Homersfield, also known as St Mary, South Elmham, 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 north 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 ...

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 ...

. It is in the East Suffolk district, south-west of the market town of

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

and north-east of Harleston. The official name of the civil parish is St Mary, South Elmham otherwise Homersfield. It is one of the parishes around Bungay known as The Saints.Homersfield
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-03-01. The parish had a population of 158 at the

2011 United Kingdom census A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...

. The northern boundary of the parish is the

River Waveney The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The earliest attestation of the name is from 1275, ''Wahenhe'', from ''*wagen + ea'', meaning the river by a q ...

which marks the county border with

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. It borders the Suffolk parishes of Flixton,

St Cross South Elmham St Cross South Elmham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district, close to the border with Norfolk and is east of Harleston, Norfolk, Harleston and s ...

and Mendham and the Norfolk parishes of Denton, Alburgh and Wortwell.

Transport

The B1062 road runs through the parish. This was the main road between Diss and Bungay until the main

A143 road The A143 is a road that runs from the Gorleston-on-Sea area of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk to Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill in Suffolk. For much of the route (between Gorleston-on-Sea and Bury St Edmunds) the road is classified as a primary ro ...

was built along the route of the Waveney Valley railway line to the north of the Waveney. This operated between 1860 and 1964 and Homersfield railway station was located just across the river, serving the village.Homersfield otherwise Homerfield St. Mary or South Elmham St. Mary
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

. Retrieved 2021-03-01.

Homersfield Bridge Homersfield Bridge Blue plaque on bridge Homersfield Bridge is a road bridge across the River Waveney between Norfolk and Suffolk, and stands partly in the civil parishes of Alburgh and Wortwell, Norfolk and partly in Homersfield, Suffolk. I ...

, a span bridge across the Waveney, was built in 1870 by the Adair estate. It is the oldest surviving concrete bridge in Britain. A replacement bridge was built in 1970 just to the east and the bridge is now open only to pedestrians and cycles. It was restored during the 1990s.Homersfield
Suffolk Pubs,

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founded on 16 ...

. Retrieved 2021-03-01.

Culture and community

The village is clustered around a green close to the Waveney.Monument record SEY 036 - Homersfield historic settlement core
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-03-01. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary and dates from the 12th-century with a 14th-century tower. The interior of the church was heavily restored in 1866. The church is a Grade II* listed building.Church of St Mary
List entry,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. Retrieved 2021-03-01.Knott S (2007
St Mary, Homersfield (South Elmham St Mary)
Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-01. From 1754 until the sale of Flixton Hall in the 1940s, the village was largely an estate village controlled by the Adair baronets connected to Flixton Hall just to the east. Other than the church, the only remaining service in the village is the ''Black Swan'' public house. One of the first community bus services in England operated in the parish in the late-1970s. A series of six thatched

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable organization, charitable public housing, housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the povert ...

, Barnfield Cottages, were built in the village during the 1920s by the Adair estate. Designed by Maurice Chesterton, they remain in use and are a Grade II listed building. Sands and gravels have been quarried at Homersfield since the 1940s. The

Breedon Group Breedon Group plc (formerly Ennstone plc) is a British construction materials company which has its headquarters at Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Inde ...

operates Flixton Qaurry and Concrete plant in the east of the parish close to the site of Flixton Hall.Flixton Quarry & Concrete Plant

. Retrieved 2021-03-01. A lake, the site of a former gravel pit, is a commercial fishery located between the village and the modern quarry. A geological

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 ...

borders the quarry and is named Flixton Quarry. It provides a cross-section through the Homersfield Terrace, part of the valley of the Waveney.Monument record SEY 067 - Flixton Quarry SSI
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-03-01.

References

External links

Homersfield Bridge at Engineering Timelines
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk