All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham is a

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the north of the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. It is south of the market town of

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Suffolk.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 the neck of a meand ...

and the same distance north-west of

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and 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 tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. T ...

and east of

Harleston Harleston may refer to: Places * Harleston, Devon *Harleston, Norfolk *Harleston, Suffolk People with the surname *Bernard W. Harleston (born 1930), American college administrator * Edward Harleston (1794–1826), American planter and politician ...

. The parish is in the East Suffolk district and is one of the parishes that make up the area around Bungay known as The Saints.All Saints & St. Nicholas, St Michael and St Peter, South Elmham
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-02-27. It includes the settlements of All Saints, South Elmham and St Nicholas, South Elmham. The parish has a population of around 130. It borders the parishes of

St Peter South Elmham St Peter South Elmham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is around south of the market town of Bungay in the East Suffolk district. It is one of the villages surrounding Bungay which make up the are ...

, St Michael South Elmham,

St Margaret South Elmham St Margaret South Elmham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is south-west of the market town of Bungay in the East Suffolk district. It is one of the parishes surrounding Bungay which are known as T ...

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 so ...

St James South Elmham St James South Elmham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north-west of the market town of Halesworth and south-west of Bungay in the East Suffolk district. It is one of the parishes around Bungay ...

and

Rumburgh Rumburgh is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is north-west of the market town of Halesworth in the East Suffolk District. The population of the parish at the 2011 United Kingdom census was 327. The village is ...

. The parish council is operated jointly with St Peter and St Michael South Elmham.

History

The parish is believed to be part of the land given by

Sigeberht of East Anglia Sigeberht of East Anglia (also known as Saint Sigebert), (Old English: ''Sigebryht'') was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king ...

, the ruler of the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Kingdom of East Anglia la, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Angles , common_name = East Anglia , era = , status = Great Kingdom , status_text = Independent (6th centu ...

Felix of Burgundy Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich (died 8 March 647 or 648), was a saint and the first bishop of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia. Almost all that is k ...

during the 7th-century. 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

on 1086, both All Saints and St Nicholas were included as part of the area recorded as South Elmham in

Wangford Hundred Wangford was a hundred of Suffolk, England, consisting of . Wangford Hundred was an area of around from west to east and five across. The River Waveney formed its northern border separating it from Norfolk. To the east lay Mutford and Lothinglan ...

. A population of 108 households was recorded.(South) Elmham (All Saints, St Cross, St James, St Margaret, St Michael, St Nicholas and St Peter)
Open Domesday. Retrieved 2021-02-23. By the early 12th-century, the land was held by the

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

, before being seized during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and transferred to

Edward North, 1st Baron North Edward North, 1st Baron North ( 1504 – 1564) was an English peer and politician. He was the Clerk of the Parliaments 1531–1540 and Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1557–1564. A successful lawyer, he was created the first Baron North, giv ...

in 1535. By the late 16th century the Tasburgh family from the Flixton area had become dominant in the parish. The Adair family from

Cratfield Cratfield is a village in northern Suffolk, England. "It has a population of 292 according to the 2011 census." Neighbouring villages include Laxfield, Metfield, Cookley, Huntingfield, Heveningham. The nearest town, Halesworth, is approximately ...

later became the main landowners. The two parishes of All Saints and St Nicholas were combined in 1737.South Elmham All Saints and St Nicholas
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative 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 Government Association. History Establ ...

. Retrieved 2021-02-27. Suckling AI (1846) 'South Elmham, All Saints', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1'' pp.183–189. Ipswich: WS Crowell.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-27.)

Culture and community

Moated farmhouse at St Nicholas South Elmham - geograph

The parish church of All Saints survives, although it is formally redundant and cared for by the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. It is a Grade I listed building, dates from the 12th-century and is one of around 40

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 Berkshi ...

es in Suffolk.Church of All Saints
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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

. Retrieved 2021-02-27.All Saints' Church, South Elmham, Suffolk

. Retrieved 2021-02-27.Knott S (2008
All Saints, South Elmham All Saints
Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-02-27.All Saints, South Elmham
The Round Tower Churches Society. Retrieved 2021-02-27. Other than the parish church, the village has no services. The church of St Nicholas was in ruins by the 17th-century and by the early 20th-century only a cross survived marking the position of the building.Knott S (2008

Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-02-27. Suckling AI (1846) 'South Elmham, St Nicholas', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1'' pp.227–229. Ipswich: WS Crowell.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-27.)Monument record SEN 008 - St Nicholas' Church (site of)
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-02-27.

Notes

References

External links

{{East Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District