Isabel, the daugh- 
 ter of Richard Neville, the celebrated Earl of Warwick 
 and Salisbury. She married Richard Pole, Lord Mon- 
 tague, whom she survived, and upon her petition to 
 Henry VII. obtained the possessions of her grandfather, 
 and the title of Countess of Salisbury. It was pro- 
 bably her proximity in blood to the royal house of 
 York that gave umbrage to the jealous tyranny of 
 Henry VIII., who caused her to be accused of a trai- 
 torous correspondence with the Marquis of Exeter, her 
 son Cardinal Pole, and others. She was accordingly 
 attainted of high treason, and in the /Oth year of her 
 age beheaded in the Tower of London, with circum- 
 stances of great cruelty. She had been condemned, as 
 was not unusual in that reign, without trial, and when 
 she was brought to the scaffold, refused to lay her 
 head on the block, in obedience to a sentence, the jus- 
 tice of which she would never recognize. She told 
 the executioner, therefore, that, if he would have her 
 head, he must win it the best way he could, and ran
 
 SUFFOLK. 191 
 
 about the scaffold, while he pursued her, aiming many 
 fruitless blows at her neck before he was able to put 
 an end to her life. Newton Hall, with her other 
 estates, passed, however, to her son Henry Pole, Lord 
 Montague. 
 
 Turning to the left at Haughley New-street, we 
 pass Harleston, and about a mile farther observe 
 
 SHELLAND. This was the lordship of the Bour- 
 chiers, Earls of Essex, from whom it descended to the 
 family of Devereux, and was sold in 15Q1 by that 
 great and unhappy favourite of Queen Elizabeth, 
 Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. The manor of 
 Kockylls in Shelland formerly belonged to the Drurys., 
 a family of great note in this county. 
 
 ONEHOUSE, about a mile south of Shelland, is 
 supposed to have formerly belonged to the Weylands, 
 and was certainly the estate of Bartholomew Burg- 
 hersh, who died seised of it in the 43d year of Edward 
 III. He was one of the twelve noblemen to whose 
 care the Prince of Wales was committed at the battle 
 of Cressy. On the site of his old hall encompassed 
 with a moat, a farm-house has been built. The gran- 
 deur and solitary situation of the ancient fabric pro- 
 bably gave name to the parish, the greater part of 
 which, two centuries ago, was a wood, except a nar- 
 row slip declining to the south-east, near that distin- 
 guished mansion, situated on a rising ground that 
 gently sloped into a valley, with a rivulet winding 
 through it. About two hundred yards to the north of 
 the moat stands the church, which is small, and has 
 a font of unhewn stone. It appears to have been a 
 Saxon building j but a part of the north wall only, 
 extending about ten yards from the tower, \yhich is
 
 1Q2 SUFFOLK. 
 
 circular, is all that remains of the original structure. 
 Not less than one-fifth of the lands belonging to this 
 parish, at present, consists of woods and groves, finely 
 planted with timber ; and even part of the rectorial 
 glebe, adjoining to the parsonage-house, is a wood of 
 ten or twelve acres. 
 
 In the chancel of the church of Onehouse lies 
 buried, but without any inscription, the Rev. Charles 
 Davy, author of Letters upon the Subjects of Litera- 
 ture, in two volumes, octavo, &c. In the preface to 
 this work, he says, " Most of these little essays were 
 written many years ago : they have been collected 
 from detached papers, and revised for publication as a 
 relief to the author's mind during a confinement of 
 more than eighteen months continuance. It seemed 
 good to the Supreme Disposer of all things to reduce 
 him in a moment, by an apoplectic stroke, from the 
 most perfect state of health and cheerfulness, to a 
 paralytic permanent debility ; a debility which has not 
 only fixed him to his chair, but brought on spasms, so 
 exquisitely painful, and frequently so unremitted, as 
 scarcely to allow a single hour's repose to him for 
 many days and nights together. Under the pressure 
 of these afflictions, God hath graciously been pleased 
 to continue to him his accustomed flow of spirits, and 
 to preserve his memory and his understanding in some 
 degree of vigour. These alleviating blessings have 
 enabled him to borrow pleasure from past times in 
 support of the present, and to call back the delightful 
 and instructing conversations he enjoyed in a society 
 of worthy and ingenious friends, and to resume those 
 studies and amusements which rendered the former 
 part of his life happy."
 
 SUFFOLK. 193 
 
 The following lines are extracted from a translation 
 of a Latin poem, by the Rev. Charles Davy, written 
 in the reign of James I. entitled JEdes Solitaria. " I 
 shall," says he, " apply them to the spot where it has 
 pleased the Divine Providence to place me, in which I 
 hope to close the evening of my life." 
 
 " No gilded roofs here strain the gazer's eye, 
 
 No goblets flow with noxious luxury j 
 
 Sleep, balmy sleep, here rests his downy wings, 
 
 Nor waits the purple pomp of gorgeous coverings. 
 
 No gems here dazzle th' offended sight, 
 
 No trilling airs inspire unchaste delight ; 
 
 No servile bands with crouching necks appear, 
 
 Not Flattery's self can find admission here. 
 
 But lofty groves of beauteous forms are seen, 
 
 The builder Oak, the Fir for ever green ; 
 
 The tow 'ring Ash, whose clust'ring tops receive 
 
 The rising sun, and deck the ruddy eve : 
 
 The Alder brown, that loves th; wat'ry vales, 
 
 The Asp light quiv'ring to the summer gales; 
 
 The Willow pendent o'er the mazy stream, 
 
 The Poplar huge, the Elm's extended beam ; 
 
 Their different colours here display and vie 
 
 In all the tints of varied harmony. 
 
 No sordid views deprive the soul of rest, 
 
 No passions here disturb the lab'ring breast; 
 
 Save Grief that sickens at another's woe, 
 
 And bids the melting sorrows sweetly flow. 
 
 Far from the madding people's furious strife, 
 
 Far from the anxious cares of busy life; 
 
 Beneath this straw-thatch'd roof, this humble cell, 
 
 Calm Peace, and Friendship pure, delight to dwell." 
 
 The straw-thatched roof alluded to in these lines is 
 the parsonage-house, now the residence of the Rev. 
 Daniel Pettiward, M. A. rector of the parish, and vicar 
 of Great Finborough, f< whose valuable and extensive 
 
 s
 
 IQ-l SUFFOLK. 
 
 library will afford ample gratification to the biblio- 
 maniac, and whose kind and hospitable manners will 
 ever endear him to his friends." 
 
 About two miles from Haughley, on the right of 
 the road, we pass Netvlan, an inconsiderable village 
 before mentioned; and about two miles beyond that 
 place is 
 
 GIPPING, a hamlet, deriving its name from one of the 
 springs forming the river of this name. It is chiefly re- 
 markable as the seat of the ancient family of Tyrrel, 
 descended from Sir Walter Tyrrel, knt. who held the 
 lordship of Langham in Essex, at the time of the general 
 survey. William Tyrrel, of Gipping, was the second son 
 of Sir Walter Tyrrel, who was the eighth knight in a 
 lineal descent from Sir Walter, first named. He was 
 the father of James Tyrrel, Captain of Guisnes in 
 France, in the reign of Henry VII. 
 
 WETIIEKDEN is a short distance from the high road, 
 nearly opposite to Ilaughley Park. Here was situated 
 Welhcrden Hall, the residence of the ancient and re- 
 spectable family of the Sulyards, which, to judge from 
 its ruins, must have been a large and noble building. 
 It remained as that seat till the reign of Queen Mary, 
 who, to reward the fidelity of Sir John Sulyard, the 
 first who took up arms and levied men for her service, 
 against the supporters of Lady Jane Grey, made a 
 grant to him of the manor and park of Ilaughley, on 
 which he erected a mansion there. His son, Edward, 
 adhering to the religion of his ancestors, suffered 
 much during the next reign for recusancy, notwith- 
 standing the uniinpeached loyalty of his sentiments 
 and conduct. The fidelity of Sir Edward, the grand- 
 son of the latter, to the cause of Charles I. brought on
 
 SUFFOLK. 195 
 
 him the imprisonment of his person, and the seques- 
 tration of two-thirds of his estate, during Cromwell's 
 usurpation : but when Charles II. recovered his throne, 
 he was restored to his possessions and his liberty. 
 His descendants continued at Wetherden for several 
 succeeding generations. 
 
 In this village is a very neat church, the porch of 
 which, and a large aisle continued from it to the chan- 
 cel, were built by Sir John Sulyard, who, in the pedi- 
 gree of that family, is called a judge only ; but in the 
 Baronetage of England is said to have been lord chief 
 justice of England. A grant of free- warren here was, 
 1 Richard III., confirmed to him and to Ann his wife, 
 who was the daughter of John Andrews, of Bailham, 
 in this county, by Elizabeth Stratton, and lineal de- 
 scendant of Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford and 
 Essex, and of his countess Elizabeth, daughter of King 
 Edward I. Round the porch of this church, and along 
 the chancel, are finely carved the arms and quarterings 
 of the family of Sulyard, to the period when the aisle 
 was built. 
 
 Proceeding along the road, we next arrive at WOOL- 
 PIT, or WOLPIT. This is said, in the Monasticon, to 
 have been given to Bury Abbey, both by Edward the 
 Confessor and Earl Ulfketel : however, the manor, 
 advowson of the rectory, a warren, and a great many 
 lands, pastures, and woods, in Elmswell and Wolpit, 
 were granted, in the eighth year of James I., to Sir 
 Robert Gardiner, knt. as parcels of the possessions of 
 Bury Abbey. 
 
 The church of Woolpit is a handsome structure, 
 being a beautiful specimen of the florid Gothic ; and 
 the porch may vie in elegance with any in the county.
 
 lp SUFFOLK 
 
 The celebrated brick which is made here, and bears 
 the name of the place, has been used in the construc- 
 tion of several gentlemen's seats, &c. on account of its 
 superior whiteness and excellent qualities. 
 
 About a mile to our left we observe Drinkstone. 
 Henry Lord Bourchier died seised of this manor in the 
 twenty-third of Edward III. Here is the capital seat 
 of Joshua Grigby, esq. 
 
 On the same side of the road are the villages of 
 Felsham and Geddiiig. The former belonged to the 
 abbot of Bury by the gift of Earl Ulfketel. There is 
 a neat mansion here, lately the seat of Dr. Scott, and a 
 considerable fair for lambs on the 5th of August. 
 
 GEDDING. In this parish is the seat of the Boken- 
 ham family. The advowson of the church was, by the 
 will of Jeremiah Catling, given to the corporation of 
 Ipswich ; and, upon a vacancy of the bailiff^, the 
 recorder and town-clerk for the time being are to 
 nominate a clerk. 
 
 About two miles from Woolpit, on the opposite side 
 of the road to Drinkstone, is 
 
 TOSTOCK. This manor anciently belonged to 
 Brathulf, son of Leomar; and Baldwin, abbot of 
 Bury St. Edmund's, begged this and some other 
 estates of William the Conqueror. Afterwards it came 
 to the family of the Lords North and Grey, who had 
 their seat at Tostock Place. It is probable that there 
 was another manor, as that of Tostock Hall is said to 
 have been William Berdewell's, anno domini 1445. 
 
 THURSTON lies about two miles farther to the right. 
 Thomas de Multon, of Egremont, 18 Edward I. ob- 
 t;iined a market on Tuesdays, and a fair on the eve, 
 day, and morrow of St. Mary Magdalen, at his ma-
 
 SUFFOLK. 197 
 
 nor of Thurstanston, in Suffolk, which is supposed 
 to have been this place. John tie Multon, his son, 
 died seised of it, 8 Edward III. From Thurston a 
 road leads us back to the high-road, which we shall 
 cross, and pass Beighton, a small village, the rectory 
 of which is in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, and 
 thence proceed to 
 
 HESSET, or HEDGSETT. This was the lordship of 
 the Abbot of Bury, by the gift of Earl Ulfketel. In 
 32 of Henry VIII. it was granted to Thomas Bacon. 
 
 Nearly adjoining to this place, and bringing us 
 within three miles of Bury, the end of our present 
 excursion, is 
 
 ROUGHAM, which was given to the Abbey of Bury 
 by Earl Ulfketel, and granted, 34 Henry VIII., to 
 Sir Arthur Drury, in whose family it continued till 
 1640. Rougham Hall was formerly part of the estate 
 belonging to the Drurys. At the north-east corner of 
 Rougham church is an ancient monument of Sir 
 Roger Drury and his lady, the daughter and sole 
 heiress of Sir Robert Naunton. They are interred 
 beneath a flat stone, adorned with their figures in 
 brass, about four feet high, and this inscription in 
 black letter : 
 
 Hie jacet Dns Rogus Drury, miles qui obiit die Mens 
 
 Anno Domini MCCCC et Margeria Ux' ej' que obiit iiij die 
 Mens Septeb. Anno Domine MCCCCV quorum aiab' &c. 
 
 This is supposed to be the most ancient monument of 
 the Drurys that can be ascertained. Its preservation, 
 like that of many others, is owing to a pew having 
 been built over it. If pews, as Weever complains, 
 hide many monuments of the dead, -they cannot be 
 S3
 
 198 SUFFOLK. 
 
 denied the merit of having saved some from destruc- 
 tion. On the north side of the chancel is a mural 
 monument in memory of Sir Robert Drury and his 
 lady, the youngest daughter of Sir William Drury of 
 Hawsted. From the inscription it appears that she 
 died in ]621. The date of his death, at the age of 82, 
 is" left incomplete. Two singular purchases, which 
 tend to illustrate the manners of the higher classes 
 between two and three hundred years ago, are said tc 
 have been made by a lady of this family. By inden- 
 ture dated 10 Henry VIII., Sir William Waldegrav 
 sold to Margaret Drury of Rougham, widow, th< 
 wardship of Edmund Wrest, to be married wit! 
 Dorothy Drury, her daughter. By another inden- 
 ture, of the like date, it appears that the same lad' 
 bought of Robert Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter and Egre 
 mont, the wardship of Elizabeth Day, one of th< 
 daughters and heirs of Robert Day, late of Sterstone ; 
 Norfolk, deceased, whom she married to her seconc 
 son, Francis. Roger Kedington, esq. has a seat here. 
 
 Another mansion in this parish was the seat of tht 
 Maltywards, at a very early period. In this parish if 
 also the manor of Eldo, Old [fall, or Old Haugh, as il 
 is styled in most ancient books. It was a grange ol 
 the abbey of Bury, and was granted by Henry VIII. 
 with other large demesnes, to the Jermyns. 
 
 Rougham brings us within four miles of Bury, when 
 we proposed ending our excursion. But in ourjourne] 
 thence to Tlictford we omitted noticing the latter place, 
 designing to have given the description of it entire in 
 the county of Norfolk ; but, for the purpose of making 
 each county complete in itself, we have been induced 
 to alter our first plan, and therefore retrace our steps
 
 SUFFOLK. igg 
 
 o Thctford, in order to describe that part of it still 
 considered as belonging to this county. 
 
 The whole, or at least the greatest part, of Thet- 
 ford seems to have been originally on the Suffolk 
 side of the Little Ouse, where, in the reign of Edward 
 II., were situated thirteen out of the twenty parishes, 
 which it then comprehended; and there is still one pa- 
 rish, St. Mary's, with about thirty houses in Suffolk. 
 
 In this part of Thetford, are the remains of the 
 nunnery founded by Uvius, the first abbot of St. Ed- 
 mund's Bury, in commemoration of the number of 
 persons who fell at Snareshill, near the town, in the 
 sanguinary conflict between King Edmund's army and 
 the forces under the Danish leaders Ingwar and Ubba. 
 A few monks were placed in this priory, which was 
 then considered as a cell to Bury Abbey. In 1176, the 
 monks having been reduced to two, they, by the re- 
 quest of the abbot of Bury, resigned, and he placed 
 there, in their stead, a convent of nuns, who had pre- 
 viously resided at Lynn. At the dissolution it was 
 granted to Sir Richard Fulmerston, who made the 
 house his residence. Afterwards it was let to a farmer, 
 and some years since the greater part of it was taken 
 down. A new farm-house has since been built of the 
 materials, and a part of the old building used as a 
 dairy, &c. The conventual church has been converted 
 into a barn. Some of the walls, with buttresses, 
 windows, &c. remain. 
 
 The free grammar school is also on the Suffolk side 
 of the river, near St. Mary's church. In the year 1566, 
 Sir Richard Fulmerston bequeathed, by will, certain 
 property to remunerate a priest for preaching four 
 times a year, in the parish church of St. Mary, and for
 
 200 SUFFOLK. 
 
 the purpose of erecting a free-school, with dwelling- 
 houses for the master and usher, who were to receive 
 adequate salaries ; and a habitation for two poor men 
 and two poor women, who were to be allowed weekly 
 pensions. Somehow or other the benevolent inten- 
 tions of the donor as to the funds were not carried 
 into effect till the time of James I., when, upon a 
 petition of the townsmen, it was enacted, by the au- 
 thority of parliament, that there should be for ever a 
 free grammar school and hospital ; and that the master 
 of the school, who should be the preacher, according 
 to the will of the testator, with the usher, and the four 
 poor people, should be a body politic, under the title 
 of " The master and fellows of the school and hospital 
 at Thetford, founded by King James I. according to the 
 will of Sir Richard Fulmerston, knt." Dr. Caius, in 
 his History of Cambridge, conjectures that the school, 
 which Sigebert, king of the East Angles, set up after 
 his return from France, mentioned by Bede, was erected 
 here. That a seminary for learned and religious in- 
 struction was established in this metropolis of the East 
 Anglian dominions is highly probable ; but no notice 
 occurs prior to the year 1329, when it appears, by the 
 Episcopal Institutions, that John de Mordon was col- 
 lated to the mastership by the bishop.
 
 SUFFOLK. 2OI 
 
 EXCURSION VI. 
 
 From Ipswich through Claydon, Greeting All 
 Saints, Little Stonham Pye, Brock/brd, Thwaite, 
 Stoke, Yaxley, and Broome, to the Scole Inn. 
 
 i H 
 
 LEAVING Ipswich, we observe on our left the vil- 
 lage of 
 
 SPROUGHTON, about a mile and a half from the 
 road. A good part of this parish is in the liberties and 
 borough of Ipswich ; but the manor, hall- house, ad- 
 vowson of the rectory, &c. were parts of the Felton 
 estate, and came with that of Shotley to the Earl of 
 Bristol. The Chantry, the seat of C. S. Collinson, 
 esq. built by Edward Ventriss, esq. master of his ma- 
 jesty's court of Chancery, is so called in consequence 
 of its erection upon the lands given by Edward Daundy 
 for endowing a chantry in the parish church of St. 
 Lawrence, Ipswich. Near to this was the residence of 
 Admiral Harland. 
 
 Sproughton Hall is now the seat of John Smith, esq. 
 At three miles distance from Ipswich we pass the 
 village of A KEN HAM on our right. This was the lord- 
 ship of Hugh le Rous, in King John's time, when he 
 was admitted to his freedom of Ipswich, and paid a 
 fine for freedom from toll for himself and his villains 
 in Akenham, Hemingston Hasketon, and elsewhere. 
 Here is Rice Hall, corruptly so called from being the 
 residence of the Rous family. The church has been 
 consolidated with Claydon. 
 
 CLAYDON is three miles and a half from Ipswich.
 
 202 SUFFOLK. 
 
 In this village the road divides : that straight from 
 Ipswich leads to Norwich, and that on the left to Bury 
 St. Edmund's. We pursue the former. Thomas South- 
 well, esq. had the manor in the Qth Elizabeth. About 
 half a mile to the right is Rougham Hall. 
 
 Rather more than a mile beyond this place, on the 
 same side of the road, is 
 
 BARHAM. This manor, with the advowson and 
 rectory, belonged to the prior and convent of Ely, and 
 at the suppression was granted, with a wood called 
 Bergham Coppice, to John Southwell, esq. In the 
 chancel of the church is a fine monument to the 
 memory of one of this family. In this parish stands 
 the house of industry for the incorporated hundred of 
 Bosmere and Claydon. 
 
 NETTLESTEAD lies about two miles to our left j and 
 to our former account we wish to add, that the lord- 
 ship of Nettlestead belonged to the Earls of Richmond 
 and Brittany, from the Norman Conquest to the 17th 
 of Henry II., when Conan, the last earl, died. Sir 
 Peter Mauclere, who married Alice, the daughter of 
 Constance, the only daughter and heiress of Conan, 
 by Guy de Thouars, had livery of this lordship and 
 manor, in the 15th of Henry III. By a special char- 
 ter, dated May 1, 1241, these, with other estates, 
 were given by Henry III. to Peter de Savoy, the 
 queen's uncle, who, dying without issue, left them to 
 that princess. This lordship was soon after granted 
 to Robert de Tibetot, in consideration of his adherence 
 to the king against his rebellious barons, and who 
 died here in the 25th of Edward I. From him it was 
 transmitted to his descendants ; when, in the 46th of 
 Edward III., Robert de Tibetot dying without issue
 
 SUFFOLK. 203 
 
 male, left three daughters, his co-heirs, Margaret, 
 Milicent, and Elizabeth, who being then in minority, 
 were given in ward to Richard le Scrope, of Bolton, 
 who disposed of Margaret to Roger le Scrope, his 
 eldest son, Milicent to Stephen, his third son, and 
 Elizabeth to Philip le Despenser, the younger. These 
 daughters, in the pth of Richard III., making proof of 
 their respective ages, had livery of their lands ; in the 
 partition whereof the lordship and manor of Nettle - 
 stead became vested in Philip le Despenser. By his 
 only daughter and heir, Margery, who married first to 
 John, Lord Roos, and afterwards, in 1450, to Sir 
 Roger Wentworth, the manor was brought into that 
 family, the representative of which, in the 2d of 
 Henry VIII., was summoned to parliament, by writ, 
 as Lord Wentworth of Nettlestead ; to which honour 
 Charles I. added the Earldom of Cleveland. In this 
 family the lordship of Nettlestead continued till about 
 1643, when Thomas, the first Earl of Cleveland, sold 
 it to William Lodge, a citizen of London. It after- 
 wards belonged to Mr. John Fuller of Ipswich, whose 
 only daughter and heir carried it, by marriage, into 
 the Bradley family; from them it came to the late 
 General Philipson, and was purchased by Mr. Lionel 
 Henry Moore, in 1813. 
 
 Till within these few years past, a very considerable 
 portion of the Old Ha/l was remaining in its pristine 
 state. It is situated near the church, and was formerly 
 surrounded by a wall, a great part of which is still 
 existing. The gateway remains j and on the spandrils 
 of the arch are two shields, sculptured with the Went- 
 worth arms and other numerous quarterings. The 
 mansion has been lately modernised and new fronted, 
 by the present proprietor.
 
 204 ; SUFFOLK. 
 
 Henrietta Maria, the sole daughter and heir of 
 Thomas, Lord Wentworth, who died in 1686, was the 
 celebrated and beloved mistress of the unfortunate 
 Duke of Monmouth. On the death of the first Earl of 
 Cleveland, her grandfather, she succeeded to the 
 barony of Wentworth for want of male issue. She 
 was a woman of an elegant person, most engaging 
 manners, and the highest accomplishments. She re- 
 sided many years at Toddington, in Bedfordshire, with 
 the duke, her lover, whose attachment to her con- 
 tinued to his death. The duke acknowledged, just 
 before his death, to two prelates and other divines, 
 who attended him, " that he and Lady Wentworth 
 had lived in all points like man and wife," but they 
 could not make him confess it was adultery. He 
 acknowledged that he and his duchess were married 
 by the law of the land, and therefore his children 
 might inherit, if the king pleased. But lie did not 
 consider what he did when he married her. He said, 
 that since that time he had an affection for Lady 
 Henrietta, and prayed, that, if it were pleasing to God, 
 it might continue. The affection did continue, and 
 therefore he doubted not it was pleasing to God ; and 
 that this was a marriage their choice of one another 
 being guideil by judgment upon due consideration. 
 When he addressed himself to the people from the 
 scaffold, he said Lady Henrietta was a woman of groat 
 honour and virtue, a religious and godly lady. He 
 was told, by some of the divines, of his living in 
 adultery with her ; he said, no. For these two years 
 last past he had not lived in any sin that he knew of; 
 and that he was sure, when ho died, to go to God, and 
 therefore he did not fear death, which they might see 
 in his face.
 
 SUFFOLK. 2O.5 
 
 Under these delusions, destructive of all order and 
 social happiness, the unfortunate duke met his death 
 with a courage rather chivalrous than rational j and 
 Lady Wentworth, the lamented object of his passion, 
 is said to have died broken-hearted in consequence of 
 his untimely end. After this, the barony descended to 
 her aunt Anne, the daughter of Thomas, Earl of Cleve- 
 land, and wife of John, Lord Lovelace. Mrs. Cob- 
 bold, of Holy Wells, Ipswich, has thus described 
 Lady Wentworth and her royal paramour. 
 
 Through the echoing covert the bugle resounds, 
 The shouts of the chase and the cry of the hounds ; 
 And, gallantly riding, the hunters are seen, 
 In bonnets and feathers, and surcoats of green : 
 The merry Lord Lovelace is leading them all, 
 To feast with his Cousin in Nettlestead Hall. 
 That Cousin is wealthy, that Cousin is fair, 
 Is Wentworth's, and Cleveland's, and Nettlestead's heir ; 
 Her smile is the sunshine of innocent youth, 
 Her heart is the throne of affection and truth ; 
 Her dark glossy ringlets luxuriantly flow, 
 Contrasting and arching her forehead of snow ; 
 The flowret of beauty and sweetness they call 
 Henrietta, the lily of Nettlestead Hull. 
 A stranger, in manhood and gallantry's pride, 
 The inerry Lord Lovelace has placed by her sido : 
 Forbidden his station and name to disclose, 
 He calls him " Sir Alured, Knight of the Rose." 
 How winning his graces and courtesy prove ! 
 His ardent affection soon fixes her love, 
 And secretly wedlock's soft fetters enthral 
 Henrietta, the beauty of Nettlestead Hall. 
 What pages mysterious has fate to unfold ! 
 Her husband is Monmouth, the royal and bold ; 
 And he whom she trusted as loyal and true 
 Had previously wedded the heir of Buccleugh ' 
 T
 
 206 SUFFOLK. 
 
 HENLEY is about a mile and a half to the right of 
 Barbara. Here the Vere's family had a seat at least 
 for two hundred years. 
 
 HEMINGSTON lies between Henley and Barham, but 
 nearly two miles to the north. This lordship is held 
 by the same kind of tenure as Wattisham. Mr. Brand 
 has a seat here. 
 
 SWILLAND lies above two miles to the east of 
 Hemingston. Bartholomew Burghersh, and after him 
 Edward le Despenser, died seised of this manor, in the 
 time of Edward III. The church was early impro- 
 priated to the nuns of Wykes, in Essex, and the im- 
 propriation was granted to Cardinal Wolsey, towards 
 the endowment of his college at Ipswich, 1528. 
 
 ASHBOCKIN G lies about amile north-east of Heming- 
 stone. Here is a manor called Ketts de Campo, and 
 another called Ash Hall, the property of the Earl of 
 Dysart. The church here was impropriated, in 1326, 
 to the prior and convent of Christ Church, Canter- 
 bury. 
 
 CODENHAM lies about a mile and a half to the 
 westward. The church here was given to Royston 
 priory by Eustachius de Merc, the founder, about 
 the year 1220. Here is the manor of Dennies, and 
 here stood the manor-house of Shrnbland Hall, where 
 Edward, third son of the Lord Keeper Bacon, became 
 seated, by his marriage with the heiress of Little. 
 Nicholas Bacon, one of his descendants, erected a new 
 mansion in a very pleasant park, which contains the 
 finest Spanish chesnut trees in the county. This edifice 
 having been pulled down, a new one was built in its 
 stead, and became the residence of Sir William Mid- 
 dleton, the present possessor, who was created a ba-
 
 & I 
 
 j ^
 
 SUFFOLK. 207 
 
 ronet in 18O4. It commands an extensive prospect 
 along the Norwich road. Here is also a manor called 
 the Vicarage, being always vested in the vicar for the 
 time being. From Codenham we rejoin the high- 
 road at Bridge Place, and proceed to Creeting Bottom. 
 GREETING is a name possessed in common by three 
 contiguous parishes in this hundred. Creeling St. 
 Peter, in Stow hundred, has been already mentioned ; 
 but Creeting All Saints is in the hundred of Bosmere, 
 as are likewise Creeting St. Olave and Creeting St. 
 Mary, and all lie on our left. The church of All 
 Saints is very ancient, but that of St. Olave has been 
 long taken down, and the two rectories consolidated 
 in l^ll. St, Olave was standing in 1532, when John 
 Pinkeney ordered his body to be interred in the chan- 
 cel. Creeting St. Mary is also a rectory, the parish 
 church of which is close to Creeting All Saints ; and 
 as they stand very near each other, upon an eminence, 
 they are easily seen at some miles distance, and are 
 commonly called the Two Churches. The first of 
 these, anciently, was most commonly styled the Priory 
 of Creeting, and was a cell to the abbey of Bernay, in 
 Normandy. After the suppression of foreign houses, 
 it became a part of the revenues of Eton College. 
 The manor of Gratinges, in Creeting St. Olave, was 
 given, by Robert, Earl of Morton in Normandy, and 
 of Cornwall in England, in the time of William the 
 Conqueror, to the abbey of Grestein in Normandy, 
 which afterwards erected a priory here. This the 
 abbot and convent sold in 134", by the king's licence, 
 to Sir Edmund de la Pole, by the names of the manors 
 of Mikelfield and Creeting. The manor and advowson 
 of Creeting All Saints were vested for a considerable
 
 208 SUFFOLK. 
 
 time in the respectable family of Bridgman, by whose 
 heirs they were sold, together with their other estates 
 in these two parishes, to Philip Champion Crespigny, 
 esq. 
 
 CROWFIELD lies about a mile to the right of Greet- 
 ing Bottom, and is a hamlet to Codenham, and here 
 \sCroivfieldHall, which formerly belonged to the Wood- 
 house family, who sold it to John Harbottle, and it 
 now belongs to Sir William Middleton, bart. It is 
 at present the seat of Benjamin Stead, esq. 
 
 HELMINGHAM lies nearly three miles to the right of 
 Crowfield. The prioress and nuns of Flexton, near 
 Bungay, were patrons of this rectory till about the 
 year 1320, when they exchanged this patronage with 
 the Bishop of Norwich for that of Flexton. After the 
 Reformation the crown claimed it, and have presented 
 ever since. This parish has been remarkable for a 
 family who took their name from this place, and had 
 their seat at Crekes, now called Helminghcnn Hall. It 
 has been still more celebrated in consequence of being 
 the seat of the ancient and noble family of Tollemache, 
 who are mentioned in Domesday Book as possessing 
 lands. Hugh Tollemache subscribed the charter, sans 
 date, made about the reign of King Stephen, to the 
 abbess of Godstow in Oxfordshire. The family was 
 seated at Bentley in Samford hundred, till Lionel 
 Tollemache, of Bentley, esq. married the heir of Hel- 
 mingham, by which he acquired the inheritance, and 
 made this place his residence. Lionel* his grandson, 
 was high sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk' in the 4th of 
 Henry VIII. or 1513. Again, Sir Lionel, the grand- 
 son of this gentleman, was high sheriff of Suffolk in 
 the 34th of Elizabeth, and knighted by her. He was
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 succeeded by his son and heir Lionel, who was created 
 a baronet at the first institution of that dignity in 
 l6ll, and was the twelfth person who received that 
 honour. 
 
 Sir Lionel Tollemache, grandson of the first baronet, 
 married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of William 
 Murray, Earl of Dysart in Scotland j and his son and 
 heir, Sir Lionel, succeeded him in honour and estate ; 
 and after the death of his mother (who had married a 
 second husband, John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale) 
 by the laws of Scotland he became Lord Hunting- 
 tower and Earl of Dysart. He was elected knight of 
 the shire for Suffolk in three parliaments called by King 
 William III. ; and was again elected knight of the 
 shire till the act of Union of the 6th of Queen Anne 
 declared him a peer of Great Britain. He was, in 
 Queen Anne's reign, Lord Lieutenant, Gustos Rotu- 
 lorum, and Vice Admiral of Suffolk, and High Steward 
 of the borough of Ipswich. This noble family have 
 been remarkably fortunate in the possession of a long 
 and uninterrupted succession of male heirs. 
 
 Helmingham Hall, the seat of the present Earl of 
 Dysart, is a quadrangular structure, with a court- 
 yard in the centre, built about the time of Henry VIII. 
 of red bricks, which have been since covered with a 
 kind of stucco. It contains some fine paintings ; a 
 good library chiefly of early printed books, in excellent 
 condition ; and a considerable collection of ancient 
 armour. The house, completely surrounded by a moat 
 filled with water, is approached by two draw-bridges, 
 which still continue to be drawn up every night. The 
 moat, as well as the bason in the park, is frequented 
 by great numbers of wild fowl of different species, 
 
 T3
 
 210 SUFFOLK. 
 
 which, from the encouragement given them by the 
 express orders of the noble proprietor, are become 
 almost tame. The park, comprehending 40O acres, 
 contains some of the finest oak-trees in this part of the 
 kingdom ; many of them are of great age. It is well 
 stocked with deer, the number of which have amounted 
 to 700, and among them a few stags, or red deer, re- 
 markably large. 
 
 The church of Helmingham, embosomed in wood, 
 stands by the side of the park ; and here is a cottage 
 which forms a picturesque object, inhabited by a per- 
 son who takes care of the vault and splendid monu- 
 ments of the Tollemache family. A monument by 
 Nollekens has been erected to the memory of the lady 
 of the present earl. And here is an inscription upon 
 Lionel Robert Tollemache, esq. He was born Nov. 
 10, 1/74, and embracing early the military profession, 
 in 179l> obtained an ensign's commission in the 
 first regiment of foot guards. Accompanying his re- 
 giment to Flanders on the breaking out of the war 
 with France, he was killed before Valenciennes. He 
 was active, diligent, and scientific in his military 
 duties ; possessed agreeable manners ; spoke the Ger- 
 man and French languages with much fluency, and 
 was universally respected as a young man of great 
 promise and attainments. He seems to have had a 
 presentiment of his fate, as a copy of verses was found 
 in his pocket after his death, expressive of the uncer- 
 tainty of a soldier's life " one night in all the para- 
 phernalia of dress, the next in a winding-sheet." His 
 remains were brought over from Flanders, and in- 
 terred in the family vault at Helmingham ; where on 
 a beautifully executed monument from the chisel of
 
 SUFFOLK. \ 211 
 
 Nollekens, adorned with a bust, a medallk 
 military trophies, is the following inscription 
 capitals, and in two compartments. 
 
 This monument was erected to the memory of 
 
 Lionel Robert Tollemache, esq. 
 
 who lies buried in the vault beneath. 
 
 He was the only son of the Honourable Captain 
 
 John Tollemache, of the Royal Navy, 
 and Lady Bridget Henley, daughter of the 
 
 Earl of Northington. 
 
 His course was short, but it was brilliant! 
 For at the age of eighteen he died nobly fighting for 
 
 King and Country. 
 He was an Ensign in the First Regiment of 
 
 Foot Guards, and was killed at the 
 
 Siege of Valenciennes in July, 1793, by the 
 
 bursting of a bomb thrown from 
 
 the garrison. 
 
 His death was the more unfortunate, as 
 He was the only British Officer killed on 
 
 that occasion. 
 
 He was a loss to his country, for 
 He was a youth of uncommon promise ; but 
 
 to his family his loss was irreparable ! 
 
 For by that fatal event it became extinct in the male 
 
 line. But the name of Tollemache 
 
 has been unfortunate ! 
 The father of, and two uncles of this valiant 
 
 youth, like himself, lost their lives 
 
 prematurely in the service of their country ; 
 
 His uncle, the Honourable George Tollemache, was 
 
 killed by falling from the mast-head of the 
 
 Modeste man of war at seaj 
 His father, the Honourable John Tollemache, 
 
 was killed in a duel at New York ; 
 
 And another of his uncles, the Honourable 
 
 William Tollemache, was lost in the Repulse frigate, 
 
 in a hurricaue iu the Atlantic ocean;
 
 212 SUFFOLK. 
 
 So many instances of disaster are rarely to b'e met with 
 
 in the same family. 
 
 Tims fell the young, the worthy, and the brave, 
 With emulation view his honour'd grave. 
 
 FRAMSDEN lies about two miles north-east of Hel- 
 miugham. Roger de Montealto, or Monthalt, paid a 
 fine to Ipswich, in King- John's time, for freedom from 
 toll for his villains in Framsden ; and Roger Monte- 
 alto died, 25 Edward I., seised of the manor of Frams- 
 den in Suffolk, leaving his brother Robert his heir, 
 who, for want of issue, settled this manor, 1 Edward 
 III., upon Isabel, mother to the king, for life ; and 
 after her decease to John Eltham, brother to the king, 
 and his heirs for ever. This church was impropriated 
 about 20 Edward III. to the minoresses without Aid- 
 gate in London. Here are 108 houses, 573 inha- 
 bitants, and a fair on Holy Thursday. 
 
 We now turn towards the road, and pass 
 Pettaugh. This manor formerly belonged to Lcis- 
 ton Abbey, and was granted, 28 Henry VIII., to Charles 
 Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. 
 
 From this place, continuing our way to the road, 
 we, at about the distance of a mile and a half, pass 
 
 STONHAM ASPAL. This has been so called from a 
 family of the name of Aspal, or Haspele, who were 
 many years lords and patrons here. It was also called 
 Stonham Antegan. In this parish, very near the church, 
 a branch of the ancient family of Wingfield had a seat 
 called Broughton Hall, and were lords of the manor 
 called Broughton Hall manor. The last possessor of 
 this, the Rev. John Wingfield, M. A. died without 
 male issue, as did also his brother Thomas, who was 
 the last heir male of the family. The estate and manor
 
 SUFFOLK. 213 
 
 was afterwards purchased by Philip Champion Cres- 
 pigny, esq. Jn the churchyard is a beautiful monu- 
 ment to the memory of Anthony Wingfield, esq. His 
 effigy in alabaster, much injured by time, is represented 
 in a recumbent posture grasping a serpent. 
 
 Stonham Earl is directly on a line with Stonham 
 Aspal, but on the opposite side of the road. This 
 place was so called because it was anciently the lord- 
 ship of Thomas Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, and after- 
 wards that of William Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, who 
 married the grandaughter of Thomas Brotherton. It 
 was afterwards Sir Thomas Gresham's. The Duke of 
 Norfolk had the grant of a market and a fair here in 
 the first of Edward III., and all the three parishes of 
 Stonham are still a part of the Duke of Norfolk's 
 liberty ; but the advowson of the church is in the col- 
 lege of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Here is Deer- 
 bolt's, the ancient seat of the Driver family, whose 
 only heir married Richard Moore, esq. of Kentwell 
 Hall, near Long Melford, and enjoyed this property as 
 her dower. 
 
 Stonham Paroa, or Little Stonham, is on the same 
 side of the road, and is sometimes called Stonham 
 Jernegan, clause the Jernegans were lords here till 
 the time of Edward VI. The Goodwins afterwards 
 sold the manor to Lady Rivers, from whom it came to 
 Lord Orwell. In this parish is the old mansion of the 
 family of Bloomfield. 
 
 Stonham Pye lies on our road. It is understood that 
 one of the family of the Reeves, after they had been 
 burnt out of London by the great fire, purchased the 
 inn, called Stonham Pye, where they resided for many 
 years. From thence their descendants removed to
 
 214 SUFFOLK. 
 
 Harleston, where lately resided Mr. William Reeve,, 
 an eminent siirgeon, and of considerable property. 
 The Rev. William Reeve, his only son, vicar of Hoxne 
 and Denham, a person of great learning, charity, and 
 generosity, died in 1786, and in him this branch of the 
 family became extinct. Another branch of the family 
 resided at Beldeston. Abbot Reeve appears to have 
 been one of the ancestors of this family, judging from 
 the almost exact similarity of the arms. The Reeves 
 were situated in London some time before the Re- 
 storation, and some memorials of them may still be 
 seen in the church of St. Sepulchre. 
 
 John Reeve, alias Melford, was the last abbot who 
 presided over the rich and noble abbey of Bury St. 
 Edmund. He was a native of Melford, and was 
 elected abbot in 1514. In 1522, a commission was 
 directed to him to ascertain the bounds of Ipswich, a 
 jury itnpanneled, and their return filed in Chancery. 
 At the grand funeral solemnity of Abbot Islip, of West- 
 minster, in 1532, he was the principal assistant. On 
 Nov. 4, 1539, after having in vain endeavoured to 
 avert the fatal blow by several humiliating concessions, 
 he was compelled to surrender his splendid and wealthy 
 monastery into the rapacious hands of Henry VIII. 
 An annual pension of 50Cf marks was assigned him, 
 and he retired from the magnificence of his palace and 
 dignity to a private station, in a large house at the 
 south-west corner of Crown-street, which was the ex- 
 chequer-room belonging to the abbey, and which has 
 undergone less alteration than any other of the same 
 age in the town of Bury, and where, in 1768, his arms 
 were to be seen in one of the windows with a scroll 
 beneath, inscribed
 
 SUFFOLK. 215 
 
 Doiuinus Johannes Melford Abbas. 
 
 He appears to have fallen a victim to the suddenness 
 of the change, as he very soon sunk under the weight 
 of disappointment and sorrow, occasioned by the havoc 
 and devastation made in his church and abbey ; the 
 overthrow of that religion to which he was so firmly 
 attached, with other causes, worked so strongly on 
 his mind, as to produce the chagrin and mortifica- 
 tion that brought him to the grave, after having sur- 
 vived the degradation of his order, and the loss of his 
 abbey, only four months. 
 
 Among the numerous monuments and ancient grave- 
 stones in the church of St. Mary was that of this pious 
 and learned man. He was interred in the middle of 
 the chancel, and over his grave was originally placed 
 a very large flat stone, embellished at the four corners 
 with the arms of the abbey, impaling those of his own 
 family, and also his effigy in brass in full pontificals, 
 with a mitre on his head, and a crosier in his hand. 
 But this ancient stone was most indecently broken and 
 removed in 1717 by some Goths of the 18th century, 
 to make room for a new one to cover the remains of 
 a Mr. Sutton, who was buried in the very grave of the 
 ex-abbot. The Latin inscription on th stone has 
 been thus translated in " Abbot Reeves Lament,'' by 
 a lady of Ipswich. 
 
 With mem'ry's grateful tribute Bury owns 
 Her mitred Lord : here rest his humble bones : 
 His honour'd birth shall Suffolk's Melford claim, 
 John his baptismal, Reeve his natal name. 
 Heroic, prudent, learned, and benign, 
 And just was he, and lov'd his vows divine. 
 The day he saw, when our Eighth Henry's hand 
 For one and thirty years had rul'd this land !
 
 2\6 SUFFOLK. 
 
 And when the spring, her charming course begun 
 In March, an equal term of days had run, 
 Sped by the Angels bright he reach'd his goal, 
 O, gracious God ! have mercy on his soul ! 
 
 MICKFIELD is about a mile to our right. Two 
 manors are mentioned here, viz. Wolney Hall and 
 Flede Hall ; the first belonged to the alien priory of 
 Grestein in Normandy, and is supposed to have been 
 sold by that convent to Tydemannus de Lymbergh, 
 about the year 1347. 
 
 WINSTON is about two miles farther to the east. A 
 manor here, and the impropriation of the church, 
 with the advowson of the vicarage, belongs to the 
 dean and chapter of Ely ; another, that formerly be- 
 longed to the nuns of Brusyard, was granted in the 
 30th of Henry VIII. to Nicholas Hare. 
 
 ASH FIELD lies two miles to the right of Winston. 
 This manor and impropriation formerly belonged to 
 the priory of Butley, but were granted in the 34th of 
 Henry VIII. to Francis Framlingham. The church 
 has been in ruins many years past. Thorp is a hamlet 
 belonging to Ashfield. 
 
 From this place we turn again towards the road, 
 and, at the distance of three miles, arrive atDebenham. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 T. DAYIION, LOMUAKU-bTKELT, WHlTkFHJAKS LOMHi.V
 
 IN DEX. 
 
 SUFFOLK, VOL. J. 
 
 A. 
 
 ABBEY church of St. Edmunds, 
 
 11, 14. 
 
 Abbey, gate of Bury, 1 7. 
 Abbot of Bury, II. 
 Abbot's hall, 189. 
 Acton, 61. 
 
 place, 62. 
 
 Ad Ansam, a Roman station, 1 73. 
 Zdes solitaria, 193. 
 Aid, the, 3. 
 Aldham, 176". 
 
 common ; inscription to 
 
 Dr. Taylor, 60. 
 Alpheton, 51. 
 Akenham, 201. 
 Ampton, 88. 
 Ampton hall, 89- 
 
 almshouse, 90. 
 
 Ancient history, 4 to 8. 
 Ash hall, 206. 
 Ashbocking, '206. 
 Ashfield, 216. 
 
 , Little, 125. 
 
 Assington, 77. 
 Averley hall, 78. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, family of, 78. 
 Badley, 184. 
 Badwell Ash, 125. 
 Bardwell, 124. 
 
 Barham, 202. 
 Barking hall, 180. 
 Barnardiston, 106. 
 Barnham, 96. 
 
 water, 9- 
 
 Barningham, 127. 
 Barrow, 109. 
 Barton, great, 1 1 3. 
 
 , mansion at, 1 13. 
 
 mills, 97. 
 
 Basso relievos, two curious, 16. 
 Battisford, 181; frame of the 
 
 Royal Exchange made at, 181. 
 Baylham, 179. 
 Beighton, 197. 
 Belstead, great, 161. 
 
 .little, 162. 
 
 Bent Illeigh, 57. 
 Bentley, 170. 
 Bergholt, east, 170. 
 Bildeston, 182. 
 Blakenham, great, 175. 
 
 , little, 175. 
 
 Bloomfield, birthplace of Robert, 
 
 115. 
 
 , lines on the death of 
 
 the father of, 1 16, 
 
 , Mrs. 116. 
 
 , Nathaniel, 118. 
 
 Blythe, the, 3. 
 
 Boitwellhall, 170. 
 
 Botesdale, 128; market, 129; 
 
 fairs, 129. 
 
 Boundaries of t'ne county, I. 
 J'oxford, 77.
 
 218 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Boxstead, 51. 
 
 Boyse, John, 1 77. 
 
 Bradtield Combust, 48. 
 
 hall, 48. 
 
 Mr. Young's estate at, 
 
 49. 
 
 Bradfield, St. George and St. 
 Clare, 49. 
 
 Branches, the, 105. 
 
 Bramford, 174. 
 
 Brandon, 99 ; population and fairs, 
 99 ; church, 99 ; rabbit-warren, 
 99 ; manufactory, 99. 
 
 Brandons, family of the, 99. 
 
 Brantham, 171. 
 
 Brent hall, 120. 
 
 Brettenham, 183. 
 
 Bricet, 181. 
 
 Par va, 181. 
 
 Bristol, seat of the earl of, 3G. 
 
 Brockley, 50. 
 
 Broughton hall, 21?. 
 
 Bunbury, mansion of Sir Thomas 
 Charles, 98. 
 
 Burgate, 131. 
 
 Burial, 1G1. 
 
 Burnt Wenham, 172. 
 
 Burum, 81. 
 
 Buxhall, l4. 
 
 Bury St. Edmunds, charter of in- 
 corporation to, 8 ; situation of, 
 9 ; cleanness and salubrity of, 9 ; 
 extent, divisions, and population 
 of, 9 ; ancient history of, 9 ; 
 grants to the abbey of, by Ed- 
 ward the Confessor, 10; first 
 church built at, 10; sketch of, 
 by Leland, 10; abbey church, 
 1 1 ; shrine of St. Edmund, 1 1 ; 
 abbot of, I I ; abbey of, attacked 
 by the people, 12; history of 
 the monastery at, 1.1; super- 
 stitious practices of the monks, 
 14; churches, St. Margaret, 
 St. Mary, and St. James, 14; 
 churchyards, 16; Clopton's 
 hospital, Hi; the shire hall, 
 1 7 ; the abl>ey gate, 1 7 ; dis- 
 tinguished characters interred 
 
 at, 20 ; coffin and body of Tho- 
 mas Beaufort discovered, 20 ; 
 antique heads discovered, 2 1 ; 
 the guildhall, 21 ; the grammar- 
 school, 22; Moyse or Moses 
 hall, 22 ; the wool halls, 22 ; 
 the Angel inn, 22 ; the new 
 gaol, 22 ; the house of correc- 
 tion, 23 ; the theatre, 23 ; the 
 assembly rooms, 24 ; the Suf- 
 folk libr'ary, 24 ; fairs, 24 ; St. 
 Nicholas's hospital, 25; hos- 
 pital of St. Petronilla, 25 ; our 
 Lady's chapel, 20' ; Stone cha- 
 pel, '26 ; College- street, 2b' ; 
 scenery, 2G ; vineyards, '26 ; St. 
 Edmund's hill, 27 ; gates, 27 ; 
 St. Saviour's hospital, 28; claims 
 the honour of MagnaCharta, 28; 
 modern history, 28 to 34; hor- 
 rible scenes at, 32 ; conflagra- 
 tion at, 33 ; plague at, 33 ; per- 
 secution for witchcraft, 33 ; lu- 
 dicrous circumstance alluded to 
 by Butler, 34. 
 
 c. 
 
 Calthorpe, family of, 88. 
 Canning, the Rev. Richard, 139. 
 Capel, 170. 
 Carew, monument of Sir William, 
 
 15. 
 Castles, at Clare, 68 ; at Haugh. 
 
 ley, 186. 
 Cavendish, town and church, 67. 
 
 , family, GJ- 
 Cavenham, 85. 
 Chadacre hall, 51. 
 Champlin, mansion of Thomas, 
 
 esq. 171. 
 Chattisham, 162. 
 Chelmondiston, 1 66. 
 Chelsworth, 58. 
 Chcvington, 108. 
 Chilton or Chipley, 76. 
 Clare town, 67; antiquities. 68 ; 
 
 ractlr. 68; history, 69; Richard
 
 INDEX. 
 
 219 
 
 de, 69 ; priory, 7 ] ; church, 
 1-i. 
 
 Claydon, 20 1 . 
 
 Clench, inscription for Judge, 168. 
 
 Climate of the county, I. 
 
 Clopton, monuments to the fa- 
 mily of, 63, 64. 
 
 Clopton's hospital, 16. 
 
 Clubb, the Rev. John, 1 79. 
 
 Codenham, 206. 
 
 hall, 78. 
 
 Coldham hall, 49. 
 
 Combretonium, 183. 
 
 Combs, 185. 
 
 Coney Weston, 1 27. 
 
 Copdock, 162. 
 
 Copinger, Rv. Henry, monu- 
 ment to, 54 ; anecdote of, 55. 
 
 Coppinger, Sir William, 1 84. 
 
 Corbels, family of the, 77. 
 
 Cordell, monument of Sir Wil- 
 liam, 64. 
 
 Corn hall, 80. 
 
 Cornard, great and little, 77. 
 
 Cowling, 103. 
 
 Cranmer green, C7. 
 
 Creeping hall, 16.9. 
 
 Creeling St. Peter, 185. 
 
 All Saints, 207. 
 
 St. Olaves, 207. 
 
 St. Man-, 207. 
 
 priory, 207. 
 
 Crofts, family of the, 111. 
 
 Crowfield, 208. 
 
 Culford, 87. 
 
 church and monuments, 
 
 88. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dalhatn, 104. 
 
 hall and church, 104. 
 
 Daundy, Edward, 138. 
 
 Davy, "the Rev. Charles, 192; 
 
 lines by, 193. 
 Deben, the, 3. 
 Deerbolts, 213. 
 Denham and hall, 1 08. 
 Deuston, 107. 
 
 Depden, 108. 
 
 hall, 108. 
 
 Deny, building planned by the 
 
 bishop of, 37 : capricious will 
 
 of, 37. 
 
 Desning hall, 108. 
 D'Ewes, Sir Simon, 124. 
 Donne, Dr., 43, 44. 
 Dormsden, 180. 
 Downham, inundation of sand at, 
 
 100. 
 
 Downings, 108. 
 Dowsing, Wm. 155. 
 Drink-stone, 196. 
 Drury, monuments to the family 
 
 of, 197, 198. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earl's hall, 50. 
 
 East Bergholt, 1 70. 
 
 East House lands, 127. 
 
 Edmund, history of St., 5 ; church 
 built for the reception of, 10. 
 
 Edward the Confessor, loaves for 
 the dogs of, 93. 
 
 Edwardston, 61. 
 
 Eldo hall, 198. 
 
 Eldred, John, inscriptions, 110; 
 family, history of, 111; por- 
 traits and charities, 11]. 
 
 Elmsett, 176. 
 
 - , inscription in the church 
 to Edward Sherland, 177. 
 
 Elvedon, 97. 
 
 hall, 97. 
 
 Elwes, John, esq., 73. 
 
 Enclosures, 3. 
 
 Ereswell, 98. 
 
 Envarton, 167. 
 
 hall, 168. 
 
 Euston, 122. 
 
 hall and park, 1 23 ; lines 
 
 on, by Bloomfield, 123. 
 
 Exchange, the Royal, 181. 
 
 Exning, 102.
 
 220 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fakenham, 120. 
 
 wood, 121. 
 
 ghost, the, 121. 
 
 Farmer's Boy, the, 93; Sir Charles 
 
 Bunbury's approbation of, 94. 
 Felsham, 196. 
 Finborougli, great, 183. 
 
 hall, 183. 
 
 Flempton, 85. 
 
 Font, curious, at Melford, 65. 
 
 Fornham St. Martin, 82. 
 
 All Saints, 82. 
 
 St. Genoveve, 85 
 
 Framsden, 212. 
 Freckingham, 101. 
 Freston, 163. 
 Freston tower, 164. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gazeley, 104. 
 Gedding, 196. 
 Giffard's hall, 79. 
 Gipping, the, 3. 
 
 village, 194. 
 
 Gipps, Sir Richard, 48. 
 Gislingharn, 128. 
 Glemsfbrd, 67. 
 Gospel oak, the, 40. 
 Greping hall, 169. 
 Groton, 78. 
 
 Gulfridus de Fontibus, 81. 
 Guthrum, bur'ml-pluce of, 60. 
 Gusfonl hall, 14-1. 
 
 II. 
 
 Iladlrlgh, M ; population, mar- 
 Let, and fairs, 59 ; privileges, 
 A9 ; trade, :>9 ; church, ><) ; 
 gate, 60 ; martyrdom of Tay- 
 lor, (iO. 
 
 1 1 ,i Irs grove, 160. 
 
 ll.n.i.r I, .ill. 161. 
 
 Hanlwiil- heath, 36. 
 
 Hardwick house, 36'. 
 
 Hargrave, 108. 
 
 Hartest, riO. 
 
 Harveys, seat of the, 50. 
 
 Haverhill, 10S. 
 
 Haughky, 188. 
 
 castle, 1 88. 
 
 manor, 189. 
 
 park, 190. 
 
 Hawkedon, 107. 
 
 Hawstcd, 40. 
 
 church and monuments, 
 
 4044. 
 
 house, 4-!. 
 
 farm, 46. 
 
 near the Orwell, 167. 
 
 Helmingham, 20H. 
 
 hall, 208, 209. 
 
 church, 210; monu- 
 ment to L. R. Tollemache, 210. 
 
 Hemingston, 206. 
 
 Ilcngrave, R.'?. 
 
 hall, 83. 
 
 , nuns at, 84. 
 
 church and monuments, 
 
 84, 85. 
 
 Henley, 206. 
 
 Hepworth, 127. 
 
 Hercules, stone figure of, 45. 
 
 Heringswell, 101. 
 
 Herveys, ancient family of, 37. 
 
 Hessct, 197. 
 
 Higham, monument of Sir Cle- 
 ment, I<i9. 
 
 village, 172. 
 
 High Suffolk, 2. 
 
 I linden-lay, 128. 
 
 Ilintlcsham, 161. 
 
 hall, 161. 
 
 church and monu- 
 ments, ]6I, 16'.'. 
 
 History, ancient, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 
 lloghill, -n. 
 
 Holbrook hall, 61. 
 
 village, 168; inscrip- 
 tion on Judge Clench, 168. 
 
 Holt, monument to Sir John, 130. 
 
 Holton, 172. 
 
 Honington, 1 15.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 .'21 
 
 Honington green, line* on the in- 
 closure of, 118. 
 
 Hopton, 128. 
 
 Horningsheath, 39. 
 
 hall, little, 39. 
 
 Horsecroft, 40. 
 
 Howard, monument of Catherine, 
 wife of John, Duke of Nor- 
 folk, 79. 
 
 Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 
 31. 
 
 Hundon, 107. 
 
 Hunston hall, 125. 
 
 J.I. 
 
 Jack Straw, 31. 
 
 Icklingham, 86 ; Roman station 
 at, 86, 
 
 Ickworth, 36. 
 
 park, 36. 
 
 Jermyn, Sir Thomas, 47. 
 
 , Sir Robert, 47. 
 
 Illeigh, Brent, 57. 
 
 monks, 57. 
 
 Ipswich. Name, 1 33 ; history, 1 33 ; 
 gates, 134; castle, 1 34 ; charters, 
 134; privileges and trade, 134, 
 135; churches, 136; hamlet of 
 Wykes, 136; SUames's chapel, 
 137; St. Helen's, 137 ; St. Law- 
 rence's, 138; St. Margaret's, 
 139; Trinity priory, 140; 
 Christ's Church, 14'-); St Mary 
 at Elms, 1 40 ; St. Mary at Kay, 
 141; monastery of the black 
 friars, 141; hospital. 141; free 
 grammar-school, 142 ; Tooley's 
 foundation, 143; custom-house, 
 144; SuMary at Stoke, 144; 
 Gusford hall, 144; St. Mary 
 at Tower, 145; archdeacon's 
 palace, 145 ; St. Matthew's 
 church, 145 ; St. George's cha- 
 pel, 146; St. Mildred's church, 
 146 ; townhall, 146; St. Mary's 
 chapel, 147; church of St. Ni- 
 cholas, 147 ; Wolsey's house, 
 148 ; convents, 148 ; St. Peter'* 
 
 church, 149; gale of Wol- 
 sey's college. 15 ; Lord Cur- 
 son's house, Ij) ; church of St. 
 Austin, 1 - 1 ; St. Stephen's, 
 151 ; Tankard public-house, 
 152; theatre, 153; market- 
 place, 1 53 ; market cross, 1 o3 ; 
 jeu d'esprit on pulling down the 
 cross, 155; county gaol, 157; 
 house of correction, 157; town 
 and borough gaol, J 57 ; race- 
 course, 158; population and 
 trade, 158 ; vessels for passen- 
 gers, 1 59 ; scenery, 1 60 ; lines 
 to the Orwell, 160. 
 
 Ixning, 1 02 ; church and monu- 
 ments, 103. 
 
 Ixworth, 114. 
 
 Thorp, 114. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kedington, 106. 
 Kentwell hall, 66. 
 Kersey, 58. 
 Kettlebarston, 182. 
 
 Lack-ford, 86. 
 
 Langham, 124. 
 
 Larke, the, 3. 
 
 Lavenham, 5 1 ; church and arms, 
 
 52 ; porch, 53 ; monuments, 
 
 54; charities. 56. 
 Lawshall, 50. 
 Leicester, earl of, 7. 
 Leyham, 60. 
 Lidgate village, 105. 
 
 , John. 105. 
 
 Lily of Nettlestead, lines on the, 
 
 20 S. 
 
 Little Law hall, 125. 
 Livermere, great and little, 90. 
 
 . hall. 90. 
 
 Lojft, Mr. and the Farmer's Boy, 
 
 91.
 
 252 
 
 1N011X. 
 
 Long Melford, 63; church and Norton, 125. 
 
 monuments, 63; font, 65 ; lies- Nunnery, remains of Thetford, 
 
 pital 65 ; halls, 65, 66. 
 Lord Carson's heuse, 151. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magna Charta, 28. 
 
 Market Weston 127. 
 
 Martin, Thomas, of Palgrave, 
 132. 
 
 Melford, 63; church and monu- 
 ments, 63. 
 
 hall, 65. 
 
 place, 66. 
 
 Mickfield, 216. 
 
 Milden, M, 
 
 ball, 58. 
 
 Mildeuhall, situation and market, 
 97; church and monuments, Dij. 
 
 Monastery of St. Edmund's Bury, 
 how long in the possession of 
 Benedictine monks 13. 
 
 at Edwordston, 61. 
 
 at Stoke juxta Ney- 
 
 land. 78. 
 
 at Ipswich, 141. 
 
 Monk's hall !)7. 
 
 Illeigh, 67. 
 
 Moulton, 10-4. 
 
 Moyse or Moses hall, 22. 
 
 N. 
 
 Name of the county, 3. 
 
 Needham, 180. 
 
 Nettlestead, ancient history of, 
 202 ; story of Henrietta Ma- 
 ria, Lady Wentwortli.y04 ; lines 
 descriptive of the Lily of Net- 
 tlostead hall, 20A. 
 
 Newmarket. Population, marker, 
 ami fair, 101; churches, 102; 
 race*, 120. 
 
 Newton. 191). 
 
 hull, 191. 
 
 Ni:ylainl, 7. 
 
 Norfolk, &at and park of the 
 duke of, 8;>. 
 
 199. 
 
 Nutmet 
 
 hall. 109. 
 O. 
 
 Offton, 179. 
 
 Old Hall, or Old Haugh, 1.08. 
 
 at Nettle-stead, 2i(3. 
 
 Onehouse, 191. 
 
 Ore, the 3. 
 
 Orwell, lines to the, 160. 
 
 Ouse, the little, 3. 
 
 Owsden hall, 104. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pakenham, 1 13. 
 
 Pulgrave, 132. 
 
 Park wood, 58. 
 
 Petrifying spring, 67. 
 
 Pettaugh, 212. 
 
 Pettiward, M. A., the Ilev. Da- 
 niel, 193. 
 
 Peyton hall, or Polstead house, 77. 
 
 Poor's rates, 4. 
 
 Population of the countv, 1. 
 
 Poslingford. 72. 
 
 Preston, 57 ; priory and hall, A7. 
 
 Priories. Clare, 7 I ; Sudhury, 7.i ; 
 Tlietford, 97; Ixworth, 114, 
 125, 127; Trinity, at Ipswich, 
 140; at l:entley, 170; Bret-it, 
 181; Creeling, 207. 
 
 11. 
 
 Ray nor, Anne, lines by Bloom- 
 
 tii'ldon, I 1-1. 
 Redgrave park and hall, 129, ISO; 
 
 church and monuments, 130. 
 Red Lorlge, 101. 
 Rued, I OK. 
 
 hall, 10!!. 
 
 Reeve, tomh of John. 15. 
 , history of John, 214. 
 
 , inscription to, 2lo. 
 
 Rift hall, .'()!.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 223 
 
 Rickenhale. inferior and superior, 
 128. 
 
 Ringshall, 181. 
 
 Risby, 112; round steeple, 1 1 2. 
 
 Rivers, 3. 
 
 Penelope, countess of, 82. 
 
 Roads, 3. 
 
 Roman remajns, 48, 67, 86, 102, 
 109. 
 
 Rockylls, 191. 
 
 Ilougham, 197; monument to Sir 
 R. Drury, 197 ; manors, 193. 
 
 hall, 198. 
 
 Rowley, Sir Joshua, 80. 
 
 Rymer house, 8\ 
 
 Rushbrook manor, 46. 
 
 hall, French ambassa- 
 dors feasted at, 47. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sampson's hall, .59. 
 Sandy Downham, 1 00. 
 Sapistoo, ll'j; farm-house, the 
 
 abode of Bloomfield, 1 20. 
 Saxham Magna, 109; singular 
 
 inscription in the church, 1 10. 
 Parva, 1 1 1 ; church and 
 
 tower, 112. 
 Seraere, .-<8. 
 Shackerland, 125. 
 Shadacre hall, 51. 
 Shelland, 191. 
 Sherland, inscription to Edward, 
 
 177. 
 
 Shimpling, 51. 
 Shotley, 167. 
 Shrine of St. Edmund, 1 1. 
 Shrubland hall, 206. 
 Soil, 1. 
 
 Sojnersham, 176. 
 Somerton, 50. 
 South park, 108. 
 Spring, Thomas. 52, 1 1 9, 
 Sproughton village, 20 K ' 
 
 hall, *OI. 
 
 Stanningfield, 49. 
 
 Stansfield, 107. 
 
 Stanstead, 51. 
 
 Stantwi, 12-7. * 
 
 St. Edmund, history of, .i ; mira- 
 cles at the grave of, 7 ; church 
 built for the reception of, 1 0. 
 
 . 's church, remains of 
 
 the west end of, 15 ; distin- 
 guished characters interred in 
 the, 20 ; lead coffin discovered, 
 21 ; antique heads discovered, 
 21. 
 
 Stoke Juxta Clare, 72 ; priory, 72. 
 
 Neyland, 7H. 
 
 park, 144. 
 
 Stone chapel, 26. 
 
 Stonham Aspal, 212. 
 
 Earl, 213. 
 
 Parva, 213. 
 
 Pye, 213. 
 
 Stour, the, 3. 
 
 Stow hall, 124. 
 
 Stowlangtoft, 1 2*. 
 
 Stowmarket, 1 86 ; population and 
 fairs, 186'; church and spire, 
 186 ; monument to Dr. Young, 
 186; navigable canal, 187; 
 house of industry, 187. 
 
 Stratford, 172. 
 
 Sturston, 132. 
 
 haM, 132. 
 
 Stutton, I6f). 
 
 haJl, 1GP. 
 
 Sudbury population and fairs, 74 ; 
 name and history, 74; Simon 
 de, 75 ; priory, 75 ; trade, 7t>. 
 
 Suffolk library, 24. 
 
 Swatsal hall, I2f. 
 
 Swan hall, 107. 
 
 Swilland, 206. 
 
 Swimming for witchcraft, 35. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tankard public-house, the, 152. 
 Talmash hall, 182. 
 Taston hall, 180. 
 TatMngston*. 169. 
 
 . place or palace, 169. 
 
 Taylor, Rowland, 60. 
 Tendring ball, /9. 
 Thelnetbam, IV8. 
 Thetford, 96,'4$9.
 
 234 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Thetfor-.l priory, 97 ; nunnery 
 founded by Uvius, 1 99 ; free 
 grammar-school, 191). 
 
 Thorp, Morieux, 5 1 . 
 
 Thrandiston, 132. 
 
 hall, 132. 
 
 Thurlovv, great, 1 05. 
 
 .little. 105. 
 
 , the late lord, 125. 
 
 Thurston, 196. 
 
 Tillotson, archbishop, 105. 
 
 Tollemache, family of, 5:09 ; mo- 
 nument to L. R. esq., 210 ; in- 
 scription, 211. 
 
 Tostock, 1.06. 
 
 hall, 196. 
 
 Tot hill, 188. 
 
 Troston, 9 1 . 
 
 hall, 91. 
 
 Tudor, Mary, tomb of, 15. 
 
 Tyrrel, seat of ancient family of, 
 194, 
 
 V. 
 
 Vineyards, observations on, 26. 
 W. 
 
 Waldingfield Magna Mid Parva, 
 
 61. 
 
 Walsham le Willows, 1 S7. 
 Wangford, 99. 
 Washbrook, 161. 
 Wattisham, 182. 
 Wat Tyler, 30. 
 Waveney, 3. 
 Wells hall, 58. 
 Welnetham, 48. 
 Wenham, great, 172. 
 
 .little, 170. 
 
 hall, 170. 
 
 Went worth, lady, 20-4. 
 
 West Creeling,' 185. 
 
 Westley, 1 1 2. 
 
 Weston Market and Coney, 127. 
 
 West Stow, 87. 
 
 hall, 87. 
 
 Wetherden, 194. 
 
 hall, 194. 
 
 ' church, 195. 
 
 Whatfield, 178. 
 Whepstead, 46. 
 Wherstead, 163. 
 
 lodge, 163. 
 
 Whilton, 174. 
 
 Wickham brook, 107. 
 
 house, 108. 
 
 Willisham, 179. 
 
 Winston, 216. 
 
 Wingfield, the Rev. John, 212; 
 
 monument to Anthony, esq. 
 
 213. 
 
 Wiston, 80. 
 
 Witchcraft, persecution for, 3E. 
 Wollaston, William, 183. 
 Wolney hall, 216. 
 Wool halls, the, 22. 
 Woolpit, _iflb ; church, )95 ; 
 
 brick, Ml. 
 Woolverstort and hall, 165 ; 
 
 park and olx.'libk, 165, 166. 
 Worlington, 101. 
 Wortb*m, 132. 
 
 hall, 132. 
 
 Wykes, bishop, 136. 
 . Word, 137. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Young, manor and seat of Ar- 
 thur, 48. 
 monument to Dr., 186. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 ntWTKD 
 
 LONDON 
 
 THOMAS DAV1SOK, WHITKHUARS.
 
 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER 
 
 FOR PLACING THE PLATES. 
 
 SUFFOLK, VOL. I. 
 
 T.tle to VoL I. 
 
 Map of Suffolk, to face title. 
 
 Bury St. Edmunds, 8. 
 
 South-west view of St. Mary's 
 church, Bury St. Edmunds, 14. 
 
 Remains of St. Edmund's church 
 and St. James's church, Bury 
 St. Edmunds, 15. 
 
 Abbey gate, Bury St. Edmunds, 
 17. 
 
 The Borough gaol, Bury St. Ed- 
 munds, 22. 
 
 The abbey bridge, Bury St Ed- 
 munds, 28. 
 
 Rushbrook hall, 47. 
 
 Lavenham church, 52. , 
 
 Hadleigh church, 59*. 
 
 North-east view of Long Melford 
 church, 63. 
 
 Long Melford hall, 65. 
 
 Kentwell hall, 66. 
 
 Clare castle, 68. 
 
 Clare church, 72. 
 
 Remains of the bishop's palace, 
 Sudbury, 75. 
 
 Stoke church, 78. 
 
 Entrance to Gifl&rd's hall, 79. 
 
 Tendring hall, 7ft. 
 
 South doorway, Wiston church, 80. 
 
 Fornham hall, 85. 
 
 Remains of West Stow hall, 88. 
 
 Culford hall, 78. 
 
 Ampton hall, 89. 
 
 L,ivermere hall, 90. 
 
 Hengrave hall, 108. 
 
 Great Saxham hall, 110. 
 
 Barton hall, 113. 
 
 Euston hall, Duke of Grafton's, 
 
 122. 
 
 Botesdale chapel, 128. 
 Redgrave hall, 1 29. 
 Ipswich, from Bishop's hill, 133. 
 Ancient house, Ipswich, 138. 
 Christ church, Ipswich, 140. 
 Remains of Wolsey's college, 150. 
 Hintlesham hall, 1 6 1. 
 Freston tower, 1 64. 
 Wolverston park, 165. 
 Erwarton hall, 168. 
 Little Wenham hall, 170. 
 Remains of Little Wenham hall, 
 
 170. 
 
 EastBergholt church, 171. 
 South entrance to Holton church, 
 
 172. 
 
 Great Finborough hall, 183. 
 Stowmarket church, 186. 
 Haughley park, 190. 
 Woolpit church, 195. 
 Remains of Gedding hall, 1 96. 
 Part of the nunnery, Thetford, 197. 
 Interior of the nunnery, Thetford, 
 
 198. 
 Porch of the free-school, Thetford, 
 
 199. 
 
 The chantry, Sproughton, 201. 
 Mock Beggar's hall, 202. 
 Shrubland park, 206. 
 Helmingham ball, the seat of the 
 
 Earl ef Dysart, 208.
 
 / f* 
 
 VS V / 
 
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