| Cavendish |
| Clare |
| Glemsford |
| Lavenham |
CAVENDISH is a parish and village on the north bank of the river Stour, which here separates this county from Essex, with a station on the branch of the Great Eastern railway from Cambridge to Sudbury, 2 1/2 miles- east-by-north from Clare, 6 north-west from Sudbury, and 59 from London, in the Southern division of the county, Babergh hundred, Melford petty sessional division, Sudbury union and county court district, rural deanery of Clare, arch-deaconry of Sudbury and diocese of Ely.
The church of St
Mary is an ancient
building of stone mainly in the Perpendicular
style, and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave
of five bays, aisles, south porch, and an embattled
western tower of Early English date containing a clock and
6 bells: the brass eagle lectern is said to have been presented to
the church by Queen Elizabeth: the chancel retains
a piscina, and the stone reredos includes a painting
of the " Crucifixion," by Fairfax Murray, after Perugino:
There is also a piscina in the south aisle; the fine octagonal
stone font is Late Perpendicular: in the church are brasses
to the Cavendish family, and) monuments to the families
of Colt and Brice; the organ was erected in 1884 at a cost
of £270: there are two stained windows, presented by Mr.
George Bocock in 1873: there are 450 sittings. The register dates
from the year 1594. The living is a Rectory,
net yearly value £485, including 72
acres of glebe, with
residence, in the gift of the Master and fellows of Jesus
College, Cambridge, and held since 1895 by the Rev.
John Robert Wilson M.A. of that college.
Here is a Congregational chapel,
and a Lecture Hall, with a commodious class-room attached, erected by the
late J. S.
Garrett esq. There is a fair on the
11th June. A cemetery of 3 roods was formed
in 1886 at a cost of £270, and is under the
control of the Parish Council acting as a Burial
Board.
Under the will of Mr. Ambrose Smith, of
Nether Hall, in this parish, who died April 27,
1875, £20 yearly, the proceeds of invested funds, has been
distributed by the churchwardens since 1888 to 6 men and
6 women of Cavendish who have attained the age of 60,
and a further sum of 21s. to the bellringers.
The noble family of Cavendish, of which
the Duke oi Devonshire is the head, derive their
name from this place, which at an
early period was in their possession: a remnant of the
ancient mansion which they occupied still exists as a
cottage in the parsonage grounds.
Sir John de Cavendish.appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 15 July, 1371 was still holding that office at the time of Wat Tyler's insurrection in 1381: in Suffolk the rebels assembled to the number of 50,000, and a party of these, seizing the Chief Justice at his country house, dragged him to the Market cross at Bury, where after a mock trial his head was struck off and his lifeless remains insulted.
The old manor house, now
divided into three tenements, contains some old carved
oak, and the arms of the Cavendish family, carved in oak,
are displayed on one of the ceilings. Cavendish Hall,
the property of J. Yelloly esq. and the
residence of Mrs. Rumsay I'Amy,
is a modern mansion of brick, pleasantly situated
in a park of 40 acres. Blacklands Hall, the
residence of the Misses Garrett, is an ancient structure
supposed to have been the residence of Sir John de Cavendish, the
Chief Justice, and is pleasantly situated in its
own grounds.
John Yelloly esq. who is lord of the manor, Earl Howe G.C.V.O., C.B. Robert Allen esq. and trustees of the late J. S. Garrett esq. are the chief land-owners. The soil is a mixture of clay and loam. The crops are wheat, barley, beans, peas, oats and roots. The area is 3,345 acres; rateable value, ,£3,567; the population in 1891 was 1,039.
Parish Clerk, Henry Brockwell.
Post, M. 0.
& T. 0., T.
M. O., Express Delivery, Parcel Post, S. B. &
Annuity & Insurance Office (Railway Sub-Office.
Letters should have R.S.O. Suffolk added).
—Elias Evans, postmaster. Letters arrive at 5.15 a.m.,. &
12.10 noon; box closes at 11.20 a.m. & 6.35 & 8 p.m
Railway Station, Frederick W. Fordham, station
master
Railway Carrier—William Byford *
Carrier to Sudbury, Thomas Willis
Free Grammar,
founded by the Rev. Thomas Grey, rector of this
parish in 1696, & endowed with a farm & an
eligible house for the master, capable of holding about
20 boarders ; Rev. Thomas Normandale
B.A.head master-
National,
built in 1863 and enlarged in 1883 and again in 1899
at a cost of £210, for 200 children; average attendance
134 John Hutchinson, master
British
for 120 children; average attendance, 72; Miss
Eleanor Bennett, mistress
CLARE is a small market town and parish on the river Stour, which separates this county from Essex, with a station on the branch of the Great Eastern railway from Sudbury to Cambridge, 56 miles from London, 16 south-west-by-south from Bury St. Edmunds, 9 north-west from Sudbury and 8 east from Haverhill, in the Southern division of the county, Risbridge hundred, petty sessional division and union, county court district of Haverhill rural deanery of Clare, arch-deaconry of Sudbury and diocese of Ely.
The town is lighted with gas from works the property of Mr. C. W. Grimwood.
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is an ancient and beautiful structure of flint with stone dressings, consisting of chancel nave of six bays, with clerestory, aisles, north and south porches, and an embattled tower, 77 feet in height, containing a clock and 8 bells.
Tradition assigns the erection of this church to Richard de Clare, Earl of Clare, Hereford and· Gloucester about the middle of the 13th century; and the existing tower appears to have been a portion of that structure: the lower portion of the tower and the lancet windows are Early English; the north and south porches are decorated, and the nave, aisles and Priory chapel in the south aisle are Perpendicular:
The south porch has elaborate stone groining: the aisles have been extended eastwards, and now open to the chancel by two arches, above which are clerestory windows: there is a piscina in the chancel, another in the north aisle, and a hagioscope: at the east end of the nave are spired turrets, each containing a flight of stairs;
The octagonal font is of the Perpendicular period; the brass eagle lectern is supposed to have been presented by Queen Elizabeth, and a goblet which had been taken from a Spanish galleon, now used as a chalice, is also said to have been given by her Majesty. At the east end of the nave is a very elaborate brass, erected by the members of the Royal Clarence Lodge of Freemasons of this town and other brethren in the province of Suffolk, to H.R.H. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany K.G. at the time of his decease (28 March, 1884), Worshipful Master of this lodge and Provincial Grand Master of Oxfordshire.
There are memorial windows to John Isaacson, d. 1870, and Betsy Isaacson, d. 1883, and others to the Barker family, to whom also various tablets have been erected; Several ledger stones remain, once enclosing brasses to ecclesiastics:
The church was repaired during the period from 1834 to 1836, when a gallery was erected in the north aisle, but at the restoration of the church, begun in 1878, the galleries and a screen which shut out the view of the west window were removed and the fabric generally renovated at a total cost of £1,500. In 1883 the restoration was continued: the nave being reseated and a new carved oak pulpit erected, and in 1899 the tower was thoroughly restored ,from within, under the direction of Mr. Detmar Blow, architect, of London, at a cost of £1,160; there are about 1,200 sittings, of which 774 are free.
The register dates from the year 1558. The living is a discharged vicarage, net yearly value £110, including 32 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Duchy of Lancaster, and held since 1896 by the Rev. James Raynold Morley Vatcher M.A. of Clare College, Cambridge. There are Baptist and Congregational chapels. A cemetery of 12 acres was formed in 1888, at a cost of £350: the churchyard was closed for interments, December 31st, 1888, the cemetery is under the control of the Parish Council.
The Corn Exchange on the east side of the Market place, was erected in 1838, at a cost of £400, and is 64 feet long and 36 broad.
The old Market cross was taken down in 1838. The Market held on Monday is usually for grain and cattle. The Literary Institute and Reading room was established in 1850. The Church Estate, consists of land, cottages and gardens, the rents of which are applied to general church purposes; and there is also a rent-charge of 2s. given by unknown donors for the ringing of the bells on the 5th of November.
The poor's land of 3 acres, is for the supplying of fuel to eight poor widows, the rent of the "Goose Croft," a piece of land of about 13; acres, is distributed in bread amongst the poor of Clare and Chilton; 2 1/2 acres of this land was purchased by the parishioners, but how the remainder was acquired: is unknown. The common pasture charity is held in trust by 15 residents of Clare; the upper common, comprising about 43 acres, is let off in garden allotments; the lower common, comprising 18 acres, is used as pasturage for horses, kine and sheep, by such inhabitants of Clare as do not hold land or real property above the rateable value of £20; the charges are, for horses and kine £2 5s. per head: the vicar's privilege is now a modus in lieu of tithe, amounting to the rent of two cow walks: the surplus proceeds from this charity are applied by the trustees for the benefit of the deserving poor of Clare and Chilton, the trustees being empowered to distribute the same in various ways as the occasion arises. In 1668, William Cadge left out of his estate in Barnardiston, a yearly rent-charge of £25, to be applied to the schooling of ten poor boys, and £15 for clothing eight poor widows. Under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners. this charity has suffered certain modification~ by which an annual salary of £35, with a moiety of the boys' payments, is now given to the schoolmaster. Three almshouses have also been built to hold six inmates. The poor of Chilton have by ancient custom 6s. 8d. yearly from land called Collin's.
The remains of an encampment, supposed to be Roman, may be distinctly traced on the common to the north of the town.
Clare was one of 95 lordships in this county, given by the Conqueror to Richard Fitz-Gilbert, sometimes styled "Earl of Clare," but the honour of Clare comprised many other parishes in Essex, Surrey, Middlesex and. Hertford, which now belong to the Crown as part of the Duchy of Lancaster. Gilbert de Glare, 10th lord of Clare and nephew of Edward II. died unmarried, being slain at Bannockburn, 24 June, 1314, and the lordship then passed to his sister and co-heir, Elizabeth, widow of John de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and foundress of Clare College, Cambridge, to which, in 1359, she gave a code of statutes; she died 4 Nov. 1360, and· was eventually succeeded in the lordship of Clare and earldom of Ulster by her grand-daughter Elizabeth, who married, when very young, Lionel Plantagenet, third son of Edward III. who was created (13 Nov. 1362) Duke of Clarence; this title, which became extinct in 1368 and again in 1421, was conferred in 1441 upon George Plantagenet, 6th but 3rd surviving son of Richard, Duke of York, but was forfeited on his attainder in 1477, and was not revived till 1789, when George III. created his third son, William Henry, Duke of Clarence; who in 1830 succeeded to the crown as William IV.: H.R.H. the late Prince Leopold K.G. was created (24 May, 1881) Baron Arklow, Earl of Clarence and Duke of Albany, and these titles have descended to his only son. The dukedom of Clarence, held as above stated by his late Majesty, William IV. was conferred in conjunction with Avondale (24 May, 1890) upon H.R.H. the late Prince Albert Victor of Wales K.G. but became extinct on his death, 14th Jan. 1892.
The earldom of Clare, however, was revived in 1624, in favour of John (Holles) Baron Haughton, but. became extinct on the death of John, 4th Earl and Marquess of Clare and Duke of Newcastle, 15 July,. 171t. All these titles were subsequently conferred on Thomas (Pelham-Holles) Baron Pelham, who had married a sister of the last holder; on his death, 17 Nov. 1768,. the earldom and marquessate of Clare became extinct and have since so remained.
Under a house in the Market place is an ancient crypt, with a massive groined roof, supported in the centre by an octangu1ar pillar. In front of the Swan inn is an ancient carving of a swan chained to a tree, and now used as a sign, but evidently from its shape having originally been the eorbel of a window.
Near the church stands a house of the 15th century, an interesting specimen of the domestic architecture of the Middle Ages. The house called "Clifton", fotmerly occupied by a member of the Barnardiston family, has a beautiful old chimney of four shafts, dating from the reign of Henry VII. and in the hamlet of Chilton is an ancient house formerly a chapel, with a Norman doorway: during the Civil War it was used as a powder magazine.
Clare Castle, anciently the baronial residence of the so-styled Earls of Clare, by one of whom it is said to have been rebuilt, stood on the south side of the town, and occupied an angle formed by the junction of a rivulet with the Stour, which site, strengthened by art.. rendered it a military position of considerable importance, and the fortress is said to have been equal in grandeur to any of the feudal structures in the kingdom: the site of the whole fortification comprising an area of 20 acres, can still be traced; it was originally surrounded by a deep fosse, and divided into an outer and inner ward or bailey, the latter being enclosed by a wall; a narrow path, winding round a hill about 60 feet high, leads to the remains of the keep, originally a circular building of flint, strongly cemented and strengthened with buttresses, which, from its situation near the frontier, is supposed to have .been erected when the kingdom of the East Angles was independent:
Within the castle was a college, originally founded by Alfric, in the time of King Canute. and dedicated to St John the Baptist; it became a cell of the Abbey of Bec between 1090 and 1124; it was re-founded by Gilbert. lord of Clare, and subsequently removed to Stoke.
The castle, after its alienation, went to the Barnardistons: in the reign of Charles II. it passed to the Elwes family,. of Stoke, with whom it remained till 1825. when it was purchased for a wedding present to the late John Barker esq. of The Priory; Lieut.-Gen. George Digby Barker C.R now (1900) governor of the Bermudas, is the present owner.
In December 1865, an old crucifix attached to an ornamental gold chain was found near the entrance to the railway station on the site between the inner and outer bailey of the castle, both crucifix and chain, whieh were in excellent preservation, are now at Windsor Castle, having been claimed on the part of the Crown as treasure trove; at the intersection of the cross is a large pearl, and enclosed in it is a fragment of wood, said to be a piece of the "True Cross," there is strong reason to believe that this crucifix formed part of the royal collection of jewels belonging to Edward III. as a cross of this kind is described in a list of that monarch's jewels, but subsequently disappeared.
At a short distance on the south-west of the castle, and separated from it by the river Stour and the Great Eastern railway, are the remains of a priory of Austin friars, founded in 1248 by Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hereford. Joan of Acre, second daughter of Edward I. and wife of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, and 9th lord or Earl of Clare, after his death, 7 Dec. 1295, married his servant Ralph Monthermer, afterwards created Baron Monthermer; she died here in 1307, and was buried at the Priory, in a beautiful chapel she had built there, her funeral being attended by her brother Edward II. and most of the English nobility: subsequently Philippa, the daughter of Lionel (Plantagenet) Duke of Clarence K.G. and granddaughter of Edward III. was also buried in this chapel, together with many other royal and distinguished personages: it appears to have been converted into a dwelling-house in 1604 by the then owner, Sir Thomas Barnardiston. A panel in one of the rooms still bearing his initials and that date.
The remains of a bridge, now covered by the railway, lead to the supposition of a former communication with the castle. Although the Priory has undergone considerable alterations and repairs, it still retains much of its old character: the main building now standing consists of a basement and) first floor, supported by massive buttresses, above which are attics, a very fine example of groining, some old oak carving and panelling, an ancient doorway, remains of the cloisters, a stoup or basin for holy water, and a piscina and sedilia still exist; to the east is a building supposed to have been the refectory or infirmary, now converted into a noble room, upwards of 60 feet in length and 30 in height:
The Priory, the property of Lieut.-Gen. G. Digby Barker C-B. is now (1900) occupied by Alexander G. Linzce esq. Courts baron and customary are held yearly for the manors of Erbury and Stoke-with-Chilton. The principal landowners are Lient.-Gen. G. Digby Barker C.B. Henry William Dennis esq. the trustees of the late William Bowyer esq. and Miss Jones.
The area is 2,275 acres of land and 10 of water; rateable value, £5,210; the population in 1891 was 1,657 in the civil and 1,651 in the ecclesiastical parish. Chilton is a hamlet, a mile and a quarter north from the church.
Wall Letter Box, Bridewell street, cleared at 2 & 5.30 p.m.; sundays, 10.45 a.m
Post, M. O. & T. O., T. M. O., Express Delivery, Parcel Post, S. B. & Annuity & Insurance Office (Railway Sub-Office. Letters should have R.S.O. Suffolk, added).—'Harry Crow, postmaster. Letters arrive at 5.35 & 9.30 & 5.15 pm..; dispatched at 11.20 a.m. & 2.30 p.m. to London, 6.40 p.m. to Cambridge & Peterboro' & 7.55 p.m. to London; on sundays arrive at 5.35 a.m.; dispatched 6.10 p.m
Wall Letter Box, Gas works, cleared at 2 & 6 p.m. week
days only
Clerk to the Magistrates, John Bigmore,
Haverhill Petty Sessions held at the Police stations, Clare & Haverhill, every alternate monday, at 11a.m. The places in the petty sessional division are Barnardiston, Clare, Denston, Great Bradley, Great Thurlow, Great Wratting, Haverhill, Hawkedon, Hundon, Kedington, Little Bradley, Little Thurlow, Little Wratting, Monk's Risbridge, Poslingford, Stansfield, Stoke-by-Clare, Stradishall, Whixoe, Wickhambrook & Withersfield
Meets at Kedington Workhouse fortnightly on fridays
Collector of Queen's Taxes, William George Clayden,
Steeple Bumpstead
Assistant Overseer, Frank B. Twitchett
Clerk to the Parish Council, Frank B. Twitchett
Medical Officer & Public Vaccinator, No. 2 District, Ris-
bridge Union, Edward Alfred Piggott L.R.C.P.Edin
Medical Officer, No. 4 District, Sudbury Union, George
Herbert Metcalfe L.R.C.P.Lond
Inspectors under Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act,
Arthur Pollard Burgou M.R.C.V.S
Relieving & Vaccination Officer, No. 2 District, Risbridge
Union, Henry James Hariss Newton
A School Board of 5 members was formed 29 Sept. 1875 ;
F. C. Wayman, clerk to the board; George Ince, attendance officer
Board School (mixed), converted from the former National Schools in 1875, for 280 boys & girls & 122
infants; average attendance, 157 boys & girla & 76
infants; Herbert Thornton, master; Mrs. Amy Thornton, infants* mistress
Railway Station, Ezekiel Beare, station master
William Byford, by railway
Thomas Willis, to Sudbury, tues. Thurs. & sat
GLEMSFORD is a village and parish north of the river Stour, with a station 1 mile south of the village on the Cambridge and Long Melford section of the Great Eastern railway, 7 miles north-west from Sudbury and 5 east-north-east from Clare, in the Southern division of the county, hundred of Babergh, Melford petty sessional division, Sudbury union and county court district, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Sudbury and diocese of Ely.
The small river Glem flows east of the parish.
The parish is under the oontrol of an Urban District Council of twelve members, formed under the provisions of the “Local Government Act, 1894,” 56 & 57 Vict. ch.73. The church of St. Mary is a large building of stone and flint in the Late Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of three bays, aisles, north and south porches and an embattled western tower, which has been rebuilt and contains 6 bells:
There is one stained window:
the church was reseated and thoroughly restored in 1873,
at a cost of £3,400, and affords about 800 sittings. The
register dates from the year 1550. The living is a rectory,
net yearly value £329, with about 75 acres of glebe and
house, in the gift of the Bishop of Ely, and held since
1887 by the Rev. Herbert Hall M.A., S.C.L. of Brasenose
College, Oxford. There are two Baptist chapels and a
Primitive Methodist chapel. Charities to the amount
of £37 6s. are distributed in money and coals at Christmas. Hammond’s
charity, left in 1658, produces about £19 a year,
which is divided among 12 poor men.
Here is a silk throwing mill, a silk factory and a horsehair and a cocoanut fibre manufactory, unitedly giving employment to a large number of persons. George Frederick Beaumont esq. F.S.A. of The Lawn, Coggeshall, Essex, who is lord of the manor of Giemsford, and of Callis Metholds and Wimbolds in Glemsford, William Samuel Goodchild esq. Edward Starkie Bence esq. D.L., J.P. of Kentwell Hall, and the trustees of the late J. G. Hale are the chief landowners. The soil is a mixture of loam, sand and gravel; subsoil, clay. The crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 2,235 acres of land and 11 of water; rateable value, £4,452; the population in 1891 was 2,375 in the civil, and 2,441 in the ecclesiastical parish.
By Local Government Board Order 14,465, March 24, 1884, a part of Frinstead End was transferred from Glemsford to Boxted.
Sexton, Charles Adams.
M. 0. & T. 0., T. M. 0., Express Delivery, Parcel Post, S. B. & Annuity & Insurance Office (Railway Sub-Office). Letters should have R.S.O. Suffolk added).—Alfred Game, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Sudbury at 6 a.m. & 10.15 Pm Box closes at 11 a.m. & 6.10 p.m. & 7.30 p.m.; Sundays, 6.10 p.m. only Wall Letter Boxes, Hunt’s hill, cleared at 11.10 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Sundays, 6.20 p.m.; Egremont street, cleared at 11.20 a.m. & 6.30 p.m. ; Sundays, 6.30 p.m.; Glare road, cleared at 11.45 a.m. & 6.45 p.m.; Sundays, 6.50 p.m
Meets at Board School once monthly on Wednesday, at 7.30 p.m. Members. All retire in April, 1902.
Officers.
Clerk, Thomas Bates, Friars street, Sudbury
Treasurer, Arthur J. Grimwade, Sudbury
Medical Officer of Health, John Sinclair Holden M.D.
51Friars street, Sudbury
Sanitary Inspector & Surveyor & Collector, Herbert Leslie
Taylor, Glemsford
A School Board of 5 members was formed 4 April, 1871
H, C. Canham, Sudbury, clerk to the board; Cornelius
Copsey, attendance officer
Board School, erected in 1871, at a cost of over £3,000, for
206 boys, 146 girls & 180 infants; average attendance,
125 boys, 132 girls & 117 infants; the National school
is now used only for the Sunday School & parish meetings; William
Henry Payton, master; Miss Eleanor Bowrey,
infants’ mistress
Police Station, Inspector Robert Reeve, & 1 constable
Railway Station, Frederick Ward, station master
Carrier to
Bury St. Edmunds—David Brown, wed
Hall Rev.Herbert M.A.,S.C.L.(rector)
Peacock Andrew, Brook house
Savage George, Hill house
LAVENHAM, formerly a market town, is a parish on one of the tributaries of the river Brett, with a station on the Bury and Sudbury section of the Great Eastern railway, 7 miles north-east-by-north from Sudbury and 10 south from Bury St. Edmunds, in the Southern division of the county, Babergh hundred, Melford petty sessional division, Cosford union, Sudbury county court district, rural deanery of Lavenham, archdeaconry of Sudbury and diocese of Ely.
The village is lighted with gas.
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is a noble edifice of Casterton stone, intermixed with flint, built between the years 1485 and 1525, by the De Veres and Thomas Spring, a rich clothier of Lavenham, in the Early and Late Perpendicular styles, 156 feet in extreme length, by 68 wide, and consisting of chancel with north and south chapels, nave of six bays with a lofty clerestory, south porch and a western tower of four stages and 143 feet in height, containing 8 bells: the mullet of the De Veres (Earls of Oxford) and the Spring coat of arms appear both on the outside and inside of the church, and over the south porch is a series of six shields representing the alliances of the De Veres:
The chapels were added about the beginning of the 16th century,•that on the north by Simon Branch and the south chapel, which has a fine roof, by Thomas Spring, each being separated from the church by traceried oak screens: the porch has an elaborate stone groined ceiling: the east window and six others are stained: there are many inscribed floor stones and mural tablets, and a very fine marble monument in the chancel to Dr. Copinger, ob. 1622: the reredos consists of a series of arches with triangular-headed corocketed canopies and sculptured figures of the Apostles, and was the gift, in 1890, of the Rev. Joseph Morrison Croker M.A. rector, 1855-91, who also restored the sedilia and panelled the chancel roof:
The church was thoroughly restored and
reseated with open benches in 1867, at a cost of about
£4,500, when a new organ was presented by the Rev.
J. M. Croker M.A. then rector: there are 800 sittings,
of which 400 are free. The register dates from the year
1558.
The living is a rectory, net yearly value £530, with residence and 144 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Master and Fellows of Caius College, Cambridge, and held since 1891 by the Rev. Thomas Scott M.A. of that college, hon. canon of St. Albans and surrogate.
There is a Congregational chapel, which has an endowment and good
house for the minister, and also Wesleyan and Primitive
Methodist chapels and a Salvation Army hall. A cemetery of about
two acres was opened in 1893, in. the Bridge
Street road, at a cost of about £300, and is
under the control of the parish council; burials in the
church have been discontinued since Feb. 3rd,
1893, and in the churchyard since July 31st, 1893,
with certain modifications.
Messrs. Roper and Sons have works here for the manufacture of horsehair seating and cocoa-nut fibre matting.
The charities amount to £299 11s. 3d. yearly, and there are also 30 almshouses, granted rent-free to poor aged persons; these charities are as follows—
In the Market place is an ancient cross in a fair
state of preservation ; there are also several good specimens of old
timbered houses with quaint oak carvings. Lavenham Hall is the property
and residence of William Biddell esq. Frederick James Underwood esq. of
The Common, Sevenoaks, Kent, is the lord of the manor. The principal
landowners are the Rev. Sir William Hyde Parker bart.
of Melford Hall; Robert Graham esq. of New Thornton Heath, Croydon,
Surrey; Messrs. Jillings, Cousens and T. and E. Hitchcock and William
Biddell esq. The soil is heavy; subsoil, clay and gravel. The chief
crops are wheat, beans, barley, beet and turnips. The area is 2,895
acres; rateable value, £5,571; the population in 1891 was 1,908.