I \AEMORIALS OF OLD SUFFOLK ISI yiu^ ^ /'^r^ /^ , Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from University of Toronto http://www.archive.org/details/memorialsofoldsuOOreds MEMORIALS OF OLD SUFFOLK EDITED BY VINCENT B. REDSTONE. F.R.HiST.S. (Alexander Medallitt o( the Royal Hul. inK^ 1901.) At'THOB or " Sacia/ L(/* I'm Englmnd during th* Wmrt »f tk* R»ut,- " Th* Gildt »nd CkMHtrUs 0/ Suffolk,' " CiUendar 0/ Bury Wills, iJS5-'535." " Suffolk Shi^Monty, 1639-^," ttc. With many Illustrations ^ i^0-^S is. LONDON BEMROSE & SONS LIMITED, 4 SNOW HILL, E.G. AND DERBY 1908 {All Kifkts Rtterifed] DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir William Brampton Gurdon K.C.M.G., M.P., L.L. PREFACE SUFFOLK has not yet found an historian. Gage published the only complete history of a Sufifolk Hundred; Suckling's useful volumes lack completeness. There are several manuscript collections towards a History of Suffolk—the labours of Davy, Jermyn, and others. Local historians find these compilations extremely useful ; and, therefore, owing to the mass of material which they contain, all other sources of information are neglected. The Records of Suffolk, by Dr. W. A. Copinger shews what remains to be done. The papers of this volume of the Memorial Series have been selected with the special purpose of bringing to public notice the many deeply interesting memorials of the past which exist throughout the county; and, further, they are published with the view of placing before the notice of local writers the results of original research. For over six hundred years Suffolk stood second only to Middlesex in importance ; it was populous, it abounded in industries and manufactures, and was the home of great statesmen. Yet throughout England little is known of its past greatness ; this is owing viii PREFACE chiefly to the inertness of its own people. Who among Suffolk natives has attempted to write a history of the glorious Abbey of St. Edmunds? Who has sought to unravel the mystery connected with the birth and parentage of the poet Chaucer and the statesman Wolsey ? Yet among the Ipswich archives material is at hand for such work to be successfully accomplished. Many volumes are published wherein writers claim to give a full account of the castles of England; and yet Suffolk writers are heedless of, or else ignore, the fact that in the pages of all these volumes no notice is taken of the many castles which stood, or are standing, throughout the county, and which have played so prominent a part in the history of England. If the inhabitants of Suffolk thus neglect the history of their county, is it to be wondered at that men from the " shires," ranking among the leaders of present-day writers, should blast the character of Suffolk worthies through sheer ignorance of facts, and not only deprive the county of its past greatness, but even transplant its towns into other districts? Take, for instance, one example. What reader, other than a Suffolk man, would have passed over in silence the statements of the author of Francis Cludde that Bishop Gardner was born a bastard, and that Lowestoft is in Norfolk? It is the wish of the Editor that the reading of the accompanying papers may stir up a deeper love among Suffolk folk for the past history of their county, and rouse in them a strong desire to learn yet more of the PREFACE ix associations connected with the noble memorials which abound throughout the district. The Editor desires to take this opportunity of thanking all who have so readily assisted him to compile this volume, and to acknowledge that without their support the book could not have been presented to the public. Vincent B. Redstone. Woodbridge^ October^ 1908. CONTENTS Pack Historic Suffolk .... By the EDITOR I Roman Villas and Saxon Burghs 7 Traces of Saxons and Norsemen i8 Norman Rule and Norman Castles 29 Orford Castle, its History and By B. J. Balding and Structure P. Turner 48 Riots and Ruins .... By the Editor 67 Some East Suffolk Homesteads . By Rowland W. Mait- LAND, M.A. 81 The Abbey of St. Edmunds and By Rev. Dr. Charles its Customary .... Cox, F.S.A. 91 Framlingham Castle By Francis Seymour Stevenson 108 The Story of the Suffolk Schools By L. P. Steele Hutton 169 The Suffolk Bank of the Winding Stour By H. F. Hitchcock 209 The Suffolk Shore By the Editor 221 The Chaucers of Suffolk • 244 Superstition and Witchcraft in Suffolk . 261 Appendixes A B C D . 37i-a74 Index • 275 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS Hengrave Hall, Seat of John Wood, Esq. (formerly the residence of J. Gage, F.S.A., Historian of the Thingoe Hundred) Frontispiece Facing Pacs " The Street," Coddenham i Dvmmm ty R. T. Lingmmd) 2 Objects found on the site of the " Roman Camp," Burgh, near Woodbridge .... (Drmmm by E. T. Limgm»»d) 8 & lo Burgh Castle . (Pk^U. tyA. ly.ymUt^.Grtmt ymrm*utA) 12 The Minster Ruins, South Elmham (Drmmm fy £. T. /.tv^wrf) 22 Castle and Castle Hills, Bungay . {PJuu. hy B. Clmrk*. Bmmgmji) 34 The Chapel, Orford Castle . (PJk/>U. sM^Hed by P. J. Tumtr) 56 A Survey of Orford Castle . {Dramm by PhiU^ J. Twmtr) 62-66 The Chapel, Leiston Abbey {Pk»t0. fy H. M. Doughty, £jf.) 68 The College Ruins, Mettingham . {PkaU. by B. CImrk*, Butigmy) 72 The Refectory, St. Olave's Priory . {Pk»u. by Mi** Grmnf) 76 Chapel of St. Petronilla, Wenham Hall (Drmmm by s. T. Lingw^od) 78 The Red House, Knoddishall ; and The Old Hall, Parham . 84 {PhoUu. by H. M. Doughty, Esq.) Baylham Hall (Drammby E.T. Limgw*»<r) 86 Norman Tower, Bury St. Edmunds 94 (Photo, by H. J. JarmMt, Bury St. Edmunds) The Interior of the Abbey Gateway, Bury St. Edmunds . 98 (Photo, by H. J. Jarmmm, Bury St. Edmunds) «v INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS Facing Page The Abbey Gateway, Bury St. Edmunds .... 104 {Photo, by H. J. Jarman, Bury St. Edmunds) Fratnlingham Castle .... {Phota. by IV. London, Esq.) I 10 The Interior of Framlingham Castle. (Photo, by W.London, Esq.) 126 The Gateway, Framlingham Castle . (Photo, by w. London, Esq.) 1 54 {Photo, Wingfield Castle by B. Clarke, Bungay) 1 74 The Free School, Kelsale ; and The Grammar School, Eye . i88 {Photos, by H. M. Doughty, Esq.) The Deanery, Hadleigh . {Photo, by w. London, Esq.) 198 Giffard's Hall, Stoke-by-Nayland . {Photo, by w. London, Esq.) 216 All Saints' Church, Dunwich . {Drawn by E. T. Lingwood) 11\ Chart of the River Ore, 160I . {Drawn by v. B. Redstone) 230 Seals used by John Chaucer and William de Grendon . 244 {Photos, by A. p. Monger) Seals used by John Chaucer ( ? of Ipswich) and Agnes, his wife {Photos, by A. P. Monger) 248 Seal used by John Hairun . {Photo, by A. p. Monger) 258 HISTORIC SUFFOLK By the Editor lUFFOLK, owing to its geographical position, has played an important part in the early history of England. The history of the county before the seventeenth century is one of inexhaustible interest. Later, owing to the rapid growth in the more remote districts of England of those industries for which Suffolk had long been famous, the county took only a place of secondary importance. Its manufactures are now few. Cut off from the rest of the kingdom, it possesses a {peculiar character oP its own. This distinctive character is shared by its natives, and a recent novelist of repute has not failed to portray this charm in his last work. The late Seton Merriman, in his last years a resident at Melton, Suffolk, was particularly struck by the stolid piety of the natives, whose love of truth enables them to look a stranger " squarely in the eyes." He noted their strong love for their county. It was customary, he saw, for all those who left its shores to come home again. They always returned at last from wide wanderings, which a limited conversational capacity seemed to deprive of all interest. Those that stayed at home learned a few names, that's all. They spoke with their tongues and their teeth, but not with their lips ; and with their throats, because they were of Teuton descent Their very intonation differed widely from that of their 2 Memorials of Old Suffolk neighbours, the North folk. Many words used by them sound strange to other English ears; often their words are made to possess an unusual meaning; by a curious perversion of language "a lobster is to them a stoat"; " an eye " is a streamlet, and not an island. It is in East Suffolk that the distinctive character of the native is the more firmly stamped. The breeze which blows from the sea over the flat stretches of sand and seaweed is the crispest, most invigorating air in the world. It is the spell of the wide marsh lands which largely affects the character of Suffolk sailors and landsmen. Politics trouble them but little, yet in the time of their country's need they shew, and have ever shewn, a bold front, and hold on to their purpose with bulldog tenacity. To men of the " shires " they are known as " silly Suffolks." Here, again, to the Suffolk man an ordinary English word bears a contrary meaning. Richard Hakluyt, the Suffolk rector of Wetheringset (i 590-1616), in his preface to the second edition of The English Voyages, writes of " the base and sillie beginnings of a huge and overspreading Empire." The Suffolk historian, Reyce, who lived early in the seventeenth century, when alluding to the siege of Ostend (1601-1604) mentions the fact that persons dwelling twelve miles inland from the Suffolk coast " heard the Cardinal's cannon when he uncharitably raged against so silly an enemy." In another place he states that the Suffolk shore " is ready for foreign invasion as is confirmed by the frequent proof of the silly Dunkirkes." A silly Suffolk man is of a simple, homely disposition, but, owing to the depth of religious feeling which possesses his soul, he makes manifest in the hour of danger a bold, stubborn heart, and a strong, sturdy hand.