Aldringham cum Thorpe is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the East Suffolk district of

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Located south of the town of

Leiston Leiston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is close to Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...

, the parish includes the villages of Aldringham and

Thorpeness Thorpeness is a seaside village in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, which developed in the early 20th century into an exclusive resort. It belongs to the parish of Aldringham cum Thorpe and lies within the Suffolk Coast and Heat ...

, which is on the coast, between Sizewell (north) and

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

(south). In 2007 it had an estimated population of 700, rising to 759 at the 2011 Census.

Thorpe

''For Thorpeness holiday village, see

.'' The common Old Scandinavian name of "Thorp" signifies a small settlement, often a farm, outlying from a mother village upon which it was dependent, and in this sense the coastal settlement of that name should be understood in relation, probably, to Aldringham, with which it has long been associated.

Hundred river: northern boundary of the Wicklaw

Aldringham and Thorpe lie at the southern extremity of the Blything Hundred, its boundary with the more southerly Hundred of Plomesgate lying along the line of the Aldringham Hundred river. In more ancient terms, this was also the boundary between the "Wicklaw" (the domain of five-and-a-half Hundreds centred upon

Rendlesham Rendlesham is a village and civil parish near Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It was a royal centre of authority for the king of the East Angles. The proximity of the Sutton Hoo ship burial may indicate a connection between Sutton Hoo a ...

and

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Archaeology, Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbed ship burial containing a wea ...

, also called the "

Liberty of St Etheldreda Ely ( ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district, in Cambridgeshire, England, northeast of Cambridge, southeast of Peterborough and from London. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 19, ...

"), the power-base of the 7th-century Wuffinga kings of the East Angles, and the corresponding domain of Blything centred upon a likely royal foundation at Blythburgh.N. Scarfe, ''The Suffolk Landscape'' (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1972), pp. 94-95, 206. The Hundred stream passes from near Knodishall church through the silted valley of Knodishall Common and south of Coldfair Green. It crosses the Leiston to Aldeburgh road just south of the Aldringham crossroads and, overlooked by the knoll at Aldringham church, flows into the

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

ny vale of the RSPB North Warren area before feeding into the Thorpeness Meare. The notable Roman site near Knodishall church thus communicated with the sea by this historic, now silted waterway: it stood in significant relation to the former maritime haven now represented by the low ground to the west of the coastal road between Aldeburgh and Thorpeness, within the defensive compass of the

Saxon Shore The Saxon Shore () was a military command of the Late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the " Count of the Saxon Shore". In the ...

Manors: Domesday and later

At the

Domesday Survey Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, the estates of Aldringham and the manors of Thorpe were distinct. At Thorpe there were two manors with ploughteams and wood for several hogs, one of 50 acres (with 2 acres also in

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

) held by the freeman Wolmer, and the other of 20 acres held by Ulmar (probably the same person). William Malet, the father of

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

(who held the Aldringham estates), was seised of both, and

Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk Roger Bigod (died 1107) was a Norman knight who travelled to England in the Norman Conquest. He held great power in East Anglia, and five of his descendants were earls of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness ...

was tenant-in-chief. There was also a Domesday holding of 69 acres, with 2 acres of meadow and wood for 20 hogs, held by a freeman under Earl Alan, who with the king had the soke of that land.'Thorpe', in W.A. Copinger, ''The Manors of Suffolk'', II: The Hundreds of Blything, Bosmere and Claydon (Taylor, Garnett, Evans & Co., Ltd., Manchester 1908)
p. 168
(Internet Archive). William Bigod, son of Roger, granted Edric of Thorpe together with all the lands, men and services in Thorp and Dunwich to the Priory of the Virgin Mary and St Andrew in Thetford, which his father had founded. However the manor was vested in Leiston Abbey, and at its dissolution in 1536 was granted by the Crown to

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk ( – 22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was the brother-in-law of King Henry VIII. Biography Born in 1484, Charles Brandon was the secon ...

. A medieval stone chapel stood at Thorpe, which fell into disuse after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, but which formed a chapelry attached to the advowson and rectory of Aldringham church during the 17th century.'Aldringham', in W.A. Copinger, ''The Manors of Suffolk'', II: Hundreds of Blything, Bosmere and Claydon (Taylor, Garnett, Evans, & Co., Ltd., Manchester 1908)
p. 4
(Internet Archive). The

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

of Aldringham had been granted first to Butley Priory, and then transferred to Leiston Abbey, by

Ranulf de Glanvill Ranulf de Glanvill (''alias'' Glanvil, Glanville, Granville, etc., died 1190) was Chief Justiciar of England during the reign of King Henry II (1154–89) and was the probable author of '' Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie ...

, founder of those houses, during the later 12th century.

Benefit of wrecks

Thorpe is mentioned in the 12th-century foundation endowments of Snape Priory. William Martel, Albreda his wife, and Geoffrey Martel, their son and heir, granted their manors of Snape and

, and that of Friston, to the abbot and monastery of St John at Colchester, so that they should establish a prior and monks as a cell at Snape. With the manor of Snape was granted the benefit of wrecks from the sea, from Thorpe to

Orford Ness Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from th ...

.'Aldeburgh', and 'Snape', in W.A. Copinger, ''The Manors of Suffolk'', V: Hundreds of Lothingland and Mutford, Plomesgate, and Risbridge (Taylor, Garnett, and Evans, & Co., Ltd., Manchester 1909)
at pp. 95
an
pp. 166-67
(Internet Archive).

References

{{Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk