Bruisyard is a village in the valley of the

River Alde The River Alde and River Ore form a river system in Suffolk, England passing by Snape and Aldeburgh. The River Alde and River Ore meet northwest of Blaxhall. From there downriver the combined river is known as the River Alde past Snape and A ...

in the county of

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 ...

, England. The village had a population of around 175 at the 2011 census.Bruisyard
Bruisyard Parish Council. Retrieved 2017-12-04. Bruisyard's name appears 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as ''Buresiart''. The name is believed to be derived from 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- ...

term, ''gebūres geard,'' meaning "peasant's yard or enclosure".

Abbey and Hall

The Manor House of Rokes Hall was converted in 1364 into an nunnery of the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

, founded by

Lionel, Duke of Clarence Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, (; 29 November 133817 October 1368) was the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was named after his birthplace, at Antwerp in the Duch ...

Bruisyard Abbey The Abbey of Bruisyard was a house of Minoresses (Poor Clares) at Bruisyard in Suffolk. It was founded from Campsey Priory in Suffolk on the initiative of Maud of Lancaster, Countess of Ulster, assisted by her son-in-law Lionel of Antwerp, in 136 ...

was seized in 1539 by the crown at the Dissolution of the Monasteries under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. An Elizabethan manor house, Bruisyard Hall, was built on the site, incorporating some of the older buildings.

St Peter's church

The village church is a Grade I listed building and dates to at least

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

times. The church is an example of a

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 ...

, rare in England as a whole, but most common in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

dates the windows in the nave and south chapel to the early 16th century. During renovation work undertaken in 2017, medieval wall paintings were uncovered and have now been preserved.

Village Hall

The construction of a new village hall on the Parish Park was completed in December 2009 with support from many funding bodies, including the Big Lottery Fund. The village hall was formally opened in July 2010. The hall has a stained glass window by the artist Sharon McMullin depicting the local flora and fauna, and nine low-relief plaster panels by the sculptor Anne Smith showing past and present local scenes.Anne Smith sculpto

The central panel shows the

entry for Bruisyard (Buresiart). The

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The design ...

commissioned by the Parish Council in 2004 and made by the sculptor Anne Smith depicts Saint Clare of the Order of the Poor Clares. A vineyard in Bruisyard closed in 2002.

References

External links

Website with photos of Bruisyard St Peter
a

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk