Edwardstone 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 Babergh district, in the county 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. The parish contains the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Mill Green, Priory Green, Round Maple and Sherbourne Street, and Edwardstone Woods, a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. In 2021 the parish had a population of 375. The parish borders Boxford, Great Waldingfield, Groton,

Little Waldingfield Little Waldingfield is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located two miles from its sister village, Great Waldingfield, it is part of the Babergh District, Babergh district, and includes the hamlet of Humble Green. In 2021 its popu ...

, Milden and Newton.

History

The name "Edwardstone" means 'Eadweard's farm/settlement'. Edwardstone was listed in 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 ...

'' as ''Eduardestuna''. Edwardstone Priory was a priory in Priory Green and was founded by

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

during the reign of King John, the priory was a cell to Abingdon monastery, before the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s resident were moved to Colne Priory. The priory may be the origin of the place name "Priory Green". The village was the birthplace of

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

, one of the founders of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

Historical writings

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described the village as: In 1887, John Bartholomew also wrote an entry on Edwardstone in the Gazetteer of the British Isles with a much shorter description: Edwardstone was in the Babergh hundred, in 1894 it became part of Cosford Rural District which became part of the administrative county of

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral di ...

in 1889. In 1974 it became part of Babergh non-metropolitan district in the non-metropolitan county of Suffolk. In 1960 the village school closed. Edwardstone House School, an independent school closed on 31 August 1993.

Listed buildings

There are 31 listed buildings in Edwardstone, some include: *Edwardstone's parish church, St Mary's, is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. *Mill Green has 9 Grade II listed buildings, all timber-framed and plastered houses, Crossways, Earls Cottages, General Stores, Mill Green Cottage, Mill Green End, Moat Farm Cottage, Sans Souci, The Thatched Cottage and Tudor Cottage. *Priory Green contains 5

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

s, the Barn to the North of Lynn's Hall, Lynn's Hall, Priory Cottage, Priory Farmhouse and Priory Green Cottage. *There are 4 Grade II listed buildings in Round Maple, all timber-framed and plastered: Flushing Farm, an 18th or early 19th century building; Little Thatch, a renovated 17th to 18th century single-storey building; Quicks Farm, a house with a red brick front, gable ends; and Seasons, a single-storey

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

building with attics.

Notable residents

* Joseph Brand (MP), (1605-1674), merchant, landowner, Member of Parliament for Sudbury in 1660 *

Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne ( "brown"; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a d ...

, (1889-1978), Archdeacon of Ipswich from 1946 until 1963 and honorary canon at

St Edmundsbury Cathedral St Edmundsbury Cathedral (formally entitled the Cathedral Church of St James and St Edmund) is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in ...

from 1936 to 1946. * John Hoskyns (1927-2014), Policy Advisor to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

while head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit from May 1979 and April 1982. * Henry Lowry-Corry (1845–1927),

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician, and Member of Parliament (MP) for

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

1873–1880. * William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (1817-1885), landowner and benefactor. *

, (1587/88-1649),

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the

References

External links

Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Babergh District