Sotherton is a dispersed 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 East Suffolk district, 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 located approximately south 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 ...

and north-east of

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tribut ...

. The

A145 road The A145 is an A road in the English county of Suffolk. It runs from east of the town of Beccles, close to the border with Norfolk, to the village of Blythburgh where it joins the A12 road. It is around in length and single carriageway thro ...

passes through the east of the parish area.Blyford & Sotherton
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-10-12. The mid-2005 population estimate for Sotherton parish was 80.

Uggeshall Uggeshall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, located approximately 6 miles (10 km) south of Beccles and 4 miles (6km) north east of Halesworth close to the A145. The mid-2005 pop ...

is located just to the north-east, Byford to the south and

Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is spli ...

to the south-east.

Latitude Festival Latitude Festival is an annual music and arts festival set within the grounds of Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. The first edition of the festival took place in 2006 and has continued annually (apart from 2020 when it was cancel ...

takes place a couple of miles east.

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 ...
entry

HUNJRET OF BlIDINGA lYTHING (At) SuDRETUNA othertonRada a freeman held under Harold 2 carucates of land as a manor. now Franc holds it of Drogo. Then and after- wards 16 bordars, now 19. Then as now 2 serfs. Then and afterwards I plough on the demesne, now 2. Then as now 3 ploughs be- longing to the men. And 2 acres of meadow. Wood(land) for 100 swine. A church with 5 acres. And 1 rouncey. And now i beast. Then 12 swine, now 24, and 25 sheep. Then as now it was worth /^.os. It is i league long and half a league broad. And (pays) i\d. in geld. Rada, Drogo's predecessor, had soke and sac. To this manor Humphrey de Sancto Bertino added I freeman with 12 acres, over whom his predecessor had commendation T.R.E. Then as now 1 bordar. And half a plough. Worth 2s.

C19 Gazetteer Descriptions

In 1868 The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland wrote, "SOTHERTON, a parish in the hundred of Blything, county Suffolk, 4 miles N.E. of Halesworth, 7 S. of Beccles, and 2 N.W. of

Wangford Wangford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wangford with Henham, in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, just off the A12 trunk road on the edge of the Henham Park estate just outside Southw ...

, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Blyth, and is wholly agricultural. The living is a rectory annexed to that of

, in the diocese of Norwich. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew." In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

: "SOTHERTON, a parish in Blything district, Suffolk; 4 miles ENE of Halesworth r. station. Post town, Wangford. Acres, 1,085. Real property, £1,675. Pop., 187. Houses, 39. The property belongs to the Earl of Stradbroke. The living is a rectory, annexed to Uggeshall. The church was rebuilt in 1854." And in 1894-5 The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales: "Sotherton, a parish in Suffolk, 4 miles ENE of Halesworth station on the East Suffolk branch of the G.E.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Wangford (R.S.O.) Acreage, 1095; population, 159. The property belongs to the Earl of Stradbroke, who is

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

. The living is a rectory, annexed to Uggeshall; joint gross value, £588 with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Stradbroke. The church, which was rebuilt in 1854, is a small building of flint in the Decorated style. "

St Andrews Church

The parish church is dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

and is located on a small dead-end lane signposted off the A145. It 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 ...

.Listed Buildings in Waveney District Area
''Waveney District Council'', 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-19 It possesses a fine 1811 bust of

John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke (30 May 1750 – 27 August 1827), known as Sir John Rous, Bt, from 1771 to 1796 and as The Lord Rous from 1796 to 1821, was a British nobleman, race horse owner and Member of Parliament. He married Charlotte Mari ...

Nollekens Joseph Nollekens Royal Academy of Arts, R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculpture, sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 ...

, and a good late C13 effigy of a knight, of which the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

possesses 2 C19 prints.

Global Village Trucking Company

In the 1970s Jeremy and

James Lascelles James Edward Lascelles (born 5 October 1953) is an English musician and the second son of the 7th Earl of Harewood and his first wife, Marion. Lascelles is a second cousin to King Charles III. Music When young, Lascelles had classical piano an ...

, sons of the

7th Earl of Harewood George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (7 February 1923 – 11 July 2011), styled The Honourable George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was a British classical music administrator and author, and ...

, had a commune in Church Farm, with their band

Global Village Trucking Company James Edward Lascelles (born 5 October 1953) is an English musician and the second son of the 7th Earl of Harewood and his first wife, Marion. Lascelles is a second cousin to King Charles III. Music When young, Lascelles had classical piano an ...

, roadies, etc.

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old ...

was a regular visitor. The writer Dinah Jefferies lived there, and has written about her experiences. In 1973 the BBC made a documentary film about the rock group living in a Suffolk commune with their families, friends, roadies and managers. They made a follow-up in 2003. Church Farm is now a holiday let.

Sotherton Hall

Sotherton Hall is a

grade II listed 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 ...

Tudor

timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

farmhouse or

Hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...

with a shaped brick gable end, set by a listed 17th/18th century timber framed and weatherboarded

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

, in a small park towards the North of the parish mentioned by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

. It belonged to the Earls of Stradbroke, as part of the

Henham Park Henham Park is an historic estate in the parish of Wangford with Henham, situated north of the village of Blythburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The park is bordered to the east by the A12 road and to the west by the A145, the two ro ...

estate, until 1951 when it became part of the

Blyford Blyford (formerly known as Blythford) is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about east of Halesworth and separated from Wenhaston by the River Blyth, Suffolk to the south. It is in the civil parish o ...

Estate of John Hill.

Notes

References

External links

Blyford and Sotherton Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District

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 ... entry