Weybread 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

Mid Suffolk Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just three towns, being Stowmarket, Needham Market and Eye. Its council was based in Needham Market until 2017 when it moved to sha ...

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. It is located on the northern boundary with Norfolk, 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 ...

forming the boundary. Weybread-g3

Its church, St. Andrew's, is one of 38 existing

round-tower church Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berks ...

es in Suffolk. This tower is Norman, but most of the church is from 13th-15th centuries: visible are the gargoyles on the tower and the perpendicular-gothic windows and knapped flint porch. Weybread formerly had three public houses; the Chequers and the Horseshoe have since closed, leaving only one, the Weybread Crown.

History

In 1086 Weybread was recorded 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 having a population of 65 households, placing it amongst the largest 20% of settlements recorded. Land ownership was divided between

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

Robert Malet Robert Malet (c. 1050 – by 1130) was a Norman- English baron and a close advisor of Henry I. Early life Malet was the son of William Malet, and inherited his father's great honour of Eye in 1071. This made him one of the dozen or so g ...

Roger of Poitou Roger the Poitevin or Roger de Poitou (mid-1060s – before 1140) was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat possessing large holdings both in England and through his marriage in France during the early 12th century. He was the third son of Roger of Montg ...

William de Beaufeu William de Beaufeu was a medieval Bishop of Thetford and a major landholder mentioned in the Domesday Book.The Domesday Book, Englands Heritage, Then and Now, Editor: Thomas Hinde, Major Domesday landholders page 338 Life William's land holdings ...

Bishop of Thetford The Bishop of Thetford is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. The title was originally used by the Normans in the 11th century, and is now used by a Church of England suffragan bishop. ...

, and

Bury St Edmunds Abbey The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine Monastery, monasteries in England, until its Dissolution of the Monasteries, dissolution in 1539. It is in the town that grew up around it, Bury St Edmunds in the county of Suff ...

. 4 ¾ mills were recorded, 3¾ belonging to Robert Malet and 1 to Roger of Poitou.

Clifford Darby Sir Henry Clifford Darby (7 February 1909 – 14 April 1992), commonly known as Sir Clifford Darby, was a Welsh historical geographer and academic. He was a key figure in the establishment of historical geography as a subject in British academia, ...

has suggested that the other ¼ of a mill was recorded as being in Instead, which has been incorporated into Weybread. Weybread was part of

Hoxne Hundred Hoxne was a hundred (subdivision), hundred of Suffolk, with an area of . Hoxne Hundred was a fertile district averaging about in length and breadth. It was bounded on the north by the River Waveney which separates it from Norfolk, on the east by ...

Murders

On 3 June 2016 Peter and Sylvia Stuart of Brick Kiln Cottage, Mill Lane were reported missing. The body of Peter Stuart was found the same day in nearby woodland. The body of Sylvia Stuart has never been found. Ali Qazimaj, 42, of

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for the double murder.

Notable people

Alfred Ablett VC DCM (3 August 1830 – 12 March 1897), a

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, was born in Weybread and is buried in the churchyard of St. Andrew's.victoriacross.org.uk
He was the first soldier from Suffolk to be awarded the Victoria Cross

References

External links

Diss Express
- village's local newspaper website

a

Villages in Suffolk Mid Suffolk District Civil parishes in Suffolk {{Suffolk-geo-stub