Charsfield is a small

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 ...

village of 342 residents, from Wickham Market, from Woodbridge and from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and is located near the villages of

Debach Debach is a small village about four miles northwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK. History At the time of the Domesday Book, 1086, it was called Debenbeis or Debeis, Depebecs, Debec or Debes and located in the Hundred (county subdivision), Hund ...

and Dallinghoo. 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 ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

, Charsfield was famously used as one of the key locations in the 1974 film ''Akenfield'', based loosely upon the book ''Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village'' by

Ronald Blythe Ronald George Blythe (6 November 1922 – 14 January 2023) was a British writer, essayist and editor, best known for his work ''Akenfield'' (1969), an account of agricultural life in Suffolk from the Fin de siècle, turn of the century to the ...

(1969). Charsfield hosted the first Greenbelt festival – an annual festival of arts, faith and justice – on a pig farm just outside the village over the August 1974 bank holiday weekend.

Local facilities

*Charsfield village hall *Baptist Chapel *Charsfield Primary School (linked to St Peter's church); famous alumni of the school include Charlotte Greig, a British novelist, singer, and songwriter. *Charsfield recreation ground *Garage *St Peter's Church (

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

)

Notable people

* George Fox the Younger (died 1661) was born in Charsfield. He came to the same religious conclusions in the early 1650s as his namesake,

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 13 January 1691 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Dissenters, English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Quakers, Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as t ...

(1624–1691), the founder of the Quaker movement. The former was so-named because, of the two, he was "the younger in the truth". His strong-worded tracts were published after his death. * Michael Parkes (1931–1977) an engineer at Rootes in the 1950s, on the Hillman Imp project, when he began a sports car racing career (including Le Mans). Joining Ferrari as an engineer in 1963, he had his chance to drive in the Formula One championship when John Surtees split with the company. He raced four times in 1966 (coming second twice) but this career ended in 1967 when he skidded in his second race, breaking both legs. He returned to sports car racing in the 1970s but died in a road accident in Italy in August 1977. His father, John Joseph Parkes, who had been Chairman of the Alvis Car Company, retired to Suffolk and was living at Brook Farmhouse in Charsfield by that time. Both father and son are buried near the north-east corner of St Peter's churchyard. * Peggy Cole (1936–2016) was born in Easton, Suffolk, but by the early 1970s was resident in Charsfield when local Akenfield author Ronald Blythe introduced her to the Director, Peter Hall at the village flower show. This led to her being cast as Dulcie Rouse, mother of the central character in the film of Akenfield and, subsequently, caused her to be a well-known local figure. Her "council house garden", previously opened on occasion for charity, became highly visited (once by Princess Margaret). Peggy was keenly interested in Suffolk rural life. She wrote several books, gave talks and regularly broadcast on local radio. She received the MBE in 1993 for her charity work. She died in January 2016, aged 80.

References

External links

Charsfield village web siteNew Charsfield Village Hall Web siteCharsfield School WebsiteTourist Information
Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk {{Suffolk-geo-stub