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

located approximately from

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the mediev ...

in Suffolk, England. The village consists of a central point and several outlying

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

: Buttons Green, Colchester Green, Cross Green, Great Green, Oldhall Green, Smithwood Green and Windsor Green. Surrounded mostly by fields used for farming, and with few roads, its population was 839 in 2001, increasing to 868 at the 2011 Census. The village previously had a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the Long Melford-Bury St Edmunds branch line, but it was closed in 1961 as part of the Beeching Axe. Its football team, Cockfield United play in the Suffolk and Ipswich Football League.

History

The present village has been inhabited for well over 2000 years. The finding of a sword (now in the Moyse Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds) is evidence of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

settlement, and a number of findings indicate ancient defensive ditches, known as The Warbanks. The village's present name is derived from "Cochan-feld" probably indicating a site established by a person named Cochan. The village appeared 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 manus ...

of 1086 under the name of "Cothefelda" and is listed as a prosperous manor whose wealth had grown since the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

. During the Middle Ages, the village became "Cokefield" and finally "Cockfield". Cockfield became a centre a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

ism during the 17th century. During the 19th century the parish was one of the largest and wealthiest in Suffolk and the seat of a number of prestigious rectors.

St Peter's Church

A landmark visible for a distance across the neighbouring countryside, the church of St Peter's is one of the finest of Suffolk's many village churches, with the present building mostly dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The church's size is unusual for such a rural location, but this becomes less surprising when one considers its location between the three great medieval merchant towns of Bury St Edmunds,

, and Sudbury. There is no record of a church in the

although a village of Cockfield's size would almost certainly have had one. The first surviving record of the parish's ecclesiastical history dates from 1190 when William de Cullum was installed as the first

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, although there is no existing record of the site prior to the building of the present church in the 14th century. The church fell under the patronage of the Abbot of St Edmundsbury until the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

when the

Spring family The Spring family is a Suffolk gentry family that has been involved in the politics and economy of East Anglia since the 15th century, as well as holding large estates in Ireland from the 16th century.Joseph Jackson Howard, ‘Spring’, ‘’ ...

, wealthy

clothiers and noblemen, took over, resulting in a close link with the region's strong

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

trade. From 1708 the patronage fell to St John's College, Cambridge who appointed a number of distinguished Fellows of the College. Rectors of St Peter's have included John Knewstub the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

William Ludlam William Ludlam (1717–1788) was an English clergyman and mathematician. Life Born at Leicester, he was elder son of the physician Richard Ludlam (1680–1728), who practised there; Thomas Ludlam, the clergyman, was his youngest brother. (His so ...

the mathematician, and

Churchill Babington Churchill Babington (; 11 March 182112 January 1889) was an English classical scholar, archaeologist and naturalist. He served as Rector of Cockfield, Suffolk. He was a cousin of Cardale Babington. Life He was born at Rothley Temple, in Leic ...

the archaeologist and botanist. In May 1582, an assembly of about 60 clergymen from Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire met in Cockfield Church to confer about the Prayer Book, clerical dress, and customs. The church's sizeable square flint tower dates from the 14th century and is

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

ed almost to the top. The tower was nearly destroyed by a storm during the winter of 1774-5 and on August 2, 1775, after repairs were nearly completed, an apparent lightning strike resulted in a fire that damaged it once again. The mathematician William Ludlam, rector from 1767, installed an astronomical observatory on the tower whose filled in windows can still be seen.

The village school

In the same road as the church is the village school, serving the village and surrounding communities. Children from the ages of four to nine attend the school. Find more information a
the school website

Notable residents

* John Spring (?-1547), merchant and landowner. * John Knewstub (1544–1624), clergyman and one of the participants in the Hampton Court Conference of 1604 representing the

side. * William Manning (1630?–1711),

ejected minister The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in England. Several thousand Puritan ministers were forced out of their positions in the Church of England, following The Restoration of Charles II. It was a consequence (not necessarily ...

and Unitarian writer. *

(1717–1788), clergyman and mathematician, rector of Cockfield. *

(1821-1889),

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, archaeologist and naturalist * Norah Burke (1907-1976), novelist and travel writer.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Babergh District Civil parishes in Suffolk