So what do we know about these two small villages tucked away in the south west corner of Suffolk, within a few miles of the counties of Cambridgeshire and Essex? The two villages share the name of Thurlow: Great and Little Thurlow or, as they were once known, Thurlow Magna and Thurlow Parva.
Interestingly,
although their histories are inevitably closely linked, the villages have
developed quite separate identities. Prosperity has swung from one village to
the other during their long existence. They have always been part of big estates
and as the fortunes and preferences of the estate owners have waxed and waned,
so has the investment in the fabric of the villages. The result has been that
both villages have survived largely intact with many historic buildings that
tell their own stories.
The name Thurlow may have been spelt Tritlawe and may refer to a mound or
assembly hill or famous tumulus. One can easily imagine this if one stands by
the windmill in Great Thurlow on a clear day. You can see for miles in any
direction, so maybe Thurlow was a good place for a meeting in ancient times.
More important for the early settlers, however, must have been the river,
fast flowing and clear, with easy crossing points providing an ideal place to
settle. Neighbouring Little Bradley has been the subject of archaeological
excavation and there is strong evidence of pre-historic settlement and two
clearly defined Romano-British occupation areas. So it would not be unreasonable
to suppose that this area too has been inhabited since then, although the only
real evidence of early occupation in Thurlow came in 1890, recorded by the
Antiquarian Society in Cambridge. Mr Wootten, of Great Thurlow, discovered a pit
containing amongst other things, pottery shards, a coin and a small figurine,
all dating from the Roman period. Professor Hughes, speaking to the Society on
March 2nd 1891, discussed the network of Roman roads in the area including the
Via Devana which stretched from Wandlebury through Linton to Horseheath. He
suggested that the Romans followed the valley from Haverhill to the Thurlows and
on towards Newmarket. When he tried to find out if there were other traces of a
camp or villa in the village the only clue was the small channel that ran down
the hill near to his discovery which was known as the ‘Castle Ditch’.
There is still visible evidence of moated sites, which were a feature of Saxon
defence systems against marauding tribes. Several of the local farms have
remnants of such moats (the Glebe, the Island, Wadgells and Sowley Green),
providing us with further evidence of such continuous occupation.
The next historical record comes in the form of the Domesday book, compiled
for William the Conqueror in 1086. The villages were owned separately: Great
Thurlow was in the possession of Edred, a freewoman, and Little Thurlow was in
the possession of Richard, son of the Earl of Gislebert. The entries in Domesday
indicate that both Manors had churches and together had eight carucates of land
(approximately 120 acres or that which could be ploughed with a team of eight
oxen in a year), ploughteams, and a considerable acreage of land with a variety
of livestock. At that time there were adjoining manors at Wadgells and Temple
End.
This is the first reference to Temple End, which has long been assumed to be
associated with the Knights Templar. However, the Order of the Knights Templar
was not founded until 1118, when the knights travelled all over Europe as part
of the Crusades, and the order was officially suppressed by the Pope in 1312.
The Domesday reference to Temple End pre-dates this founding date by 32 years,
so one wonders if there was another temple of a different age in Temple End?
Nevertheless, the manor of Temple End owned by Rogers Le Bretun and Le Breteuil
(who may have been one and the same) was later awarded to the Knights Templar,
presumably to help fund their activities. Another archaeological record from the
Cambridge Antiquarian Society in 1891 refers to remnants of buildings being
uncovered at Temple End in the Ten Acre field, but no further excavations took
place. The tithe map shows a Temple Field although this is different from the
Ten Acre field. There is strong evidence too from the graffiti in Great Thurlow
church and there are three brasses of knights and their families that date from
the period and a large number of shields are inscribed in the arch of the Lady
Chapel.
More information is available about subsequent Lords of the Manor including Sir
Gilbert Peche in 1272, who had the right to hold a fair and market ‘for sheep
and toys [a kind of wool]’ here in October. The earliest reference to hunting
comes at that time when Gilbert claimed free warren to hunt all furred and
feathered animals, except deer and boar. Sir Gilbert Peche was by all accounts a
colourful character, and he was tried for ‘taking Master John de Bousser,
Archdeacon of Essex at Wroting Talworth by force and detaining him in prison in
Gilbert’s manor’.
At about this time a hospital was founded in Great Thurlow and was linked to the
hospital at Hautpays in France and later to the church of All Saints in 1291.
Edward IV in 1463 included the Hospital of St James, Great Thurlow in the
numerous endowments of Kings College, Cambridge. No records of the location
exist.
Records exist to show who lived in the villages during this period:
Villato de Thrillowe Magna
Gilberto Pecche, Nicholao Poyere, Johanne Mauueysin,
Matilda Draweswerd, Christina Randolf, Alicia Robethonn,
Johanne de Snichlegh, Gilberto Gooche, Rogero Sutore,
Alicia Soutere, Alexandreo Danbour, Johanne Lomer,
Johanne de Ronhey, Stephano de Gretton, Alicia Goding,
Roberto Raunfrey, Johanne Erl, Johanne le Barbour,
Alfredo Abraham, Bartho Wyberd
Villato de Thrillowe Parua
Willmo de Hanbache, Martino at Grene, Alexandro de Walpole,
Robert le Lord, Willmo de Gretton, Rogero Bercare,
Alano filio Gilberti, Roberto Bertelot, Rogero de Barkere,
Iuone atte Cros, Willmo de Bradeleye, Roberto att Bregge,
Roberto de Swaffham, Johanne le Warde, Johanne Dernel,
Waltero atte Bregge, Johanne de Dytton capellano, Waltero Berard
and in 1524 in Great Thurlow:
John Bladwell, Thomas Carre, Thomas Meier,
Edward Meller, John Meier, John Marchall,
Robert Knat, and a fragment of the remaining document shows four remaining
surnames, Loveday, Demok,, Wal…yng, and Petite
and in Little Thurlow:
William Chirch, Thomas Long, Thomas Rich, William Chirch jun,
Ralf Brian, Thomas Hallum, John Loder, John Umfrey,
John Dike, Robert Randolf, John Jerveis, William Copcy,
Thomas Kempe, John Chapleyn, John Long, Roger Wiknegh,
John Isaak, Thomas Owres, John Barker, William Page,
John Stamager, Thomas Priour, John Aldours, Ralf Clerke,
Nicholaus Clerke, Robert Clerke, William Baret, Thomas Umfrey, Simon Page, Robert Hallum, John Swift, John Fissher,
Nicholas Cowper
The 1674 hearth tax returns reveal some more familiar names:
Thurlow Magna
Mr Holmes, Ro Marsh, Richard Man, Mrs Mayes, Phill Flenner, Jo Mills, Jo Barnes, Mr Jagard
Fitches, Thomas Deekes, Abram Fittiles, Boyton Webb,
Thomas Candler, Edward Mowle, Tompson, Widow Glascocke,
Sve Hemstead, Jo Pratt, Thomas Ewes, Doctor Kinge,
William Farrowe, Ro Bennett, Mr Butcher, Jo Worledge,
Jo Cocke, Jo Finche, Widow Read, Widow Luke,
Jo Knights, Jo Livermore
Hearth taxes were certified for Callice, Wisbech, Martin, Adkins, Hodskin and
Webb.
Thurlow Parva
Mr Ayres Sam Lynton, Mr Hill, Widow Farrow,
Mr Curtis, Widow Stowe, Mr Person, Jo Barton,
Jer Mayes, Thomas Poulsey, James Cocke, Ro Smyth,
Robert Martin, Fr Waever, George Willis, Thomas Sammond,
Mr Owen, Jo Calton, Ambrose Fish, Mr Killingbancke,
George Rowles, George Hamont, William Wilson, Jo Pollard,
Mary Hill
Hearth taxes were certified for Challis, Wisbitch, Bridges, Delleson, Richard
Nugin, Webb, Mylls, Hedge, Adkin and Thurston.
The two buildings in the village that have survived through the centuries
are, of course, the churches of St Peter in Little Thurlow and All Saints in
Great Thurlow. The earliest reference is in Domesday and the first recorded
priest assigned to Little Thurlow was Rob. Fitzwalter in 1279. The fonts in both
churches are about eight hundred years old. The graffiti in Great Thurlow church
depict archers practising with long bows which were used to great effect in the
Battle of Agincourt in 1425. Other graffiti include music notation, a drawing of
a decorated period window, gaming boards, wool shears, a marionette and a
depiction of Moses transforming the rod into a snake. The shields inscribed into
the arch of the Lady Chapel seem to indicate that the chapel may have been used
for some kind of ceremony, possibly connected with the order of knighthood.
Village churches encapsulate the continuity and change in the life of a village,
and as we look at the churches as they are now it is easy to assume that it has
always been the same; but not so. The churches have changed tremendously through
the years. The present fonts probably once graced small Norman naves, similar to
the very early nave at Little Bradley. In Little Thurlow church we can tell that
extensive building work took place in the thirteenth century, by the three
piscinae which exist. The double drain piscina (one side was used for the priest
to wash his hands and the other to wash the sacramental vessels) in the chancel
can be dated to around 1300. The other two in the aisles prove the existence of
secondary altars.
The new large windows inserted in the 14th century would have lit an interior
rich in colour, the walls painted, the glass itself probably stained, and the
pictures providing a comprehensible illustration to a largely illiterate
population. A rood screen would have separated the chancel, which was the
priest's church, from the nave, which was the people's church. The huge wooden
screen with a large crucifix (the rood), maybe flanked by the Virgin Mary and St
John, would have dominated the interior in the 15th and early 16th centuries,
the only remnant now being the base, stencilled with simple coloured flowers.
Many rood screens had a loft, accessed by a small winding stair (which in the
case of the church in Little Thurlow is only 15´´ wide), from which musicians
played their instruments. Evidence of this period comes also from the ornamental
brasses that can be found in both churches, providing wonderful examples of the
dress and armour of the time.
Edward VI (1537 - 1553) decreed that such decorations should be removed, so
images were torn down and the rood screens were dismantled, although some were
re-instated when Mary, a staunch Catholic, came to the throne in 1553. Her reign
was short, and Elizabeth I acceded to the throne in 1558, decreeing that England
should become a stable Protestant nation. She wanted a standard religion, and
indeed the version of her Prayer book (originally printed in six languages by
John Daye of Little Bradley) is still used today. The damage to the interior
decoration of the churches had been done, the vibrant colours were painted over
and much of the ornate carving disappeared.
Further desecration took place during the Puritan uprising in 1649 when Cromwell
strove to remove all signs of idolatry from the church. The church became a
preaching house with the emphasis on the pulpit, not the altar, and pews were
introduced with the most ornate pews for the members of the big house. St
Peter's is a good example, with the large box pew in the chancel. The Soame
family enlarged the church to accommodate the enormous memorial to Sir Stephen
Soame, which comprises recumbent alabaster effigies of Sir Stephen and his wife
and the kneeling figures of his family. It is likely that the family also
inserted the clerestory windows and the altar rails during the 1600’s.
In common with countless other country churches, the present interiors of both
churches have been much restored in the later centuries. All Saints was restored
in 1741 by the Vernon family (who also owned estates in Hundon) and again in
1880. Holdich of London built the organ in 1782 and it was again restored in
1981. The present interiors owe more to these restorations than any other age
and St Peter’s was 'new pewed ' in 1843 when the choir stalls were installed.
The oak pulpit is dated 1876 and probably replaced a much more ornate affair,
although the brass chandelier is much earlier and dates from 1720, as does the
18th century sundial on the south face of the tower.
In addition, the church has several interesting memorial tablets referring to
the Soame family, including one referring to a family member of Belle Garden in
Tobago, a reflection of the far-flung business interests of the family. Others
are memorials to previous incumbents of the living, but one tucked away in the
tower offers a salutary warning to us all.
IN THE MEMORY OF
JOHN ANDREW
WHO DEPARTED OF THIS LIFE
FEBRUARY 7TH 1794
AGED 72 YEARS
Beneathhis fav'rite Bell poor Andrew lies
No pitying Naiade heard his dying cries
When in the Stour he fell, His Spirit rose
To brighter Climes and left this World of woes
Paues Ringer, Pause for serious thought on vast Eternity,
Perhaps thy God this night may claim
The forfeit Life of thee.
The major influence on the villages came in the late 16th century, a
development which was to dominate the villages for the next three centuries. A
man named Thomas Soame came to the area in 1582, having married Anne, daughter
of Francis Knighton of Little Bradley. They were to found a dynasty that endured
for the next three centuries, and influenced the fabric of the villages to the
extent that many of the historic buildings that make the villages so attractive
are testaments to their wealth and influence. There is little information
concerning the Lords of the Great Thurlow Manor between 1613 and 1715 so it
seems likely that the villages were run as one. Similarly, the Day Book referred
to later, includes references to both villages indicating that they were seen at
that time as one entity.
Extensive records do exist about this family, and their influence extends far
beyond this estate. Their wealth was based not only on their farming interests,
but also in later years on coal mining, property and foreign investments. They
owned land in Norfolk, Suffolk, Warwickshire and Yorkshire. They had a house in
Hatton Garden and owned land in London itself, and eventually had land and
interests in Tobago. Thomas' son was to become Sir Stephen Soame, the Lord Mayor
of London and Lord of the Staple, which means he sat on the Wool Sack. This
curious term meant that he was in a position to oversee all the imports and
exports in and out of London, a prime position from which to make profitable
investments. The family were also very far sighted and the records show that
they were heavily involved in drainage and fresh water projects in the centre of
London and later in the Fenlands of Cambridgeshire. It was they who commissioned
Vermuyden to prepare plans to drain the Fens.
Sir Stephen Soame was not a man to hide his wealth. He restored and reglazed the
great north window in St Paul's Cathedral, renovated the roof of the Grocers'
Hall in London and left money in perpetuity for the poor. He commissioned the
building of a magnificent mansion at Little Thurlow with extensive formal
gardens, ponds and a splendid library. Sadly, the original house burned down in
1809, but sketches and etchings of it still exist. Later family members
commissioned a beautifully painted map of his lands in the area which clearly
shows many of the houses that exist to this day, and a few that have long since
disappeared. The map also shows the extensive grounds and the comparative size
of the mansion itself.
In addition, Soame ordered almshouses to be built for 'eight single poor persons
of 64 years of honest life and conversation' overseen by an usher. Such
beneficence came with strings attached and the occupants were required to attend
church services twice on Sunday and every Holy Day and working day when divine
service was read, and if they did not their pension of 14 old pence per week was
to be forfeited and dispensed between the rest of the inhabitants! The almsfolk
should be given eight faggots per year and every two years they should have a
gown of 'some northern black cloth or some other decent or seemly colour which
shall cost 5s a yard'. He also decreed that a school be built for the male
children of Thurlow and the surrounding villages and similar strong conditions
were imposed: 'such scholars as shall once be put to this school shall not upon
any high occasion or idle business as gleaning and such like take them from
school and after send them thither again.'
Manor Farm was also built at approximately the same time, and may have been the
farm that served the mansion. Many of the other houses in the village street
also date from this period, and it seems the Soame family kept the village in
good repair, as records exist for repairs and extensions to the Cock Inn and
other houses. Seventeenth century houses in Great Thurlow have survived, but are
fewer in number. The Rose and Crown was a favourite meeting place and records in
the Parish Book reveal that decisions concerning the care of villagers were made
at meetings held there. Church Farm, the Hawthorns and several other cottages
and the wonderful aisled barn next to the church reveal that the village
continued to be cared for during this period. However, it was from the late
eighteenth century onwards that Great Thurlow was to receive more attention.
Sadly, the great mansion burnt down on the 23rd January 1809, and the present
house was completed on June 26th 1849.
The Rt. Hon. W.H.Smith M.P. became Lord of the Manor in Great Thurlow 1885.
He was the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Leader of the House of Commons and
the First Lord of the Treasury. He was also the founder of the newspaper
distributing chain known now as W.H.Smith’s. The magazine ‘Punch’ bestowed on
him the nickname ‘Old Morality’ as a mark of the esteem in which he was held by
all parties in the House of Commons. When he died the estate passed to his soon
W.F.D. Smith. It seems likely that it was at this time that Great Thurlow Hall
was restored. It would seem possible that the present house either stands on the
site of an earlier one or the present house has earlier origins.
Other Georgian houses appeared in Great Thurlow at about this time: the Rectory,
Hill House and later the Red House. The Reading Room was built in 1903 and the
clock was named the Lady Ester after the wife of W. F. Smith. The School (now
the Estate Office) was built in 1873, followed by School Terrace in 1882 . The
Meeting House was built in 1836 and was later enlarged in 1853 as a
Congregational Chapel. Melton House made its appearance following the Great
Exhibition in 1851 from whence it was bought as an exhibit.
Great Thurlow also boasted two public houses The Queen’s Head (now the house
adjacent to the garage) and The Rose and Crown.
Another contemporary figure was John Daye, parson of Little Thurlow, whose
last will and testament was published on 28 September 1627. It seems that he was
a member of the enormous Daye family (26 children!) of neighbouring Little
Bradley, and his father John Daye (d. 1584) was one of the first printers and
Master of the Stationers' Company. John Daye was famous as the first printer to
print music and to use an Anglo Saxon type face. His son, John Daye, was a
Bachelor of Divinity at Oriel College, Oxford, and his will describes his
writing on the psalms and the one hundred and ninety lectures he had delivered
on the subject. He also decreed that every householder in the village be given a
copy of his own book, Daye's Descant on David's Psalms.
Eighteenth Century Daily Life
It is fortunate that records also exist for the daily life of the parish for
this period. The Manor Court Rolls for Great Thurlow and the Parish Book also
survive, providing insight into the misdemeanours of the villagers, as well as
the payments to less fortunate parishioners. Ann Abbot, in 1757, appeared to
have ploughed up some of the Common field as far as the Castle Ditch and was
ordered to seed it for grazing before the 1st August. In 1791, records show
payments for nursing care, provision and mending of clothes and the purchase of
shoes. The Parish Book also contains details of the arrangements that were made
for the funerals of parishioners and the vigils that were set up in advance of
the burial. Indications are that villagers then as now lived to a ripe old age:
in 1710 records show that John Mills aged 82 years died, having been clerk of
the Parish of Little Thurlow for about 50 years; and in 1714 Mary Wisbitch died
on the 14th May, aged 86 years.
Extracts from the Day Book, Great Thurlow, 1791
1 May Give the widow Mitson 6d Extrodney being ill 0 6d
Give Skiltons wife on account of her child being ill 0 6d
A journey to Ketton to Dr Syers concerning the Disturbance at Peper Hall 1s 6d
28 April A journey to Ketton with John Parmenter and give him one shilling and
paid him for his exammynation 2s 0d
30 May For fetching Widow Tilsons wood 4s 0d
31 May Give John Parmenter from where he came from to bear his expenses back 11s
6d
26 June Paid Dame Burlin for nursing Mitsons wife 4s 0d
2 July Paid Master Collins for a pair of bretches of Wm Newman 7s 6d
16 July Paid Master Collins for mending of the bretches of Wm Newman 1s 6d
July Give to Lydia Scotcher to help bye pair of shoes for her child 1s 0d
7 July Paid Thos Maleling for shaven of Thos Rowlerson half a year 5s 0d
29 October Paid Dame Rowlerson for nursing Guymers wife 4s 0d
6 November Give Thomas Martin for a doctors bill 10s 6d
13 December Paid for a waistcoat for the boy Sparbes 3s 9d
January 1793 Vestry Meeting at the Crown 13s 9d
31 March Mr Jones a bill paid Jonas for his horse to bury 5s 0d
October Burying Brands child 4s 0d
For a coffin 3s 6d
27 October Paid for a waistcoat for the boy Rowlerson 5s 0d
Smock frock 4s 6d
The building today gives the appearance of a two-storied late Georgian
establishment, with hood-moulded windows and other details in the gothic style.
In fact, this all results from a drastic remodelling of a rather low building
which had a centre range and two cross wings, with first floor rooms in the roof
space. A stud now plastered over is said to have the date 1614, which is
consistent with its building style. Some of the rafters and other timbers in the
present roof come from a medieval structure and may indicate that the hall is
earlier. However, the walls were raised and the roof over most of the Cock was
rebuilt in the eighteenth century.
The earliest documentation concerning the Cock dates from 1674, when on the May
8th of that year William Soame esquire agreed to lease the messuage called the
Cock Inn to Robert Butcher of Little Thurlow. Included with the inn were a close
on the back side of the house, and two little pightles lying in the Westfield.
The lease was to run for twelve months from Michaelmas 1674 at a rent of £11. An
addition to this document extends the lease to 9 years. Robert Butcher did not
live to see out his lease as he was buried in 1681. It seems likely that he was
succeeded at the Cock by John Millington and thereafter by Mary Millington. Her
probate inventory lists 20 hogsheads full of beer valued at £35, another 20
empty hogsheads and malt to use for brewing.
The next known tenant occurs in 1784 when the Reverend Henry Soame let it for 9
years to a baker called William Osborne. The next reference appears in 1841 when
Thomas Sparrow was shown in the census return as living at the Cock with his
wife Ann and two children and two servants. Ten years later the innkeeper was
34-year old William Sparrow, son of Thomas. By 1852 the tenancy had transferred
to Thomas Rowling, thereafter to Ambrose Rowling in 1869 until 1888 when it was
leased to the brewery of Greene King with the right to sub-let. Subsequent
landlords included George Brown, Charles Nelson, Albert Bradnam, and Frank
Rayner. In 1912 the innkeeper was John Rowlinson and three members of his family
followed him into the trade, the last leaving in 1971. The inn was sold to
Greene King Breweries in 1934.
The Olde School is another fascinating remnant of the Soame dynasty. Used as
a school until the 19th century, it was sold by the Charity Commissioners to
Richard Pettett Day in 1885. He was the shop keeper who ran a village shop in
what is now Corner Cottage, opposite the Olde School. It seems likely that
Richard is another descendant of the Daye family of Little Bradley.
The Foundation for the School was part of the original will of Sir Stephen Soame
and was limited to the education of boys. It was his intention that the boys
should be taught English and Latin and cyphering and that they should be
encouraged to go on to Oxford or Cambridge University or into apprenticeships.
The whole of the ground floor of the original building is devoted to the school
room, and is so designed that it is not possible to see out of the windows from
a sitting position. A large podium still remains, as does a large grandfather
clock. The role of school master was held for fifty years in the eighteenth
century by Thomas Crick, who taught upwards of 880 scholars in his time. His
descendants, also Thomas and later Frederick, became rectors in the parish
during the 1800s.
The Charity Commissioners became involved in overseeing the running of the
Foundation and the memorandum reproduced below re-states some of the
requirements of the original terms of the will. It seems that the regulation of
the Charity faltered during the eighteen hundreds and a new National School was
built to replace it in 1873 and the original building was sold.
Memorandum concerning the Thurlow School
That one in each family of the peasantry is to be admitted upon the
establishment or
foundation in the Parish of Little Thurlow as Free Pupils
Also as vacancies occur in The School the next in seniority is to succeed him of
the
candidates
Also that each scholar is to remain for the space of three years only as Free
Schools
Also that no boy is to be admitted into the School upon the Foundation until he
can read a page in the Bible
Also The Master of the School to have power of reporting any irregularity of any
of
the Free Boys to the Clergyman or Church wardens in order that they may be
removed
Also that the parents of the Free Boys are not to interfere with the boys or the
Master
of the School in any way
Also that the Master do inculcate good behaviour to the boys out of School and
that
they are not to be hallowing or hooting in the Street or any other riotous
conduct
Also that the parents of the Free boys do attend to this or they will be removed
from
the school
Also applications for admission of boys upon this foundation during the absence
of
General Stevenson to be made to the Clergymen of the Parish or to the
churchwardens for the time being.
N.B. All the fixtures to the School appertain to the School
Also that no person can have their child or children educated upon the
foundation
as free scholars but the peasants or Paupers who cannot afford to pay for their
education
These instructions are taken by order of General Stevenson in the presence of Mr
James Osborne, for further regulations of The Little Thurlow School to which
other
instructions may be added if found necessary
January the 19th, 1826 JOHN FRENCH
Master
The nineteenth century brought a change in the fortunes of the Soame family.
Their mansion house was burnt down in 1809, successive generations of Soames had
not proved themselves as astute in business and the family fortunes began to
dwindle. The South Sea Bubble had taken its toll and the family presence was
left to spinster sisters. Another replacement mansion house was built in 1847,
but the sisters quarrelled about who should inherit it. In the aftermath of
their deaths, the house was sold to pay the death duties of another branch of
the family and the Soame family connection with the village died.
It was in this period that Great Thurlow benefited from the investment of the
Vernon and Smith families and new Georgian and later Victorian houses described
earlier appeared. Religion and education made their mark. The Congregational
Chapel has been a bakery and is now a private house, but the small graveyard can
still be seen near the main road.
The National Schools were built in both villages to replace The Olde School.
Little Thurlow School had an average attendance in 1900 of 53. This was replaced
in 1967 by the new school that has a current roll of 65 children.
There were many separate farms in the villages at one time and some of the house
names indicate their origins. These include Street Farm, Temple End Farm, Church
Farm, Goldings, Dowsetts, Over Green Farm and Manor Farm (the agricultural land
from which of which is now subsumed into the Vestey estate).
The corner in Great Thurlow by the Rose and Crown was once a hive of industry.
An early postcard shows the name of Woottens Brewery on the name plate above the
door of the pub. The buildings where the garage now stands housed a saddlery
where Frank Haylock the inn keeper made and repaired harness. The backroom of
the pub held a wonderful selection of sweets. There was also a slaughterhouse
behind the Red House which was a butcher’s shop. The village shop has been there
for many years although the merchandise has changed. Drapery goods were once
sold there as well as almost everything else! The Hawthorns was once a bakery.
Further down The Street towards Little Thurlow, Larkspur Cottage was home to the
shoe mender and Hallside was home to the watch mender. The Limes became three
cottages, one of which housed the district nurse. May Cottage was a bakery and
sweet shop. Trudgetts (then two houses) was a bakery and post office and had a
wheelwright's shop next door. Mungo Lodge had a dance hall and the blacksmith
shop on Pound Green has completely disappeared. The two windmills in Little
Thurlow can no longer be seen and the only hints left are the names of the
houses Mill House and Mill View. The base of the windmill has survived but there
is no evidence left of the mill that once stood at the top of Almshouse Hill.
Great Thurlow windmill has been restored and stands proudly at the top of
Dowsetts Hill. The threshing machine at Manor Farm and many of the farm
buildings have vanished and those left have been transformed into luxury barn
conversions. The original almshouses were sold and two flint cottages in the
middle of the village were given as replacement almshouses, and have just been
sold again.
In its heyday the villages boasted an impressive array of tradespeople. There
were four pubs: the present Cock Inn, the Rose and Crown, the Queen’s Head and
the Red Lion in Little Thurlow Green. Two general stores, the present one in
Great Thurlow and what is now known as Corner Cottage in Little Thurlow, two
saddleries and post office, a boot maker, a carpenter, a watch mender, several
bakeries, sweet shops, a wheelwright, a blacksmith's shop, a police house and
three windmills. Milk was obtainable from Manor Farm and in Great Thurlow there
was a brewery, a slaughter house and a butcher shop. A carrier passed through
the village daily and within living memory it was possible to catch a bus
everyday to London! The village was a busy place, with much activity revolving
around horses: for example, a thriving blacksmith's shop near Pound Green, and
stack yards full of both hay and straw stacks supplying food and bedding for the
horses and thatching materials. There was also a milking herd in the village and
people purchased their milk from Manor Farm. There was a barber's in Little
Thurlow Green and an undertaker's in Church Road. Many of the allotments in the
village were regularly tended. Nearly all the cottages were thatched and many of
them were homes to much bigger families than is the case now.
Who then actually lived in the villages at different times? White’s Directory in
1844 provides us with the following lists:
Great Thurlow
George Brand - Poulterer, George Bridgman - Maltster,
Samuel Bridgeman - Blacksmith, John Chapman - Wheelwright,
John Kettle - Tailor,
Robert Malkin - Gentleman,
Robert Farrow - Beerhouse keeper, Thomas Gardner - Miller/ Maltster,
James Daniels - Grocer & Draper, Thomas Rollinson - Saddler,
Richard Rose - Victualler Crown, John Payne - Bricklayer,
Rev William Selbie - Independent, Samuel Talbot - Baker, William Snazell
- Joiner, Builder and Farmer,
Samuel Thompson - Joiner, Rev William Wayman - Vicar,
Samuel Woolard - Shoemaker.
Farmers
George |Bridgeman ,George Golding,
Samual Jonas West End,
James Pearl, Harlica
Rands, Pearl Wadgells,
Lucy and Christopher Traylen Sowley Green,
Barsham Wakelin West End
Little Thurlow
Benjamin Baker - Surgeon, Benjamin Betts - Wheelwright,
Mr Simon Choat, Mr Rd Collins,
Rev F. Crick - Curate, James Daniels - Grocer and draper,
Joseph Dearsley - Corn miller, Hy Farrow - Farrier,
John French - School master, Joshua Lee - Turner and shovel maker;
Joseph Smith - Tailor, Ezra Neave - Collar and harness maker,
George Trudgett - Baker, John Sergeant - Beerhouse keeper,
James Wakelin - Blacksmith, John Webb - Butcher,
Henry Webb - Shoe maker, Joseph Fitch - Shoe maker,
Thomas Sparrow - Victualler Cock,
Wm Vince - Grocer and draper
Farmers
Samuel Bailey, Mary Howard, Alice Osborne, William Osborne,
John Goodchild, Capt. J. Dench
Villages are not just collections of houses. It is the people who live in the
villages that give them their identity. The Thurlows have inevitably had their
fair share of characters and some of the stories that follow have passed into
the folklore that is the village.
Millie Talbot (Amelia Hayes)
Millie was the daughter of the labourer from Barnardiston called John Mayes and
his wife Elizabeth Mary Carter. Millie lived until 1927 and had a reputation as
a healer. It is thought that she was a gypsy child and accordingly she had a
close association with the gypsies all her life. It is reputed that the gypsies
put a special friendship mark on Millie’s door. Millie lived in the house next
to the shop near to Crown Hill. Millie married George Talbot and had 13
children, 8 of whom survived. Some of her gypsy cures included: curing coughs,
bronchitis and chest troubles by rubbing hedgehog fat on your chest, and curing
chilblains by placing your feet in a bowl of your own urine. As well as being
known as a healer or a whit witch, she also acted as the village midwife. Her
other talents included swarming bees by collecting them in a container as she
banged a kettle on a pan. She also kept a pet jackdaw on a string in the garden
that used to peck the legs of the children as they came to draw water from the
village pump which was situated in her garden.
Elizabeth Webb
Elizabeth Webb is the author of two poems about Thurlow that appear in the
village exhibition. These pieces describe eloquently the pace and kind of
peaceful life that she enjoyed when she lived in the village. She ran a small
private school from the house that is now known as Wheatsheaf Cottage. Then it
was known as the Manse and she taught Elizabeth Frink and members of the Ryder
family, amongst others.
Mrs Pemberton Barnes (Mother Barnes)
Mungo Lodge was her home and she also owned all the Mill property. She also
owned a Dance Hall that was situated in her garden. She was an eccentric
character who walked about with a ‘spud’ – a narrow bladed spade. She used to
organise an outing for the children of the village every year. She would hire a
coach from Longs of West Wratting and it would be parked alongside the lime
trees opposite her house and she would stand by the door and hand the children
each a sixpence as they clambered aboard for the trip to Clacton-on sea. She
also organised trips to Newmarket with a hamper and once again a sixpence to
spend in Woolworths at Eastertime.
Sue Ryder in her autobiography describes her early life at Great Thurlow and
includes some lively anecdotes concerning Mrs Barnes. Mrs Barnes organised a
trip to the Derby and handed Mrs Ryder a large bunch of red, white and blue
flowers with an instruction to present them to Queen Mary. The absence of a
funeral bier for the Thurlows also taxed her so she insisted that one should be
constructed and that the bier, covered in the Union Jack, should process through
the village, followed by a service in Little Thurlow Church. Eight hymns were
then sung in quick succession and Mrs Barnes and the exhausted choristers headed
for home.
The dance hall was also used for election meetings and at one Mrs Barnes
appeared bearing ‘a very heavy box of apples which she then proceeded to throw
thick and fast at the party on the platform’.
The Smith Family
One of the families known to have been in Little Thurlow for almost 200 years is
the Smiths, and although the Smith name itself can no longer be found, direct
descendants still live in the village. Joseph Smith and his wife Elizabeth were
both born in 1802 and were married in 1826. They had four sons and three
daughters, and in the 1861 census they were to be found living at Overgreen Farm
(in the area behind Tara in Little Thurlow Green). Two of their sons were
recorded as being agricultural labourers like their father, although their
eldest son William, born in 1829, proved to be more adventurous, and emigrated
to South Australia in 1854. Their youngest daughter Mary left the village to go
into service.
Their son John Smith (born in 1839) spent all his life in Little Thurlow,
marrying Eliza in 1858. They lived at Temple End and had four sons and two
daughters. John was widowed when his youngest daughter (Kate) was born. In later
life he lived at Locks Cottage, where two of his grandchildren were born to his
daughter Harriet. All of the children born to Eliza and John are buried in
Little Thurlow churchyard and extension, except William, the eldest, who left
the village to work in the brewing trade in Burton-on-Trent.
John and Eliza's second son Thomas was born in 1861, was married to Jessie, and
was a blacksmith working in the smithy that stood in the Square opposite
Driftside. His daughter Eliza married Dick Sargent, who for years was the
village builder and undertaker, and their son Fred continued in the family
business at Brookside until the 1970s. Fred died in 1993.
Tom and Jessie ended their days in the middle almshouse, next to brother John,
who had lived previously next to his sister Kate, in cottages that have long
since disappeared but which were alongside Mill View. Kate married Jerry Wright,
and they were the parents of Dora Rowlinson, who lived in Porch Cottage. Their
son (Herbert) spent all his working life working at Manor Farm. Dora's grandson,
Paul Atherton, is the sixth generation to live in the village, and he carries on
the unbroken tradition of working the land.
John and Eliza's daughter, Harriet Smith, born in 1866, married Charles Webb
from Great Bradley, and made her home in Little Thurlow Green, first in the Old
Thatched Cottage, and later at Green Farm Cottages (now one half of Blackbirds
Cottage). They had four sons and four daughters. Three sons served in France in
the 1914-18 War. Sergeant William John Webb was killed, but Frederick and Harry,
who was a signaller, returned home from the front, as they were needed to work
on the ploughing engines. They and their father Charles were among the first in
the area to work these engines. Fred left Little Thurlow to drive one of the
first steam lorries for 'His Master's Voice' Record Company in Hayes, Middlesex.
The four daughters and the youngest son all went to London to work in service.
Harry stayed and married Winifred Smith (no relation) of Withersfield in 1924,
and they lived with Charles, a widower, at Green Farm Cottages, where they had
three daughters and two sons. Harry spent his working life on the land at Little
Bradley, Church Farm, Little Thurlow and later on the Thurlow estate. Living in
a tied cottage meant a move to 147 The Green, now Fair Rig, for the job at
Church Farm. After a further four years, they moved to 2 Council Houses, before
in 1953 becoming landlord and landlady of the Red Lion, now the Old Inn. After
ten years they made their final move to Rose Cottage in Little Thurlow. Their
daughter, Iris Eley (née Webb) is the only remaining member of this branch of
the family still to live in the village.
John and Eliza's son Fred (born in 1869) married Jane and raised ten children in
the Thatched Cottage by the almshouses on the Bradley Road. His son, another
William (born in 1900), spent all his life working at Manor Farm for the
Tilbrook family. Bill and his wife Louie lived at Locks Cottage, where his
father had once lived. Bill was a real character, who rang the church bells,
kept the boiler going, took the collection (singing on his way), dug graves and
kept everything neat and tidy.
Four generations of the Eley family following the maternal line have lived in
Little Thurlow. Bill, Derrick and Eileen (Rooks) are Thurlow -born, as was their
mother Alice (née Dearsley). Their father, Harry, was the son of Elizabeth and
Arthur, who lived in the Square (now 116b). Harry served in the 1914-18 War
winning a medal for bravery in the field, and he received a cup for the best
pair of horses in the Royal Field Artillery. Sadly, his life was shortened as a
result of the gas attacks in that war. Eileen served for four years in the
Second World War, finishing as a corporal.
The Dearsley family had a long connection with the Little Thurlow Post Office.
Martha Dearsley, née Rogers, ran it when it was situated in what is now
Trudgetts. This business later moved to 122a The Street, when the postmaster was
Alec Sadler who was married to Martha's daughter Bessie. They ran the Post
Office until it closed in the late 60's. Martha's father William Rogers was the
post master before this.
Derrick and Eileen were both involved in the work of the Post Office in their
time. Derrick used to deliver telegrams as far afield as East Green in Great
Bradley. He once accidentally dropped the keys inside the post box when
collecting the day's mail, much to his uncle's disgust. Eileen, too, did her
stint by delivering mail for eight years until the early 50s.
The Rowlinson Family
John Rowlinson, grandfather of Jack Rowlinson who lives with his wife Doris at "Driftside",
took over the "Cock Inn" in 1912. The "Cock" then remained with a succession of
Rowlinsons until 1971. John was succeeded by his brother (Jack's Uncle Orris),
then by Jack's father John in 1922 whose eldest son Sydney followed him from
1949 to 1971.
The second John Rowlinson had seven children. Sadly, their eldest daughter Edna
Smith was killed in a road accident involving an army vehicle in 1941.
John (II) farmed the fields at the rear of the "Cock Inn", with stock including
pigs and chickens. He was also a haulage contractor for West Suffolk County
Council, using three horses and carts at first, then adding two lorries for his
work on the roads.
John also did quite a lot of taxi work using the various cars he owned during
his years at the "Cock". Doris and Jack have records of the taxi service from
1924 including the charges, which were quite expensive. These include many
journeys by the vicar, various families and well-known people, usually to the
station, and also the Misses Day. There were very few cars around at this time
and it is thought that his was the only car in Thurlow at one period.
Adrian Taylor recalls the story that one evening in the 1920’s he had to go to
meet a train in Haverhill and went to see if he had enough petrol in the Tin
Lizzie. There was of course no petrol gauge in his car, so John took the usual
means of light in those days – a candle- but as you may have guessed, while
directing the light so he could see in the petrol tank, the candle fell out of
the holder into the tank and blew up the car.
Jack tells the story of Brigadier Frink always bringing two men and two horses
home when he came on leave during the war. These were lodged and stabled at the
"Cock". Brigadier Frink also owned and rode a retired racehorse, which Jack used
to exercise for him.
Jack's wife Doris was the daughter of the village policeman, Tom Hart, before
she married. She has memories of the various families who ran the village shop.
Jack remembers the Purkis family of whom Doris only has vague memories.
The Brown Family
The Brown family must have been around in the early to mid 1930s. Mr. Brown
appeared as a very mysterious man, always dressed in dark clothes, wearing heavy
rimmed spectacles. Mrs. Brown was a very polite, educated and talented lady, a
very good pianist and singer. Apparently over-generous when serving customers,
she had been known to give money back.
Mr. Brown was terrifying to children, as they always peered through the glass
door to see if he was about or was there alone before entering the shop for
errands. He was apparently a commercial traveller who would disappear for weeks
and his wife would be unaware of his whereabouts. Mrs. Brown made frequent
visits the local police station complaining of ill treatment by her husband,
although it seems it was a love/hate relationship, as on many visits they were
quite happy together! They were not in Thurlow for many years. It was reported
that Mrs. Brown committed suicide after they left Thurlow; apparently she put
her head in the gas oven.
The Browns were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Hale was quite a character
(very outspoken) and the correct approach was most important when making a
purchase. It was fatal to say, "Have you got a certain item?" His reply would
be, "Mr. Hale has got everything". This being wartime we didn't always get what
we wanted!
Mr. Hale and his son made excellent bread and pork pies. Jack remembers Mr. Hale
letting Fred (his son) deliver the bread with a pony and trap around Cowlinge
and Bradley East Green areas. Fred did the local deliveries on a trade bicycle.
In later years Mr. Hale's eldest son took over the business and kept the shop
open for a number of years. Sadly, after Ernest Hale left it ceased to remain a
shop.
The Day Family
"Here lies the Daye that darkness could not blind..." is the beginning of a
memorial inscription in Little Bradley church to John Daye, the famous printer
(he printed Foxe's Book of Martyrs and was one of the first English music
printers). He was born in Dunwich in 1522 and died on his way to Little Bradley
in 1584.
His second wife was Alice Le Hunt, by whom he had 13 children, but we only know
about two of them: Lionel Daye who was provost of Eton and John Daye who was
vicar of Little Thurlow from 1622 to 1627. According to the family bible, the
Day family are descended from John Daye and Alice Le Hunt.
Further records reveal that William Day lived in Rectory House, Great Bradley
with his wife Joanna Seeley Day (née Pettett). He was born in 1788, married in
1813 and died in 1873. His fourth son, Richard Pettett Day, became the shop
keeper in Little Thurlow, running a drapers and general store where Corner
Cottage is now. In 1853 Richard married his first cousin Mary-Anne Day from
Winteringham in Huntingdonshire. They had eight children, four sons and four
daughters. The eldest son James emigrated to Australia, where he was murdered on
his way back home from the bank on April 27th 1906. The second son William
Osborne moved to Leicestershire and married Louisa Jane Goodacre; Thomas Day
remained at home, dying at the age of forty seven; John the third son died from
influenza at the age of twenty whilst studying at Oxford to enter the church.
Tamar, Joanna and Elizabeth all became governesses and returned to Thurlow in
their later years. Agnes, the youngest daughter, became a governess for a short
time and then during the First World War was a nurse at the military hospital at
Netley in Hampshire. She was one of the first physiotherapists!
The Atherton family
One of the best-known families in Great Thurlow was the Atherton family. The
family was large and Frederick and Kathleen Atherton had fifteen children, many
of whom have stayed in the village. One of their daughters, Kathy Crooks, has
written a short piece describing their life, as follows:
‘Frederick and Kathleen Atherton (Freddy and Gert to all who knew them) lived
most of their married lives in Great Thurlow. Gert was born in Withersfield, one
of six daughters of Tom and Martha Notley. Freddy was born in Gt Thurlow at the
Glebe, a house behind the windmill up in the fields, and was the youngest child
of Mark and Florence Atherton.
On leaving school at the age of 13 Gert worked for the Tilbrooks at The Rose
&Crown in Great Thurlow and Freddy worked in the shop at Little Thurlow for Mr
Purkis.
Freddy and Gert got together and married in 1919, both aged 18. They set up home
in The Square in Little Thurlow and then began their hard and happy life
together. Work was hard to find and by 1923, with three daughters , they were
becoming desperate. Then one day the Reverend Basil Fleming of Great Thurlow
offered Freddy a job for 30 shillings a week (of which Gert had £1.7s.6d. and
Freddy had 2s.6d). This partnership with Rev. Fleming lasted 27 years.
In 1929, now with six children, they moved to Great Thurlow at Church End.
Freddy looked after the church, was a bell-ringer, pumped the organ, lit the
fires and sang in the choir. The key to the church was also kept at his house
(and is still there today, his sons being the custodians).
Freddy and Gert struggled and never had new clothes or a holiday. Freddy would
have his holiday time paid in potatoes during the war, and he worked on the land
for Great Thurlow Hall to avoid being called up in the army. By 1939 they had
twelve children. The baker would call three times a week and leave 15 loaves
every time. Having a large family was looked down upon and they had a hard time,
but they were suddenly very popular in the war when everybody wanted their
clothing and meat coupons.
Freddy was in the fire service during the war. Things were now looking up a bit
as several of the elder children were at work and Gert cleaned the church and
the school. By the end of the war they had 15 children – 11 of them were boys
and later on half the Thurlow football team were Athertons!’
Two World Wars took their toll. The First World War claimed the lives of ten
villagers and also that of William Ryder who was killed while flying in 1917
near Arras in France. Sadly, the War Memorial in the church records five more
victims in the Second World War, four with the same surname as their
predecessors, although not necessarily the same family. The telegram boy was
much feared during the Second World War in Little Thurlow Green, as four out of
the five who were lost came from that part of the village.
The war brought excitement to those too young to understand the horror of war.
Two planes came down, one in the field behind Little Thurlow church, setting the
haystacks alight in Manor Farm Yard, and another in Little Thurlow Green
opposite Green Farm Barn. Children spent many happy hours searching for
ammunition and bits of fuselage. The war brought strangers too, the London Irish
were billeted at Mungo Lodge and at the Hall and there was a search- light
battery at the top of Dark Lane in Little Bradley. Sadly one young soldier was
shot on sentry duty outside the Hall gates and two other villagers were fatally
injured by military vehicles. The village also played host to evacuees, so there
were new and different faces in the village school. As the village was an
agricultural village the vast majority of men and women were in restricted
occupations and had to stay to work the land, although some saw service and some
women left the village to work in London and in the ammunitions factories. There
was an active Home Guard and some ex-soldiers from the first war were assigned
special duties should the country be invaded. Sandwiched as the village is
between two wartime airfields at Wratting and Stradishall, the drone of the
aircraft became an all too familiar sound, and the children became experts on
the differences in engine noise of the various aircraft.
This gentle exploration of the history of theThurlows reveals much more than
perhaps one had realised about these small villages. They have a sense of
permanence, with links back to the time of the Romans. We can trace their
history from Domesday to reveal self-sufficient village communities that
remained largely intact until the middle of this century. The post-war era has
seen the greatest period of change as the numbers
of people employed on the land has dwindled, and many of the tradespeople have
vanished along with their premises. The introduction of the tractor and the car
meant a drop in the numbers of employees required to implement the new farming
methods and enabled villagers to seek work further afield. The farms, the old
schools, the independent church and the almshouses are now private homes,
inhabited either by people who
once worked on the land or by those who work elsewhere, with the exception of
the estate workers, grooms and domestic staff who work for the Vesteys. Some
replacement houses have been built but the village is not so active now.
Paradoxically, in spite of these changes, both new and established villagers
speak of the sense of community that still exists here. The 'busy-ness' has been
replaced by the unwelcome increase of traffic, as people speed their way
elsewhere to work. No longer are the villages virtually self-sufficient, with
the nearest shop and surviving garage in
Great Thurlow, and only one pub left in Little Thurlow.
However, the sense of community is still evident. The Golden Jubilee
celebrations in June 2002 brought villagers out in their droves to enjoy a party
at Little Thurlow Hall
where young and old enjoyed a night to remember!
Kate Atherton 15 January 2003
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