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Baylham

Coordinates: 52°07′42″N 1°04′55″E / 52.128233°N 1.081917°E / 52.128233; 1.081917
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Baylham
Baylham Church
Baylham is located in Suffolk
Baylham
Baylham
Location within Suffolk
Population266 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceTM106515
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townIpswich
Postcode districtIP6
Dialling code01473
Map
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°07′42″N 1°04′55″E / 52.128233°N 1.081917°E / 52.128233; 1.081917

Baylham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Ipswich and 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Stowmarket. The buildings making up the village begin either side of the B113 road, with the majority following Upper Street and northwards along Church Lane, close to the church, to Glebe Close.

History

The earliest evidence of habitation in and around Baylham goes back to between 9,000 and 4,000BC, with a 2007-8 excavation in the parish finding a prehistoric pit with flint fragments and ditches, suggesting the presence of a barrow cemetery and possible field system. [2] The remains of two separate Roman fortifications and a possible small settlement have also been discovered, known as Combretovium, which is thought to have existed across a 60-hectare area to the mid 4th century. Its role as a crossing point at the River Gipping along the Pye Road from London to Caistor St Edmund made it a useful military staging ground, particularly during the Roman defeat of the Iceni.[3]

While records of the post-Roman period are scarce, it's thought incoming Anglo-Saxons settled along the length of the Gipping in the wake of the Roman withdrawal from England, with evidence of cemeteries being found near Coddenham and Hadleigh in the Gipping valley spanning the 5th-8th centuries.[4][5] The river was also certainly navigable and in use as of 800AD, when the Danes traversed it to establish Ratles-Dane, sailing up from the Orwell. The region would have been incorporated into the system of Hundreds at this time (now Bosmere and Claydon). [6]

Middle ages

The earliest recorded settlement in the post-Roman era has existed at Baylham since at least 1085 and it is listed in the Domesday book as Beleham (meaning "Fair/Gentle Enclosure" in Old English), in the Hundred of Bosmere, formerly under the control of Thegn Ælfric 'of Blakenham' on behalf of Queen Eadgyth.[7] The book records the village as consisting of 37 households and a half (shared) church, making it relatively large for the time, and 20 of these original households consisted of freemen, hosting a mixed pasturage of 130 sheep, 40 pigs and 13 cattle.[8]

Its first recorded Lord, post-Conquest, was Roger Bigot, a knight loyal to William The Conqueror who was given control of hundreds of locations across Suffolk and Norfolk after the 1066 Norman Conquest.[9], while its chief tenant was William of Bourneville of Eure, whose holdings were primarily in the Hundreds of Bosmere and Cosford.[10] Lordship of the village was passed down through the Earldom of Norfolk until Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk died childless and his lands were escheated to the crown in 1306. Prominent families from this period include the de Weylands, who were recorded as being "of Baylham" as early as 1200. [11]

During the black death Baylham is thought to have fared poorly and, despite being part of a broadly prosperous and growing region following the Norman Conquest, just 20 taxpayers were registered in the 1327, a number that would hold steady until the late 16th century. Also during the 14th-15th centuries, the main body of the church was expanded and established.[12]

Towards the end of the 14th century, Alice Weyland met James Andrew and they married in 1399. The Andrew family, primarily of burgess stock, went on to establish themselves as lower gentry with interests especially in Ipswich, Bramford and Sproughton, with James becoming well-known as an executor and trustee, eventually working directly for the Earl of Suffolk in the 1400s and in Henry V's first Parliament in 1413. In 1434 however a dispute over land in Baylham led to James' undoing. He had since 1414 been in a dispute with Richard Sterysacre, a favourite of the Duke of Norfolk, and after being threatened had taken the decision to seek security of the peace (a public oath backed by monetary sum) from Sterysacre and his supporters. The day before the court case was due to begin however he was attacked and killed, forcing his wife and widow to seek protection directly from Earl Suffolk. The killing and its aftermath saw intense tensions arise between the Earl and the Duke of Norfolk, with the threat of large-scale violence being so concerning that the King's Council was forced to directly intervene.[13]

James' son, John, also became a firm supporter of the Earl and would sit for him in Parliament in 1442 and 1449. John's own daughter, Elizabeth, would go on to marry first Robert Litton, and then Thomas Windsor.[14]

Early Modern Period

Through the 15th and 16th centuries, the manorial holding was assigned to Thomas Windsor as of 1479 and upon his death in 1485, would have passed to his eldest son Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor,[15] who died in 1543.

As of 1626 the Windsor family had been replaced by John Acton (d. 1661).[16] The Actons would remain influential in the area from the 17th-19th centuries, with their principal seat being at Bramford Hall – noted for having 22 hearths in its 1674 heyday.

By the 17th century, the village's name had evolved and appears in John Speed's 1610 map as Baleham. The village's Baylham House Farm (see below) hosted "Smasher" William Dowsing who was resident in the building from at least 1642 to 1661, though the puritan enforcer had closer ties with nearby Coddenham, possibly due to his dislike of then-minister John Bird. Bird was in charge of Baylham Church from 1625-1645 before being ejected for having a second holding in Bedfordshire. [17]

Baylham saw something of a boon for its agricultural industry in the late 18th century when the canalisation of the Gipping from Stowmarket to Ipswich, led by famed engineer John Rennie, took place in the 1790s, allowing for easier transport to and from its millhouse, as well as the later construction of a water mill. Remaining elements of these works are among the oldest examples of Rennie's designs. [18]

Modern Period

Fertile mixed farmlands of loam, sandy and clay soils meant that Baylham remained a strongly agriculture-centred village into the 20th century. In 1831 and 1841 censuses 55 residents were listed as working the land, with six in retail and one blacksmith, overseen by six farmers out of a population of 238. This number fluctuated only a little through the 19th and 20th centuries, with 215 inhabitants recorded in 1981. While considerable expansion of the number of properties has taken place since the turn of the millennium, this has not been reflected by a sharp rise in residency, with the census of 2011 recording 266 people.

In 2002 Baylham Mill briefly became famous as the home and place of discovery of a lost artwork by Nicholas Poussin, The Destruction And Sack Of The Temple Of Jerusalem. Ernest Onians, a pigswill salesman who had lived at the mill for many years and was an avid art collector, had acquired the piece while visiting house sales in the 1940s and '50s. Unaware of its provenance, he kept it at the mill along with around 1,000 other works, and never had it appraised. When he died in 1995 the painting was included in a general sale of goods by auction house Sothebys, and mistakenly sold at a guide price of £15,000 under the name of Poussain's pupil, Pietro Testa. Bidding soared to £155,000 and it was eventually acquired by London gallery Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox – which went on to resell the piece for £4.5 million to the Rothschild foundation. The Destruction And Sack Of The Temple Of Jerusalem was later donated to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Sothebys was sued by Mr Onians' family and eventually paid out a six figure sum over the error.[19][20]

Baylham's position on the Gipping saw it included in a number of works in the 2010s aimed at re-opening the canalised river to walking and navigation, organised through the River Gipping Trust. Restoration of Baylham's sluice gates and lock took place in 2013 and 2016.

Points of Interest

Baylham is most famous for its old millhouse, built in the early 16th century with a pre-Reformation core, which has been represented in pictures by Graham Bell and David Gentleman and is now a private abode. The associated bridge and watermill are newer constructions, built in the early or mid 18th and 19th centuries respectively.[21]

Nearby is Baylham House Farm, Mill Lane, also known as Baylham Rare Breeds Centre (0.5 miles (0.80 km) northeast from the village) on the other side of the B1113. The 50-acre farm is built on the former Roman settlement site, and while no ruins remain, artifacts are on display in the farm shop. Parts of the farmhouse itself date back to the 16th century, and it was once home to Dowsing.[22]

Baylham Hall, an early 17th century manor house sited west of the main village, is Grade II* listed. Baylham Common is 100 metres west of the church on the other side of the road.

Column Field Quarry, also known as Masons Quarry, sits astride the Baylham/Great Blakenham border to the south. Formerly mined by the Masons Cement Works, it closed in 1999. The chalk pit is currently partially unused, or being used for landfill, and has been subject to several controversial development applications including for winter sports facility SnOasis, which fell afoul of a protection order related to great crested newts in the 2000s[23] and its successor project Valley Ridge[24]

On the edge of the parish boundary, to the west of Ditch Wood in the neighbouring parish of Barking, is Tarston Hall, a Grade II listed building featuring a medieval double moat. Tarston is thought to have been constructed in the 16th century with later additions.[25]

The Church of St Peter

The church is sited at the west end of the village, on a hill just off Church Lane. It was initially constructed in late Romanesque style in the 12th century and had Gothic style windows inserted in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its fittings from this era partially survived both the English Reformation and the later inspection of Dowsing, albeit with damage to animal figures and a symbol of the trilogy.[26]

The church was restored in the 1870s by Revd W E Downes, who commissioned architect Frederick Barnes to carry out the work. Barnes was also responsible for the construction of Needham Market and Stowmarket railway stations. Downes, who acted as rector for 40 years, died in 1899 and was memorialised with a plaque.[27]

Several burial slabs in the church reference the Acton family. Most notable is the monument to William Acton (c. 1684–1744), who was Tory MP for Orford in 1722–27 and 1729–34, as well as High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1739-40.

Two buildings which were originally part of the church estate are the old vicarage to the north of the church and a village school to its south, which taught around 70 pupils from the surrounding villages of Nettestead, Darmsden, Great Blakenham and Lower Baylham. Founded in 1860, Baylham School closed in the late 1960s,[28] and both buildings have since become private residences.[29]

Present Day

Restored in 1997, the village hall can be found on Upper Street. Beyond Baylham Rare Breeds Farm, agricultural enterprises in the area include White Wheat Farm to the north, Yew Tree and Hill Farm to the south and Moat Farm on its Eastern edge.

Other businesses include a garage sited next to the B113 and Baylham Care Centre – an over-65s nursing home supporting up to 55 people. The latter made headlines in 2014 for its innovative approach to dementia care, which included building a replica village for residents.[30] The village's former post office and local shop have been converted to residential use.

Travel

The 88 bus stops at the bottom of the hill. The closest rail station is at Needham Market. It is possible to walk the length of the River Gipping through Claydon to Bramford and Ipswich.

References

  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Monument record BAY 037". Suffolk Heritage Explorer. Suffolk Heritage. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Coddenham (Combretovium) Roman Forts". Roman Britain. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  4. ^ Penn, Kenneth. "The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Shrubland Hall Quarry, Coddenham, Suffolk". East Anglian Archaeology. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Ipswich Saxon". Heritage Suffolk. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  6. ^ "History of the Gipping". Gipping Restoration. River Gipping Trust. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Parish: Great Blakenham" (PDF). Heritage Suffolk. UK Government. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Baylham". Open Domesday. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  9. ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Roger Bigot". Open Domesday. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  10. ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "William of Bournewille". Open Domesday. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  11. ^ Lorna, Collins. "Nicholas de Weyland". Geni.com. Myheritage Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Parish: Baylham" (PDF). Heritage Suffolk. UK Government. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  13. ^ "The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421". History of Parliament Online. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Baicon Geneaology". usgennet.org. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  15. ^ "PROB 11/29/416" (PDF). Oxford Shakespeare. National Archives. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Parish: Baylham" (PDF). Heritage Suffolk. UK Government. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. ^ Blatchley, John (2001). The Journal of William Dowsing. Ecclesiological Society. p. 30. ISBN 9780851158334.
  18. ^ "History of the Gipping". Gipping Restoration. River Gipping Trust. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  19. ^ Fraser, James. "Sotheby's in six-figure payout". Ipswich Star. Archant. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  20. ^ Herscher, Penny. "The strange story of the lost Poussin the "Destruction And Sack Of The Temple Of Jerusalem" and my Uncle Ernie". The Grassy Road. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Baylham". Suffolk CAMRA. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Baylham House History". Baylham House Farm. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  23. ^ "Newts still obstacle for SnOasis". Ipswich Star. Archant. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  24. ^ "Great Blakenham landfill site end date set to pave way for Valley Ridge". BBC News. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  25. ^ "Monument record BRK 002 - Tarston Hall". Suffolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  26. ^ "Baylham House History". Baylham House Farm. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  27. ^ "A Brief History of Saint Peter's Church, Baylham". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  28. ^ Beaumont, Ben (1996). A Trip Down Memory Lane: Reminiscences of the Village of Baylham, Suffolk.
  29. ^ Dennis, Chaplin. More Tales of Village Life and the Country People o Suffolk.
  30. ^ "Care home staff build replica village in Suffolk for dementia sufferers". ITV News. Retrieved 7 January 2023.

Media related to Baylham at Wikimedia Commons

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