Botesdale
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Botesdale is a village and
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
Mid Suffolk Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just three towns, being Stowmarket, Needham Market and Eye. Its council was based in Needham Market until 2017 when it moved to sha ...
district of the
English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...
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 ...
. The village is about south west of Diss, south of
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
and north east of
Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
. The village of
Rickinghall Rickinghall is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is split between two parishes, Rickinghall Inferior and Rickinghall Superior, which join with Botesdale to make a single built-up area. There used to be t ...
merges with Botesdale along the B1113 road, locally known as simply: ‘The Street’. Their connection creates the appearance of a single built-up residential area and the boundary between the two is difficult to identify. Bottelmsdale may be an older variation of the name, seen in 1381.


Culture and community

The village retains some local services, including shops and public houses. The Bell Inn (in Rickinghall) began life as a
coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
stop for people en route through the village in the 17th and 18th centuries – it was a popular stop due to its extensive stabling for large draught horses. Botesdale Health Centre was established in 1972, and St Botolph's Primary School was opened in 1994 after the closure of two
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
schools – Rickinghall CofE Primary School and Redgrave and Botesdale CofE Primary School – which served the villages of Botesdale, Hinderclay, Redgrave and Rickinghall for over a century. The school now teaches over 200 pupils, from part-time Nursery pupils to Year 6 classes. Most students transfer to Hartismere High School in
Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...
at age 11. St Botolph's church was built in the late 15th century as a chantry chapel. When chantry chapels were abolished in the 1540s it became a school and a house was added on for the schoolmaster. In 1884, it was restored to use as a chapel of ease to Redgrave. It is a grade II* listed building


Transport

The B1113 road runs through Botesdale. In the 17th and 18th centuries, this used to be a busy roadway for travellers from
Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...
to Bury St Edmunds, and on further to
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 ...
. The A143 now bypasses the village. Before the opening of the bypass in 1995, traffic through the village was some 7,500 vehicles per day. Botesdale is served by Simonds of Botesdale Ltd's Country Link bus service.
National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...
train stations are accessible from Diss and
Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
.


Notable residents

The village's most famous resident was the actress
Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be no ...
, who died there on 16 October 2007. Another notable resident was the artist and theatrical designer Audrey Cruddas, who lived at Bank House during the 1960s and '70s. Elizabeth Craig, the cookery writer, lived in St Catherine's, one of the oldest houses in the village, from the 1960s onwards, and wrote an article, 'Footsteps in the Grass', in ''East Anglia Monthly'', documenting the house's history. Newman Knowlys, the
Recorder of London The recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The recorder is appointed by the Cr ...
in the early 19th century, was educated in the village.


References


External links


''Diss Express''
- village's local newspaper website

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Mid Suffolk District Civil parishes in Suffolk