Earl Soham is a small settlement in

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. It is on the

A1120 road The A1120 is an 'A' road in the English county of Suffolk. It links Stowmarket to Yoxford passing through the centre of the county.Clark.R (2003The long and winding road ''The Telegraph'', 2003-04-12. Retrieved 2011-04-05. It is long. Route ...

and is west of the town of

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...

. Earl Soham once belonged to the Earls of Norfolk, the Bigod family (sometimes spelt "Bigot" in old texts), who also owned nearby Framlingham Castle.

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

granted Roger Bigod permission to hold a market and a lamb and stock fair in the village. The parish was in the hundred of Loes well before 1086. The church dates from about 1320 (chancel) with the nave dated to about 1470 (Kelly's Suffolk Directory 1900) and a perpendicular west tower c. 1475. The Baptist Chapel was built around 1863. The school was first built in 1850. Earl Soham Lodge was originally a hunting lodge, built in the 13th century but rebuilt in 1789. For many years it was the seat of the Cornwallis family. The population of the village peaked in the 19th century with over 750 inhabitants. Sir

Auckland Colvin Sir Auckland Colvin (1838–1908) was a colonial administrator in India and Egypt, born into the Anglo-Indian Colvin family. He was comptroller general in Egypt (1880–2), and financial adviser to the Khedive (1883–87). From 1883–92 he wa ...

, colonial administrator in India and Egypt, is buried in the village churchyard.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches south to

Charsfield Charsfield is a small Suffolk village of 250 residents, from Wickham Market, from Woodbridge and from Ipswich and is located near the villages of Debach and Dallinghoo. A civil parish in East Anglia, Charsfield was famously used as one of ...

with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 2,144.

Notable residents

Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne (; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a deep curi ...

, Archdeacon of Ipswich *Nicholas Peke, one of the

Ipswich Martyrs The Ipswich Martyrs were nine people burnt at the stake for their Lollard or Protestant beliefs around 1515-1558. The executions were mainly carried out in the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk on The Cornhill, the square in front of Ipswich Town Hall. ...

Thomas Steyning Thomas Steyning (died c. 1582?), of Earl Soham, Suffolk, was an English politician. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Castle Rising in 1559. Family He married Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey and had two children: a son He ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Castle Rising Castle Rising is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some north-east of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich. The River Babingley skirts the north of the village separating C ...

in 1559. * Robert Groome,

Archdeacon of Suffolk The Archdeacon of Suffolk is a senior cleric in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy in the territory of the archdeaconry. History Originally in the Dioceses of No ...

, colonial administrator in India and Egypt *

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novel ...

, US Born Crime writer between 1964- 67

References

External links

Earl Soham Village Website
Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk {{Suffolk-geo-stub