Programme of events 2025

 

History of Surnames - Charlie Haylock

 'History of Surnames'  Charlie Haylock

Report - Nov 2024

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Foxearth History Society hosted a jam-packed evening with the ever-popular raconteur Charlie Haylock, who spent the evening exploring the fascinating world of surnames. Having recently been awarded an honorary doctorate from Suffolk University for his work on the history of the English Language, it was a pleasure to hear Dr Haylock’s account of how hereditary surnames were introduced into England.

Dr Haylock explained that it all dated back to the arrival of the Normans in 1066. Prior to this, there were no hereditary surnames and in fact most people were identified by their nicknames, which might help others know your profession, place in society or the place you originated. One example was that names including Elf or Wolf denoted a person who was a noble and respected fighter and Dr Haylock referenced Alpheton, which was a town created by such a noble warrior. 

One interesting fact was that occupational names were not as large a category as might be believed and that nicknames were more likely to be based on looks or the place where you originated, as you would only be named this after you left. So if someone moved from Clare to Foxearth, they would  be known as Charlie de Clare, to help identify them. These ‘bynames’ however were not passed down to the next generation and could be picked up, dropped or changed at whim.

This changed following the Norman invasion as the arriving king wishing to swell his coffers, brought in hereditary taxation. Charlie explained that during the early stages of William’s reign it was decreed that if a person had produced a will naming their descendent as the beneficiary, the land and money would be passed on, however if there was no will clearly naming the beneficiary, all monies would be forfeit to the crown. This meant that it was essential to be able to identify the correct person to inherit. In 1085 William also commissioned The Domesday Book to record land ownership across England and this was completed in 1086. Following this, Charlie explained that there was much confusion as surnames no longer helped identify professions or where someone was from and Charlie recounted a very confusing and amusing tale of Burt the Baker and his family! But by the 1300s most people now held hereditary surnames across England, though these were often very much surnames of a particular area, for example Suffolk surnames would be Hatt, Palgrave, Walpole, Haylock and Kersey to name but a few.

Charlie went on the explain why it is sometimes difficult to track family surnames back, as sometime in 1400s to the 1600s, there was the ‘great vowel shift’, where the pronunciation of all Middle English long vowels altered, as did some consonant sounds, specifically becoming silent. These changes meant that the spellings of surnames could be very fluid, and as many people were unable to write surnames were often written down phonetically. Charlie went through a range of changes including the letters V U W and F, and the vast ways these could be pronounced. As such he suggested that when tracking a family tree prior to 1700, it would make sense to be flexible about the spellings and look at similar surnames or names where letters may have been pronounced differently. As he summed up ‘The only consistent thing about the English language is its inconsistency!’ but he also explained that this is what makes English the richest language in the world as we are open to adapting and adopting words from all languages.

Charlie then went through the different types of surnames:

Occupation: Smith, Fletcher, Cooper, Carter, Clark

Nicknames: Armstrong, Little, Blacklock, Beard, White

Sons and family of: This is a more complex set, as the adding of an s at the end of a name could indicate either the widow of, or the child of: Richards, Hicks. Old English names could also have ‘son’ added: Anderson, Sanderson; ‘ing’ or ‘kin’ added: Hodgin, Simkin; Norman names could end in ‘ett’, ‘ott’ or ‘itt’ Bennett, Wilmott; or ‘fitz’ again meaning  ‘son of’: Fitzwilliam, Fitzgerald; ‘Mc or Mac’ for the Scottish, McTavish, Macintosh; ‘o’ for Irish O’Deal, O’Hara and finally aP for Welsh, Apugh, 

Oath names: where surnames were given when an oath was sworn to the king, master or God, e.g. Pardieu.

Finally, Charlie went through the surnames of those in attendance and explained where and how all the surnames had originated, which was fascinating. Overall, it was a superb evening with a wonderful mix of humour and historical detail and it certainly left the crowd wanting more!

BARGES ON THE BLACKWATER Oct 2024

 FOXEARTH AND DISTRICT HISTORY SOCIETY 

BARGES ON THE BLACKWATER Oct 2024

There were barely any parking spaces on Tuesday evening, 8th October.  The hall was filled with an audience eager to hear the talk by Stephen Nunn.

Stephen Nunn and his wife, Christine, have a shared passion for sailing barges and more particularly the sailing barges of Maldon.  Their families have a long association with Maldon and Barges which was plain to see in the meticulously prepared and masterfully presented talk.

Stephen first became interested in the barges of Maldon when he was at school.  His history teacher, knowing that Stephen was not enjoying his traditional history lessons, introduced him to local history and took him to the Essex Record Office.  Stephen’s interest was peaked!  He has immersed himself in Maldon and Maldon Barge history ever since.

Stephen outlined a brief history of Maldon - from its first documented mention in the 10th century, the discovery of neolithic relics, the battle of Maldon in 991 and the rise of important and exclusive products sold with Maldon connections including salt, mud, malt and beer!

In 991 Viking ships appeared along the Blackwater and had to be enticed to leave at a cost of £10,000 (£40 million in today’s money).  In the 11th century Maldon had to provide a ship at a time of war.  The last ship built had Samuel Pepys as notional skipper!

However, the icons of Maldon were the barges which plied their trade on the Blackwater and onto London Water (the Thames) and down to Kent.  There have been many books written about barges, a list of which Stephen showed the audience, with particular attention being paid to Frank Carr’s “Sailing Barges” published in 1931.  The author sailed at Malden and spent his early life as a ‘mate’ before later becoming  the Director of Maritime at Greenwich.  Carr made sure that  these barges were put on the map and were not just cargo carriers.

The barges - not to be confused with the Thames Sailing Barges - were simple flat bottomed vessels designed to carry cargo of many types.  The barge would draw between 3 - 3.5 feet with very little keel (if at all).  This enabled the barge to sit on the mud beds  at low tide.  They were small vessels originally known as a Hoy (a heavy barge used for freight).  These barges were unstable in rough weather.  Lee boards were added which lie amidships and can be raised and lowered to stop the vessel slipping sideways.

From the start of Maldon barge building, the designs have evolved over time including the rounding of the bows, replacement of the tiller with a wheel (1880); Topsail added (1890); Bowsprits (1900).  Sometime later iron replaced wood but was not as successful as the pitch pine on oak frame.

The Thames Sailing barges were cheap to build.  The wherry was also introduced

The barges had many uses in transporting cargo and gained a reputation for transporting certain kinds of cargo.  ‘Brickies’ transported bricks, ‘Haylers’ transported hay; ‘stackies’ transported anything requiring to be transported as a stack (similar to ‘haylers’); ‘Golden dustbin’ the transport of rubbish - particularly from London which was taken by barge and dumped at sea!  (this caused quite a stir in the audience); ‘bulk carriers’.

The ‘haylers’ would take the hay to London stacked with bales and bring back manure!  The saying at the time, when horses were still in common use, was - ‘Hay up and Dung down’.  The stack of hay was so high that the skipper could not see where he was going so the mate had to sit on top of the stack and shout directions to the skipper.

Stephen took us on a short history of his family’s association with barges by introducing us to his maternal grandparents.  His grandfather was Charle Lavender (known as ‘liable’ Lavender) sailed as mate on a cargo barge whereas his grandmother’s family sailed fishing smacks.

Stephen told the audience a lovely story of how his grandfather sailed on the barge ‘Majestic’ which carried beer.  The journey started leaving Maldon for Gravesend to pick up the raw materials and deliver these to the Maltings at Fulbridge where he collected the barrelled and bottled beer for delivery to  a pub in Maldon.  At the time each barge on this run was given a beer allowance for the crew (to prevent pilfering of the cargo) but grandfather’s skipper didn’t drink and grandfather became known as ‘Beery Bill’!

Stephen touched on the more recent history of the use of barges - particularly the use of the barges during the Dunkirk evacuation of allied troops.  One barge was to be left on the French beach to be destroyed by enemy fire but a naval officer who had sailing experience sailed the barge back to England with 200 artillery troops on board.

Today there are several charitable trusts that exist to preserve the barges and provide opportunities for the public to engage with restorations, maintenance or just to go on trips on the barges.

There was so much more to this talk, Stephen was very enthusiastic and informative.  Stephen was heartily applauded for his talk.  

On a show of hands there is much interest from FDHS to organise a trip on a Blackwater barge.

KHS

Pillboxes and their role in the defence of Sudbury

 

Foxearth & District Local History Society Sep 2024
“Pillboxes and their role in the defence of Sudbury”

On the rather wet evening of 10th September a very respectable number of
hardy souls, gathered at Foxearth Village Hall to hear Kevin Gault’s talk on the
above. This was an event eagerly anticipated by yours truly, knowing something
of Kevin’s depth of knowledge and research of the subject, and he certainly
did not disappoint.
Long after WW2, these familiar marks on our landscape are still very obvious
and Kevin provided a wealth of information on the purpose, construction and
even the cost (a very reasonable £153.11 per pillbox). One important purpose
of these sturdy concrete structures was to provide reassurance to local
populations that serious thought had been given to defence planning should the
invasion threat become a reality.
The River Stour would have represented a considerable obstacle to an invading
force and defending it was therefore extremely important to prevent it being
crossed, hence the proliferation of defensive positions in the Sudbury area.
But it is not just pillboxes. A raft of other measures included bridges being
wired for demolition and improvised road barriers. which could be quickly
deployed.
There was a great deal of creativity and local variation in defensive measures
but the attempted disguise of a pillbox as a petrol station would hardly have
fooled a 3 year old let alone a Panzer division. A proposed mobile pillbox was
worthy of “Dads Army” and probably not a good idea. Its farcical appearance
would have been more likely to reduce any invading force to fits of laughter.
The question time at the end provided an opportunity for some of the audience
to share their own experiences of wartime Sudbury. The best anecdote
related to a situation where a large tree was blocking the line of sight from a
strategic point. The answer? blow it up! Unfortunately the amount of explosive
necessary was seriously overestimated with the result that, as well as the
tree, the windows of the houses over a considerable area were blown out. This
faux pas was cleverly explained away by blaming it on the wayward aim of a
Luftwaffe bomber.
I would add that my mother, when starting work as a telephonist in WW2, was
given a length of wood and was told it was for use as a defensive weapon to
repel any enemy, as on no account must the telephone exchange be allowed to
fall into enemy hands!
Thanks to Kevin, I can now tell the difference between a Type 27 pillbox and
the bigger and stronger anti-tank Type 28. I will also be looking out for the
“Essex Lozenge” and “Suffolk Square”. Not only that, I know what a “spigot
mortar point” was and the very place in Long Melford where one was once
deployed.
Finally if you happen to spot Kevin wading through nettles or peering into
flowerbeds, do not be alarmed. He will be looking for any remains of WW2
infrastructure, new examples of which are still being discovered and added to
the historical database.
David Mercer

July 2024 - Visit to 'The Middy'

Report - July 2024 - Visit to 'The Middy'   ‘The Line to Nowhere'

Mid Suffolk Light Railway museum (MSLR)

On arrival we were greeted by the Station Master for the day, John Stark, a former chairman of the Trust which runs the railway. There was a slideshow in the museum room and John set out the history of the railway, which opened in 1902 having received permission to create the line in 1900.

John was an exceptionally knowledgeable guide and delivered key facts and anecdotes throughout the presentation. He pointed out various artefacts in the museum and drew our attention to those items we would see out on the station platform and on the track.

The railway was created in place of a ‘good road network’, intended to open up central Suffolk and serve the busy farming communities. It was built cheaply but missed the great railway age of the 1800’s and as a result, was in and out of bankruptcy - often.

The line was to run from Haughly to Halesworth with connections at Needham Market and Westerfield. The connections were later abandoned and eventually only 19 miles of the proposed 42 miles of track was laid. LNER was to later absorb the line but it held out until MSLR resolved its debt (yet again) and took over the line in 1924. 

Typically, the line brought coal in, and sent crops out from the farming communities. MSLR was advised not to open a passenger service but to concentrate on the transport of goods. That advice was ignored for the most part and passengers were regularly carried - mostly children to schools further along the line. Travelling to Haughley provided a connection to Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Cambridge, and onward to all parts of the nation!

The line really came into its own from 1938 and during the second world war. Work was undertaken to beef it up by way of construction to accommodate an influx of over 3000 American Service personnel. However, after the war the line went back to its former schedule of 3 trains a day and 1 on Sundays.

MSLR became part of the nationalised British Railways in 1948 but the line could not sustain itself and largely because the Americans had left and the aerodromes no longer bustling - or needed - the decision was taken to close the line in 1952. But, it stayed open until the end of the school year and the last train ran on 25th July 1953. This closure was 11 years before Dr Beeching’s, ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ report in March 1963 which led to mass closures of unprofitable rail lines and stations, in order to stem financial losses of British Railways.

Having left the museum building we ventured outside in the cold and damp July morning to view the platform and station buildings. Facing us was a corrugated structure which had been used as a garden shed, but before that, it was the station building at Wilby. Behind this is the old Brockford ticket office, also an old hut. Further on is the old Mendlesham station building which had, since the closing of the line, been used as a chicken shed by a local farmer. All 3 structures have been lovingly restored inside and out to reflect typical station buildings from the 1940’s.

The interiors are striking for the attention to detail. Clocks, ticket machines and timetables abound and, if one tries hard, there is the faint smell of old stations (or was that the chickens?)

In 1990 enthusiasts set about forming a charitable trust with the aim of establishing a MSLR museum and restoring the line, station and engines. The Trust has gone from strength to strength, engaging volunteers from far and wide to contribute to the running of the enterprise.

For many years, the Trust has won awards for its sympathetic restoration projects and running of this exceptional museum. This was helped in no small manner by Michael Portillo (celebrity railway enthusiast and former MP) who, on visiting, could not be persuaded to stop driving one of the engines! But, like all volunteer organisations and charities, the Trust needs financial support if it is to maintain the railway, make improvements and extend it. A visit to this masterpiece will make a big contribution to running costs!

The next project is to gain permission from the Secretary of State to run the extended line with steam engines. The extension of some 500 metres will mean that there will be a kilometre of usable track. The need for permission arises as the line passes over a footpath and appropriate legislation has to be put in place, together with the provision of a level crossing. Hopefully, if all goes well, 2025 will see the project come to Fruition.

Kelvin Hastings-Smith

Foxearth & District History Society visit to Bulmer Brick & Tile - June 2024

Visit to Bulmer Brick & Tile - June 2024

Over 20 Foxearth History Society members went to Bulmer Brick & Tile Company for their June event, to hear Peter Minter and his family team explain the changes that have been made there over recent years.  Many visitors were ‘first-time’ members, and we were amazed by the scale of the operation, and the range of products now produced.

100 years ago, this was one of many brickmakers around the Stour Valley, mining the excellent London Clay found here.  But competition from mass production techniques, and the problems of World War II, led to the closure of most.  Bulmer Brickworks only survived WWII by making land drains for airfield construction,  with a skilled but elderly non-conscripted workforce.  They realised that their means of survival post-war was to focus on specialist restoration work, and their success now stems from that decision.  Standard housing bricks are no longer produced.

By now, Bulmer are the UK’s major (often the only) supplier of specialist bricks and tiles to the conservation and restoration industry, making materials for huge projects such as Hampton Court Palace (ongoing), and the St Pancras Station Hotel. In fact, a new kiln was built to accommodate that order alone.  They have 1000’s of pattern moulds in store, to simplify re-orders and supply new similar ones.  And they now make bespoke prefabricated brick arches & lintels, ready to drop in place.

Our visit started with Peter Minter showing us round how the clay is selected and filtered  to make high quality ‘Rubbing Bricks’, that can be cut, shaped and tapered for bespoke arches. The machine for preparing and processing the clay was an old monster, and the whole process at times seemed rather ‘Heath Robinson’ – but it has all obviously worked smoothly for generations, and produced millions of bricks of a standard that no other business can match.  It is very impressive to see tens of thousands of bricks in neat rows drying, indoors and out, to the precise level required to fire them in the home built kilns.  The kilns are lit about once a fortnight – the process of loading, heating, firing cooling and unloading takes about 7 days overall.

Bulmer Brick made for a fascinating visit – a genuine ‘working museum’ and unusually one that produces top-class products in high demand.  In fact, they have just been awarded £93,500 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aimed at preserving the historic craft of brick-making for future generations and opening a better public Museum on site.  It is already well worth a visit, and could be even better in future.

Here are some websites that tell much more, with photos:-

https://bulmerbrickandtile.co.uk/

https://gestingthorpehg.co.uk/blog/f/the-bulmer-brick-tile-company-ltd

and 

https://drojkent.wordpress.com/2015/11/28/a-visit-to-the-bulmer-brickworks-sudbury-essex/

Mark Mathieson

Report may 2024 - The life of Flora Sandes. "You'll make a Lovely Sergeant"

You'll make a Lovely Sergeant

This was the engaging title of the May FDLHS presentation by Janette Robinson, formerly an archivist at Wickham Market. The quoted headline refers to the only western woman to have served on the front line during WW1.  Janette’s presentation was exceptionally well prepared and delivered with great clarity, demonstrating her passion for the subject.

That subject was FLORA SANDES, a nurse who became a household name, commemorated on  postage stamps, featured in the film ‘Where the Lemon Blossoms Bloom’ and even had a pub named after her. But her claim to fame was her recruitment into the Serbian Army, and her rise through the ranks, serving in both world wars along the way.

Flora was born in 1876 in Yorkshire to an Irish family. Her father, a vicar, had left Ireland with his wife and seven children. Flora was the eighth! The family lived in Marlesford until 1893 when they moved to Thornton Heath.

Flora and her sisters were sent to finishing school in Switzerland where she became fluent in French but she wanted to do all the things her brothers did.  She became adept at fencing and, when she moved to Thornton Heath, purchased a racing car. In 1908 she obtained a Mechanical Proficiency Certificate and took part in car rallies, races and hill climbs. She even won an RAC competition but, because she was a woman, she was not awarded ‘winner’ status.

At this time secretarial work was undertaken by men. Flora was not going to sit back and let them have all the fun - she enrolled on a secretarial course determined to ‘type around the world’. She travelled from London to Egypt and then on to America, where she moved from city to city as a typist. She was tracked down by Pinkertons Detective Agency on behalf of her bereaved brother to look after his 5 year old son.

On her return to the UK she enrolled with the St John’s Ambulance Brigade and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) specialising in war injuries. All members had to be able to ride (she was an accomplished horsewoman) and have their own horses. Eventually she became an ambulance driver.

At the outbreak of WW1 Flora approached the British Red Cross but was rebuffed through lack of practical experience. Undeterred, Flora and 7 other nurses travelled to Serbia on a 3 month contract at a Serbian Military Hospital. Conditions at the hospital were grim. Lack of equipment, medical supplies and staff meant that each nurse had 140 patients to care for. At the end of the contract, Flora and an American nurse named Eleanor Simmons returned to England and embarked on a fund raising campaign. At the end of 5 weeks, the couple had raised over £2000 which purchased 120 tonnes of medical supplies.

On their return to Serbia, Flora was assigned to Vallejo hospital where she encountered an epidemic of typhus, malnutrition, insanitary conditions and lack of doctors. She found herself carrying out amputations (without anaesthetic), contracted typhus and almost died. Yet again she wanted to be more involved and contrived to enlist for the Serbian military, for which she needed the permission of the General of the army. The circumstances of her enlistment for the frontline is, we were told, taught at Sandhurst today.

One of her first duties was to take part in a retreat over mountains to safety. Flora was involved in the combat that followed and the survivors were evacuated to Corfu. Promoted to Corporal, Flora returned to field duty. During a battle ‘to the last man’ Flora was hit by a grenade suffering 24 wounds which necessitated 19 separate surgical operations. As a result of her heroic actions on the battlefield she was awarded the Order of Karadorde’s Star (equivalent of the Victoria Cross).

But this was not the end of the story of this brave lady. Flora embarked on lecture tours, published two biographies and, not settling to civilian life,  donned her uniform and rejoined the Serbian army (at the age of 65) when Serbia again became involved in military conflict. As WW2 progressed, she was arrested by the gestapo and imprisoned but later released.

There is much more to this incredibly brave life lived to the full.  By the time she was 69 years old she returned to Suffolk, where she died at Ipswich in 1956.

And the pub - a Wetherspoon pub in Thornton Heath - named ‘The Flora Sandes’ which sadly closed in 2008.

Kelvin Hastings-Smith

FHS Report April 24: “If these walls could speak” (My 600 year old house).

FHS Report - April 2024.  Roger Green:

“If these walls could speak” (The history of my 600 year old house).

There was a full house on 9th April when local historian Roger Green led us all back in time some 600 years to accompany him from the Market Hill, Sudbury down what was to become Friars Street to a group of houses built opposite the Priory. His house No 64 was called Crooked Cott before Friars Street was actually built. The roadway (now School Street) stopped there by the gate to the Priory and there is still a generous forecourt for carts and carriages - and now cars - to turn. 

Roger Green has lived there for 41 years. The modern-day group of houses often linked into each other as ownership changed over the centuries. A spiral staircase from next door actually now ends in Roger Green's wardrobe! Three of the houses now have rear extensions but two do not! 

Roger took us back to C16 and Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. He noted that the last Prior had sold off land at that time and received housing in lieu, probably Nos 62 & 64. 

Starting with John Cotton the last Prior, Roger led us through a whole range of owners and residents to the present day; From the C16 when the Ruddells family owned almost all the houses in that row. They were in the wool trade and in the 1620s they had an office in Friars Street which was then being constructed. But in 1637 George Ruddell lost a court case for refusing to pay a local weaver for substandard work (in his view) and the blow to his reputation led to a move to Bocking in Essex - and the eventual resurgence of the family as the best weavers in that locality, and the purchase of magnificent Spains Hall in Finchingfield in 1760.

We heard of Susannah Gainsborough (Thomas’s sister) who had a milliner’s shop there.  Also about the Gardiners, the story of Theophilus Lane and the Hills family - all of whom lived in the row of houses. And a clay pipe manufactory which was unearthed in the garden!

Roger Green concluded with the tale of  barge folk and the mystery of Elizabeth Sarah Ann Plantin? or Norman?

There was much to keep the large audience entertained. A fascinating trip back in time. The walk down Friars Street past the cricket ground to the site of the Ship & Star pub will never be the same again.

An accomplished Musician, Organist and Head of the music department at Great Cornard school, Roger remembered St Peter's church with its organ becoming redundant in 1971, and facing possible demolition in favour of a car park. As volunteer Heritage officer with Friends of St Peters he has been credited with helping transform the church into our current vibrant and cherished Arts centre. His interest in the history of the church, younger than his house, led him into further research of the area, his house and others nearby. He still plays the organ in St Peter’s church. 

Our thanks for a most entertaining talk.

Michael Stebbing.

FHS Report March 2024 AGM & Talk: ‘An Election Entertainment’ by Stephen Astley

FDLHS. - Report for Parish News Tuesday 12th March AGM. &

 ‘An Election Entertainment’ by FDLHS. member - Stephen Astley 

Foxearth & District Local History Society held its A.G.M. on Tuesday 12th March.

2023-4 was another successful and interesting year with increasing numbers of both Members and Visitors. The committee was re-elected, and Keith Robson was chosen as our new Chairman.

Following a break with refreshments, Stephen Astley, ex-curator at Sir John Soane's Museum, spoke about William Hogarth’s sequence of four paintings (also reproduced later as a series of prints): ’’.  As the UK has an imminent General Election, he felt it a good time to look at the series.

The paintings illustrate the 1754 election of an MP in Oxfordshire. Hogarth mercilessly satirises the process of a Parliamentary election, with candidates vying for the votes of the easily duped electorate - which is desperate to be bribed. There had not been an election there since 1710.

The series demonstrates the corruption endemic in parliamentary elections before the 1832 Great Reform Act. Then, each constituency elected two MPs, and there was a property qualification for voters, so only a minority of the male population was enfranchised. Without secret ballots, bribery and intimidation were rife. Stephen pointed out and explained details and characters in each painting. 

The first painting ‘An Election Entertainment’ depicts a tavern dinner organised by the Whig candidates, while the Tories protest outside. 

In the tavern the two Whig candidates are ingratiating themselves with supporters. One candidate is kissing a conventionally unattractive woman, while a girl tries to steal his ring; the other is listening to a drunken bore. At the other end of the table the mayor is collapsing from over indulgence in oysters, while the election agent is knocked out by a brick thrown through the window by the Tory mob.

‘Canvassing for Votes’, The second painting depicts Tory and Whig agents, both attempting to bribe an innkeeper to vote for them. The crowd outside the tavern is visible in the background.

‘The Polling’, shows voters declaring their support for the Whigs (orange) or Tories (blue). Agents from both sides are using unscrupulous tactics to increase their votes or challenge opposing voters. Even a dying man is being carried to vote. In the background is a woman in a carriage with a broken axle (Britannia). 

‘Chairing the Member’, last in the series, shows the celebrations of and their supporters carrying the victorious Tory candidate through the streets on a chair in a traditional ceremony. He is about to tumble because one of his carriers has just been accidentally hit on the head by a Tory-supporting rural labourer who is attempting to fight off a Whig supporter.

The many now unacceptable practices now seem unlikely but still amusing.  We reflected how far our democracy has progressed and counted our blessings. Of course, such corruption does not feature in today's UK elections!  And at least we are not in Russia…

FDLHS Talk May 2023: The History and Conservation of the Sudbury Common Lands

 FDLHS May 2023 - Nick Shimwell and Jack Creswell

The History and Conservation of the Sudbury Common Lands

Nick Shimwell and Jack Creswell’s natural habitat is the Sudbury Common Lands, the 46 hectares that provide a green lung stopping the westward sprawl of the town. You may have spotted them in the wild, wearing their distinctive green ranger’s uniform. They came indoors to speak to a well-attended meeting of the FDLHS at Foxearth Village Hall.

Sensibly, Nick and Jack started by explaining what a “common” is and helped dispel the myth that commons are owned by the public. There are over 8,000 of them scattered across England. A defining feature is the “rights of common”, which give third parties the legal right to do something on the land, which is owned by a private individual or body such as the National Trust or local council. In Sudbury, the right is to “pasturage” (to put livestock out to feed on the grass) over the five water meadows to the west of the town, but on other commons rights can include for example “pannage” (right to put pigs out to feed in woodland) and “piscary” (right to take fish from ponds, lakes, rivers and streams).

It is the Sudbury Freemen who have pasturage rights over the Sudbury Common Lands – or to be exact, the right “to depasture two head of cattle on the Common Lands, and widows or widowers of Freemen one head of cattle”. If you fancy becoming a Freeman you are out of luck unless you are the adult child or grandchild of a Sudbury Freeman or have been apprenticed to a Sudbury Freeman (in which case, you can take up your rights by applying to Sudbury Town Council). These days, none of the Sudbury Freeman own cattle. The Sudbury Common Lands Charity was established in 1897 to be the custodian of the Common Lands, and trustees contract with a farmer to graze their cattle on the water meadows. The charity pays £4 a year to each Freeman for use of their rights. A “turning on” ceremony is held every five years, attended by the Freemen and Mayor of Sudbury in their regalia, with the Mayor invited to sample the sward. As Nick and Jack explained, this doesn’t have to involve actually eating the grass though some Mayors have chosen to do so.

Over recent decades, the cattle breeds have changed from South Devons and Highland cattle, to Simmentals and Limousins. Their grazing is vital to achieving biodiversity, eating down and churning the pasture just enough to allow wild flowers to flourish, including what Nick and Jack called the “star plant”, the Tubular Water-dropwort. Ditches were reformed in 1993, designed to retain still water for wildlife to create an additional type of aquatic habitat in contrast to the flowing Stour. Trees have been planted, the willows pollarded every 2-3 years.

The Charity is also contracted to manage the Valley Trail, now an important “biological corridor” for 2½ miles from Kingfisher Leisure Centre to Melford Country Park. Dr Beeching’s closure of the railway in 1967 has been a boon to bats and rare flora including the Deptford pink, which is found in only 15 sites across East Anglia. Nick and Jack also work on the ancient and reclaimed woodland of the Great Cornard Country Park, which provides different habitat for wildlife, including bluebells and bea orchids.

We’re fortunate to live surrounded by so much countryside along the Stour Valley but modern farming practices over the last 80 years, though taking great strides in improving productivity, have often had a negative impact on biodiversity. The work that Nick and Jack do provides a small remedy.

Andrew Le Sueur

FHS Feb 24: A Millennium of Mills and Milling

FDLHS - Report - February 2024

Robin Drury -  A Millennium of Mills and Milling – A Potted History of Windmills and Watermills

Mr Drury’s talk on mills was tightly focused geographically on Sudbury. His time span was enormous, from before the Romans to the demise of the local mill in the late nineteenth century. He showed how a few brand names only survive until today, and then only as a result of diversification.

Robin revealed a remarkably equidistant distribution of the mills along the Stour, which he attributed their use of Roman weirs built to improve navigability on a notoriously shallow river. It would be interesting to see this thesis tested by comparison of mills on other rivers. Almost all of the mills discussed were recorded in the Domesday Book.

These local watermills suffered a variety of fates. A few have been demolished. Others still have commercial uses such as the Mill Hotel in Sudbury. Most have been turned into homes, some with sensitivity toward the historic buildings, others less so. Some had famous residents ranging from the poet Edmund Blunden at Hall Mill, Long Melford, to Derek Taylor, publicist to the ‘Fab Four’ and one of the many called the ‘fifth Beatle’, at Brundon Mill.

A sadly all too short part of the talk covered wind mills, but astonished at the number in and around Sudbury. Mr Drury also explained the excellent but neglected late eighteenth century house at 48 North Street as having been the home of the owner of two windmills in Sudbury, one of which stood just across the road.

The end for these mills came suddenly when an East Anglian farmer’s son, John George Cranfield, went to Minneapolis, saw steam powered steel roller mills, and brought this new technology back in the 1880s to a mill on Ipswich docks. It was so efficient that to keep it running, cheap grain had to be imported from the wheat lands of North America.

Stephen Astley

FHS April 23: ‘The Soil Sisters’

FDHS  April meeting 2023

Nicky Reynolds: ‘The Soil Sisters’ - The Women’s Land Army in Suffolk 

Rat catching, farm labouring, and commercial logging are occupations that in normal times are dominated by men but twice in the twentieth century women from all social backgrounds stepped forward to do these types of work – during the Great War and the Second World War. In a meticulously researched and nicely illustrated talk to a good-sized audience, Nicky Reynolds shared her “obsession” with the history of the Women’s Land Army (WLA) in Suffolk.

Women, of course, have always played an important role in the countryside economy. On farms, women’s work tended to be seasonal (all hands needed for the harvest) and in aspects of dairy and poultry keeping. In 1916, with enemy U-boats disrupting food imports to the UK, the Ministry of Agriculture agreed to fund a new voluntary organisation to recruit women for emergency work on the land and so a “Land Army” was launched. Enticed by uplifting posters showing idealised images of farm work in sunny fields, 23,000 women signed up in the Great War and more than 80,000 in the Second World War. Though it caught the popular imagination, “Army” is a misnomer. While the workers were issued with uniforms, the WLA was a civilian not military organisation and the women were employed by individual farmers. Nicky illustrated her lecture with numerous slides showing Land Girls at work and off duty. The work was hard and the women were away from loved ones, but it’s clear that many experienced a sense of camaraderie. A structured training programme was available, with opportunities to progress to higher rates of pay as proficiency tests were passed.

Nicky’s talk concluded with an unsettling note: there was, she said, “no fairytale ending”. Too often women are not written into official histories and so it sadly proved for the Land Girls. It was not until 2008 that the contribution of members of the WLA and its sister organisation the Women’s Timber Corps, was formally recognised when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a badge of honour to the 45,000 surviving Land Girls and Lumber Jills. Some felt that this was too little too late. There is now a memorial statue at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. 

In conjunction with Suffolk Archives, Nicky and colleagues are fundraising for a permanent memorial to commemorate the WLA’s work in Suffolk. The project has already completed a digital roll of honour, tracking down some 1700 of the 2500 women who helped feed the country and ensure wood supplies for the war effort. This work is a brilliant example of “public history”, where through engaging with communities historians can help us reconstruct our local stories and sense of place in the world.  

Andrew Le Sueur

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2024

 

Recent Archaeological Excavations in Clare. Nov 2023 presentation.

Foxearth District Local History Society - Nov 2023 

Recent Archaeological Excavations in Clare - Joanna Caruth

“Archaeologists interpret a site as they dig it. And then they re-interpret it later as they mull” Joanna Caruth of Cotswold Archaeology told Foxearth History Society on 14 November. Her well attended talk demonstrated how the myriad of discoveries made over three seasons of excavation at Clare Castle both undermine old certainties and raise new uncertainties.

It had long been thought that the railway line driven through the southern part of the castle site had destroyed much of the archaeology. Ms Caruth showed that the excavations (2018, 2019 and 2021 – with 2020 lost to Covid) showed the opposite was true. Soil had been moved from the northern bailey to level the area by the river on which the station and tracks were built, sealing and preserving the archaeology.

The discovery of a major Anglo Saxon cemetery (with possibly up to a thousand burials) in the inner bailey raised further questions. Was this the Norman conquerors building their castle on the best site, over the town’s cemetery as a symbol of conquest as has previously been thought, or was the cemetery still in use by the priory established on the site by the Normans, and simply enfolded by one of the two castle baileys?

Satisfyingly much of the archaeology supports the written records which survive in large quantities, especially from the tenure of Elizabeth de Burgh in the 14th century, which was the castle's golden age. Finds of stained glass, hunting arrows and much equestrian equipment demonstrate the high status of the site. Pork was served a treat on Feast Days but the excavation of the kitchen s revealed an unusual number of bones from piglets, again showing the money spent on guests in this period.

Ms Caruth could not, without further excavations, provide all the answers but certainly left the audience with much to mull.

Stephen Astley

WITCHCRAFT in Essex and Suffolk. Oct. 2023 meeting

Foxearth & Distinct Local History Society - Tuesday 10th October

WITCHCRAFT in Essex and Suffolk - Professor Alison Rowlands 

Professor Alison Rowlands looked at the role played by the infamous witch-finders, Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne, and the many local people who helped them, and explain why their witch-finding activities spread so quickly from north-east Essex into Suffolk, to make Suffolk the county worst affected in East Anglia 1645-1647. 

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Alison Rowlands, Professor of History at Essex University, had battled through gridlocked Colchester traffic to reach Foxearth. We were pleased to see the village hall packed as she gave us a fascinating account of the events of 1645-47, when the largest episode of ‘witch’ persecution in English history began in Essex and spread into Suffolk.

Civil war was raging in 1645, and in Manningtree there was a vacuum of authority after the rector left for London & the Lord of the Manor died. Personal grudges sparked accusations of witchcraft, which were investigated by self appointed ‘Witchfinders’ John Stearn and Matthew Hopkins. To discover a witch, evidence had to be found of magic-working, association with evil spirits, or having ‘familiars’ (demonic imps). Unusual marks on a body were seen as the ‘Devil’s mark’, from which familiars would suck the witches’ blood. “Harmful magic” was seen as ungodly and a capital offence.

Eighty years old and one legged, Manningtree’s Elizabeth Clarke was the first person accused. After sleep deprivation and (illegal) torture she admitted association with several witches. Before she was tried at the Chelmsford Assizes and hanged, she implicated other poor women of harmful magic, and sex with the devil. This soon led to 92 testifying against the various accused. On the 21st March 1645, 13 were arrested from communities in the Tendring Hundred. In all 36 Manningtree women were charged with witchcraft, 29 were tried in Chelmsford, and 19 hanged. Only 9 were reprieved & pardoned (but some died in jail first).

Without this result other communities might not have become involved, but now the witchfinding spread quickly. John Stearn originated from Long Melford and later lived in Lawshall. Matthew Hopkins, son of a puritan minister at Wenham, volunteered to be his assistant; he had family at Framlingham. Buoyed by their early ‘successes’, Stearne and young Hopkins now set off on proactive witch hunts, starting in the parts of Essex and Suffolk where they had family and contacts. Spurious accusations of witchcraft were widespread and ‘confessions’ forced. Trials ran into the hundreds and John Stearn boasted that over 100 were executed in just 2 years. Widespread panic set in...

In Sudbury, Anne Boreham was interrogated and finally confessed to denying Christ and having relations with the devil, but not to any acts of harm. Although she escaped hanging in 1645, records show two Borehams, a mother & daughter, were hanged 10 years later in Bury St Edmunds.

The victims were overwhelmingly women, but 90 year old vicar of Brandeston John Lowes was accused of witchcraft, tried at Bury & hanged. This is still illustrated on the Brandeston village sign!

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The Witchcraft Act of 1542 had made it a criminal offence, but it was over 100 years before this frenzy took hold here - then two years later it was largely** over. Why?

We were told it was probably for a combination of reasons:

   • The Witchfinders received little support further afield. Norfolk and Huntingdonshire did not encourage them, and they could not widen their influence.

    • Nearer home, people were realising that enough was enough. There were more critical voices, and sermons against the self appointed Witchfinders’ lucrative activities spread. Local ministers and Lords of the Manors realised the process was doing more harm than good, and had enough authority to divert the witchhunts elsewhere. 

    • Matthew Hopkins became ill and died in 1647 – aged about 30.

    • In wartime there were practical reasons too. Colchester Castle had an outbreak of plague in the overcrowded cells holding pre-trial ‘witches’.  

    • And the biggest disincentive to new accusations may have been that the accusers or their community had to pay all the costs of the trials, and the prison fees too.  It simply was not worth it financially… 

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** However, it was not entirely over – the last execution for witchcraft in England took place in 1716, taking the total well over 1000….

During the many questions from a fascinated audience, Andrew Clarke pointed out that earlier indictments of 1578 in Borley and Foxearth had not been upheld so perhaps in north Essex we were saved from this later ugly persecution.

Alison was warmly thanked and we wished her a more straightforward return journey!

Mark & Clare Mathieson