PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2025

 

THE DIARIES OF A FOXEARTH FARMER, 1888 – 1898

THE DIARIES OF A FOXEARTH FARMER, 1888 – 1898

A talk by Ashley Cooper

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11th March 2025 was the 25th Anniversary of the commencement of the Society, the AGM

of the Society AND a talk by Society President, Ashley Cooper. To say that there was a

good turnout would be an understatement.

Ashley commenced by acknowledging the generous loan of the diaries of John Row from

David Jackson, many years ago. From them, this presentation and two chapters from his

book, ‘Our Mother Earth’ were derived.

John Row was born in Harwich in 1843. He arrived in Long Melford as the stationmaster -

with a sideline in the sale of selling accident insurance to passengers (who were foolish

enough to travel on those ‘dangerous contraptions’). Later he established insurance offices

in Hall Street, Long Melford, (now known as Robins Row), where the words ‘Railway

Passenger Assurance’ can still be seen over the door.

In his mid-40’s’s, John Row entered farming by leasing two farms - Kings Prentice and

Highlanders Farm, of about 40 and 57 acres respectively. The original rent at Kings

Prentice was £2 per acre, but by the time he acquired Highlanders, the rent had been

reduced. This was probably as a result of the terrible time that the farming industry was

then having.

The population of our local villages had declined dramatically because of low employment

prospects, inferior trade prices and the improved opportunities that could be found by

emigrating abroad, to London, or the industrial North. As examples of the decline in

population, Ashley pointed to the census records which showed a 25% decline in

Foxearth’s population between 1851 and 1901, with similar reductions in Pentlow and

Borley. Farming was still a manual job—requiring an enormous labour force. Ashley

estimated that Foxearth would have had about sixty farmworkers in 1891, with a similar

number of heavy horses on the village’s farms, to do the work.

By 1895, John Row had taken on Lower Hall farm at Foxearth. Ashley showed

photographs of where these farms were and also provided an aerial photograph of

Foxearth, which clearly showed Ward’s Brewery, as it was a few decades later. This led to

a side issue and a question about the old gatehouse entrance to the Brewery, which still

exists today. The question, which gained a prize - what is the date shown on the house? 

The answer, 1907!

Ashley highlighted several entries from John Row’s diaries, written week-by-week in black

ink--but occasionally in red ink--to draw attention to a significant event or occurrence.  In

October 1892, he sowed his winter beans, ‘in a miserable wet seedbed.’ But the following

March was correspondingly dry. On the 9th he writes that he has finished drilling ‘earlier

than in other years’.

On the 12th is another positive entry - the birth of a foal, ‘Prince Charlie.’ But in April, Row

records the death of another horse while it was ploughing. Also in April “very dry, nothing

growing’. He references ‘cuckoo barley’ - an expression of a late-emerging, poor crop.

This is later confirmed by his entry on August 25th - ‘poorest harvest on record’.

During the talk, Ashley made good use of paintings by Ben Perkins, depicting the events

taken from Row’s diaries. For the August 1893 entry, Perkins had depicted a large wagon

loaded with wheat sheaves, together with an oak tree branch on the top of the load. There

was much discussion of the significance of the oak branch which was a symbolic tradition

of the end of harvest.

Farming did not improve for John Row! In August 1894 he writes, ‘such a miserable wet

time and prospects so disastrous to the whole area, that gave up making memorandum’.

He was beset with problems. Wheat prices were lower that before before the Napoleonic

wars--as it flooded in from the American prairies--refrigerated meat could likewise come

from abroad and there a farm workers strike in Belchamp Walter. By 1895 Row had given

up Highlanders Farm for Lower Hall, Foxearth. The ‘miserable time’ continued, with the

death of a cow which he states had been ‘poisoned’!

By 1898, however, there was some brighter, more cheery entries, with Wheat prices giving

Row a profit for which he was ‘well pleased’ The later entries from 1898 could almost

have been written by farmers of today, faced with the same issues ‘5th August –

Harvesting’ but then rain halted work until the 12th.  His reaper broke down, so he

purchased a new binder. That also gave problems which required a journey to London to

get spare parts. Finally the weather improved. From August 26th , the weather was fine and

dry. Harvest finished on September 9th, But, the dry weather continued. By the 25th , it was

too hard to plough, and he had to cart water to the livestock. After 6 weeks drought; the

weather finally broke on 15th October.

‘A farmer’s life doesn’t change’, said Ashley, to close his fascinating, knowledgeable,

entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable talk.

Kelvin Hastings-Smith

Tuesday 11th Feb 2025 - Graham Higgins - Tales from the Bench

 

Tuesday 11th February - Graham Higgins - Tales from the Bench

Life as a Local Magistrate in our historic English legal system

On a cold, damp February evening 40 people filled the hall to hear Graham’s Tales from the Bench. He started with a brief description of a Magistrate or J.P. They are volunteers who represent us, the public and sit in benches of two or three in a court building as a Bench, with a Legal advisor. There are three Jurisdictions: Criminal over 18, Youth Crime, and Family Courts. Cases are all indictable by a decision to Bail or Remand, Guilty or Innocent, Discharge, Fine, Community Order, Custody (up to a year in Prison). All cases start in Magistrates court, and 95% are concluded there. Sentences must be based on Sentencing Guidelines, which give a consistent national approach to sentencing, with a code that the courts must follow.

Graham then read two statements,

1) ‘Shoplifting, burglary and robberies are generally committed by impoverished drunkards, whose greatest encouragement is the little obstruction they find in the disposition of their plunder’.

2) ‘Shoplifting and robberies (e.g: theft of mobile phones) are generally committed by impoverished drug addicts, whose greatest encouragement is the little obstruction they find in selling their stolen goods’

The first is a 1751 quote from Henry Fielding (author of Tom Jones) and a famous Bow Street Magistrate. The second is Graham’s take, 274 years later, from his recent court sitting with two repeat offenders shoplifting £700 worth each. £700 today would have been worth 50 shillings in 1751. A theft of 5 shillings had been a capital “hanging offence ”since 1699!

The most Common Crimes that come before Magistrates in 2025 involve: use of Knives to injure or threaten; Domestic Violence (often with mobile phone as a weapon!) coercion; sharing indecent images; Motoring; Shoplifting; Possessing or supplying drugs; and Fraud.

Historically, it was Alfred the Great who first made crime and crime prevention a responsibility of the Community, through the “Hue and Cry”, where anyone wronged could call upon and compel everyone else in a community to chase a criminal. For more serious crimes, the “Posse Comitatus” could be raised by the king's county official, the sheriff, to track down a criminal. (The origin of the Posse seen in many US Westerns!)

If you were found guilty of a crime you would expect to face a severe punishment. Thieves had their hands cut off. Women who committed murder were strangled and then burnt. People who illegally hunted in royal parks had their ears cut off, and high treason was punishable by being hung, drawn and quartered.

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1215 King John’s Magna Carta of 1215 redefined the laws of England, but has been much revised since. Only three clauses remain:

The privileges of the City of London, and The Privileges of the People are famous clauses that establish the principle that no one, not even the king, is above the law. "No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or ruined in any way" "Nor in any way proceeded against, except by the lawful judgement of his peers and the law of the land". These clauses are considered the foundation of the freedom of the individual against arbitrary authority. They established the right of all to be judged by their equals and provided the basis for important principles in English law Habeas Corpus and access to court: Trial by Jury.

Graham entertained his audience with many historical facts & figures, interspersed with gruesome details of punishments. Wandering minstrels were to be “grievously whipped and burned through the gristle of the right ear with a hot iron of the compass of an inch about”. But most shocking to many was the treatment of suicide victims (the crime: “Felo De Se”). The body was dragged through the streets, and buried at night at a crossroads with a stake through the heart (it was not explained why!)

Many medieval crimes were ‘hanging offences’. During the 18th century the number of crimes punishable by death rose to about 200. Some, such as treason or murder, were serious crimes, but later, people could also be sentenced to death for more minor offences:- picking pockets, stealing bread or cutting down a tree. These were the kinds of crime likely to be committed by those in most desperate need.

But there were routes to escape the noose. By claiming “Benefit of Clergy”, many defendants found guilty of certain felonies were spared the death penalty. This was originally a right accorded to the church to punish its own members should they be convicted of a crime. If the defendant could read a passage from The Bible, they were instead handed over to church officials.

And many were sentenced to Transportation to the Colonies instead. Originally to America - some 60,000 until the War of Independence, then to Australia - 172,000 or more. Many of them eventually did well for themselves, and this eventually stopped when it was realised that many convicts were getting too rich from Gold prospecting! Historian Pip Wright records that out of 1000 persons sentenced to be hanged in Suffolk only 170 were executed (with transportation as an alternative until 1868) and reduction of capital offences after 1820.

Graham outlined our legal heritage, particularly the part Suffolk and Bury St Edmunds have played in it, leading the town motto of BSE to include “cradle of the law”. He related local events particularly the role magistrates have played in this history: from 1572, JP’s were also required to administer the ‘Poor Laws’, and provide a small income for the most needy from local taxation. He talked about some of his more unusual experiences on the bench, and how crime has changed over the years - but how many of the underlying problems are still the same. This was a fascinating talk from an excellent speaker.

JAN 2025 - BOOM & BUST IN MEDIEVAL LAVENHAM - A TALK BY JANE GOSLING

 

BOOM & BUST IN MEDIEVAL LAVENHAM - A TALK BY JANE GOSLING

Jane had been Manager of the Guildhall in Lavenham for almost 20 years before taking early retirement from the National Trust. She described herself as a timber-frame buff, so living in Lavenham was a bit like being a child in a chocolate factory! She had studied medieval architecture for many years and had helped establish the Suffolk Historic Buildings Group in 1993, and was still Chairman.

Through excellent illustrations, Jane took us from pre-historic times through to Lavenham’s heyday - the 15^th and early 16^th centuries. The town was fortunate to have as its Lords of the Manor the De Vere’s, Earls of Oxford, and although their seat was at Castle Hedingham, they seem to have taken a particular interest in their Lavenham holdings, and over the centuries helped to stimulate the financial growth there. They, and some of Lavenham’s wealthiest merchants, were responsible for the re-building of Lavenham’s impressive church, shortly after 1485.

In 1257 the De Vere’s were granted a market charter, which proved so successful that they later decided to move the entire nucleus of the town from the hill near the church, up to what is now the Market Place. The streets that radiate out from the market today all date from this time, although no buildings from the period survive.

We heard that Lavenham’s wealth came from a thriving industry in cloth production. Jane was keen to stress that although cloth is not possible without wool, the villages and towns around South Suffolk – ironically known nowadays as the ‘wool towns’ – were primarily agricultural areas, with the wool for the cloth being brought in from Lincolnshire and the Cotswolds.

What began as a cottage industry, with individuals working for themselves and selling to local markets, had by the late 1400s become a well organised and highly successful industry unrivalled in Britain. Men known as cloth merchants or clothiers took control of the whole process, becoming very wealthy and re-building Lavenham in the latest building styles. Such was the success of the cloth that Lavenham specialised in – a thick, course broadcloth dyed with woad and known as ‘Lavenham Blewes’ – that in 1524 Lavenham is recorded as the 14^th richest town in England, paying more tax in that year than cities such as York and Lincoln. The market expanded to export all over Europe, with Blewes being famous as far away as Northern Russia.

But inevitably, bust followed boom. Wars on the continent, heavy taxation and competition from Flemish weavers, who brought finer, more fashionable cloth, meant that great numbers of workers were already being laid off by the 1530s, and such was Lavenham’s reliance on the cloth trade, there was nothing to cushion the sudden lack of money and employment.

The irony is that, had the wealth remained, the wonderful buildings that Lavenham is so famous for today would have been swept away as style and fashion evolved. Nobody could afford to rebuild them, and those that were not lost at the time were covered over or divided into tenements. No new building took place for around 300 years, when the coming of the railway brought new industries such as horse-hair weaving, coconut matting and sugar-beet processing.

Before taking us on a visual tour of some of Lavenham’s fine buildings, Jane showed us how to recognise the signs of a medieval timber-framed building, the general plan of which changed little over three centuries. We learned how the oak frame would have been erected, how the open hall would have been a communal space with little furniture, and how a person’s wealth could be conveyed by the amount of decoration, carving and wall paintings they could afford.

Jane showed us some lovely examples, ending with some pictures of the sad state of many of Lavenham’s buildings in the late 1800s, with many literally falling down or being dismantled and moved elsewhere – even to America. By the 1940s, more of the ancient buildings were condemned by the local authority, being considered unfit for human habitation.

But happily, over 300 of them remain, now listed and protected for future generations.

Jane thanked her audience and hoped to be invited back in the future.

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2 illustrations: The Weavers House (top), demolished and re-erected in Walberswick on the Suffolk coast around 1890, and Little Hall, one of Lavenham’s earliest buildings dating from c1380.