Assington is a village in

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, south-east of Sudbury. At the 2011 Census it had a population of 402, estimated at 445 in 2019. The parish includes the hamlets of Rose Green and Dorking Tye.

History

According to

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (8 January 1877 in Vallsjö – 23 November 1964 in Lund) was a Swedish academic, Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to 1942 and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language in the firs ...

, the meaning of the name is "homestead of Assi". Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, the village was held by Siward Barn. The ''

Domesday Book 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 records the village as being made up of 78 households including 5 villagers, 6 freemen, 55 smallholders, and 12 slaves along with 23 cattle, 60 pigs, 90 sheep, 12 goats, 6 beehives, 30 pigs, 1 mill, and 16 acres of meadow. At the time the Lord and tenant in chief of the village was Ranulf PeverelAssington
Open Domesday. Retrieved 2015-10-23. 78 households implies a population similar to that of today A church on the site of St Edmunds was recorded in the Domesday Book, with the earliest recorded mention of a vicar being in 1349 and that of a dedication to St Edmund in 1459.

Historic buildings

The parish church is dedicated to St

Edmund the Martyr Edmund the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869) was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death. Few historical facts about Edmund are known, as the kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by t ...

and built of flint and dressed stone. It dates from the 15th century and was restored in the 19th century.Church of St Edmund, Assington
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 23 October 2015. A ring of six bells hangs in the tower, the largest of them weighing about 10.5 cwt (533 kg). All six were cast and hung in 1890 by

John Warner & Sons John Warner and Sons was a metalworks and bellfoundry based in various locations in the UK, established in 1739 and dissolved in 1949. Previous businesses A company was founded by Jacob Warner, a Quaker, in 1739 and originally produced water p ...

in a modified frame. Ringing is currently prohibited. Assington Hall, which is adjacent to the church, was the home of the Gurdon family for several centuries. John Gurdon (c. 1544–1623) was elected a Member of Parliament for the borough of

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town and civil parish in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government district and part of the South Suf ...

, in 1571, as was his son Brampton Gurdon (died 1648) in 1621, who became

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

in 1629. Later members of the Gordon family were involved in local charities through the 18th century. The hall was pulled down in 1957 after a fire, but the stables and coach house remain and are grade II listed.

Transport

Assington is served on Monday to Saturday by daytime buses between Sudbury and Colchester. The nearest railway station is at Bures (about 3 miles – 5 km – away). Hourly trains to and from

Marks Tey Marks Tey is a large village and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Essex, England; it is located six miles west of Colchester. It is one in a group of villages called ''The Teys'', including Great Tey and L ...

link with mainline trains to and from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

Amenities

The village has a farm shop, a pub-restaurant (the ''Shoulder of Mutton''),Own site. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
/ref> a village hall and a post office, all in The Street running off the main A134 road between Sudbury and Colchester.

References

External links

*
Assington Church, St Edmund King & MartyrAssington Mill
* {{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Babergh District