Ringsfield 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

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 south-west of

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is located along the A145 r ...

in the East Suffolk district. The parish had a population of 323 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 ...

. It borders the parishes of Beccles,

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

, Redisham, Ilketshall St Andrew and Barsham. The parish council operates jointly with Weston.Welcome to the Ringsfield and Weston Website
Ringsfield and Weston Parish Council. Retrieved 2021-02-19.

History

At the

Domesday survey 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 Ringsfield was a large village with a population of 100 households. Most of the land was in the direct holdings of King William, with other holdings controlled by

Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avra ...

and Roger Bigot.Ringsfield
Open Domesday. Retrieved 2021-02-19. It formed part of Wangford Hundred.Ringsfield
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 2021-02-19. Suckling AI (1846) 'Ringsfield', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1'', pp.67–71. Ipswich: WS Crowell.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-19.) The manor passed through a number of families, including the Roos family of nearby Roos Hall. The population of the parish grew to over 300 by the 19th century. It declined in the early 20th century, although house building since the 1970s has led to an increase. The parish was combined with Little Redisham, around south west of Ringsfield, in 1627. The former St James' church was in ruins by the early 17th century and now forms part of the park surrounding Redisham Hall, the northern part of which is located within Ringsfield parish.Monument record RGD 002 - Church of St James, Little Redisham/Redisham Hall Park
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-02-19. Suckling AI (1846) 'Little Redisham', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1'', pp.61–67. Ipswich: WS Cowell.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-19.) Redisham Hall was originally built in the 16th century and is the site of a likely embarked

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conve ...

.Monument record RGD 003 - Redisham Hall Park
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-02-19. It was rebuilt in 1823 by John Garden to replace a previous Elizabethan house. It is a Grade II listed building located in of parkland partly in the parish, to the south-west of the village. It passed down in the Garden family to John Lewis Garden, a big game hunter and husband of Caroline Murat (1833-1902).Redisham Hall, Ringsfield
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 2021-02-19. Parts of the hall are now used as holiday cottages.

Culture and community

The modern village is concentrated around a crossroads at Ringsfield Corner, south of the parish church. The boundary divides this community, with some of the housing within the Weston parish area.Ringsfield and Weston
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-02-19. Ringsfield Hall, in the north of the parish, is an outdoor education centre. The village has a primary school, village hall with a playing field and tennis courts, and a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, the ''Horseshoes''. Few other services remain.Ringsfield Horseshoes
Suffolk Pubs, Suffolk

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 2009-04-20

Church of All Saints

Monument to Caroline de Chassiron - geograph

The parish church is dedicated to All Saints. The building is medieval in origin, with a tower built in 1450. It was refurbished in the 1880s.Church of All Saints
List entry,

. Retrieved 2021-02-19.Knott S (2021
All Saints, Ringsfield
Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-04. The churchyard contains the grave and memorial of the American born Princess Caroline Murat (1833–1902), great niece of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and granddaughter of Joachim Murat, King of Naples. She lived and died at Redisham Hall after marrying John Lewis Garden, whose family seat it was. The church is a 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, Hi ...

. The former St James' church at Little Redisham is in ruins.

References

External links

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