Edwardstone 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 ...

in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The parish contains the

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 ...

of Mill Green, Priory Green, Round Maple and Sherbourne Street, and

Edwardstone Woods Edwardstone Woods is a 27 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Edwardstone in Suffolk, England. It is in four areas, Park Wood with the adjacent High Wood, Cowper's Wood, Stallington Wood and Priory Down. These are ancient ...

, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The parish touches Boxford,

Great Waldingfield Great Waldingfield is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England about two miles (3 km) north-east of Sudbury and two miles (3 km) south-west of its sister village, Little Waldingfield. The village is spli ...

, Groton, Little Waldingfield, Milden and Newton.

History

The name "Edwardstone" means 'Eadweard's farm/settlement'. Edwardstone was listed 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 ...

'' as ''Eduardestuna''. Edwardstone Priory was a priory in Priory Green and was founded by

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, Bishop of Winchester during the reign of King John, the priory was a cell to Abingdon monastery, before the

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s resident were moved to

Colne Priory Colne Priory at Earls Colne, Essex was a Benedictine priory, initially a dependent cell of Abingdon Abbey, Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). It was founded by Aubrey de Vere I and his wife Beatrice in or before 1111. One piece of research suggests t ...

. The priory may be the origin of the place name "Priory Green". The village was the birthplace of

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...

, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Historical writings

In 1870–72,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical index or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains informati ...

's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described the village as: In 1887,

John Bartholomew John Bartholomew (25 December 1831 – 29 March 1893) was a Scottish cartographer. Life Bartholomew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, John Bartholomew Sr., started a cartographical establishment in Edinburgh, and he was educated ...

also wrote an entry on Edwardstone in the Gazetteer of the British Isles with a much shorter description:

Listed buildings

There are 31 listed buildings in Edwardstone, some include: *Edwardstone's parish church, St Mary's, is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. *Mill Green has 9 Grade II listed buildings, all timber-framed and plastered houses, Crossways, Earls Cottages, General Stores, Mill Green Cottage, Mill Green End, Moat Farm Cottage, Sans Souci, The Thatched Cottage and Tudor Cottage. *Priory Green contains 5

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

s, the Barn to the North of Lynn's Hall, Lynn's Hall, Priory Cottage, Priory Farmhouse and Priory Green Cottage. *There are 4 Grade II listed buildings in Round Maple, all timber-framed and plastered: Flushing Farm, an 18th or early 19th century building; Little Thatch, a renovated 17th to 18th century single-storey building; Quicks Farm, a house with a red brick front, gable ends; and Seasons, a single-storey

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

building with attics.

Notable residents

* John Hoskyns (1927-2014), Policy Advisor to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

while head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit from May 1979 and April 1982. * Thomas Browne, (1889-1978), Archdeacon of Ipswich from 1946 until 1963 and

honorary canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

at St Edmundsbury Cathedral from 1936 to 1946. * Henry Lowry-Corry (1845–1927),

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician, and

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 o ...

(MP) for

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

1873–1880. *

William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (27 March 1817 – 7 May 1885), known as The Lord Ward from 1835 to 1860, was a British landowner and benefactor. Background and education Ward was born on 27 March 1817 at Edwardstone, Boxford, Suffolk, Engl ...

(1817-1885), landowner and benefactor. * Joseph Brand (MP), (1605-1674), merchant, landowner,

for Sudbury in 1660 *

, (1587/88-1649),

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. ...

lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

References

External links

Parish Council websiteEdwardstone on the National Historic List for England
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Babergh District