Finningham 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 authority ...
in the
Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Needham Market until late 2017, and is currently sharing offices with the Suffolk County Council in Ipswich. The largest town of Mid Suffolk is Stowmarket. ...
district 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 ...
in the
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
, located approximately 7.5 miles north of
Stowmarket
Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket
Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 road (Great Britain), A14 trunk ...
and 16 miles from the county town of
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
. In 2011 its population was 480.
Etymology
Finningham's name is a union of three words: ''Finn;'' ''ing''; and ''ham''. Finningham is a hamlet or encampment (''ham'') of the people (''ing'') of
Finn or Finna.
The surname ''
Finn'' is German, derived from an ethnic name referring to people from Finland. The area was populated by the Angles - one of the main Germanic people who settled after the Romans.
History
![Finningham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Finningham.png)
In the 1870s, Finningham was described as
"a village and a parish in Hartismere district, Suffolk. The village stands adjacent to the Eastern Union railway, 6¼ miles SW of Eye; and has a station on the railway, a post office under Stowmarket, and a fair on 4 Sept."
Finningham railway station
Finningham railway station was a station physically located in the neighbouring parish of Bacton, Suffolk, Bacton, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line between London and Norwich. It was located 86 miles and 54 chains from Liverpool Street and ...
opened in 1848 for goods traffic and in 1849 for passengers. Located in the neighbouring parish of
Bacton, Suffolk
Bacton is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, about north of Stowmarket. The village appeared as 'Bachetuna' in the Domesday Book and the area appears to have been settled at least since Roman times.
At the centre of the village is ...
on the
Great Eastern Main Line
The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...
, the station provided a train link to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
. The station was closed in 1966 as part of the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
, although the line remains open and runs over the nearby Wickham Road.
The monk and author
Robert de Finingham
Robert de Finingham (died 1460) was an English monk in the Franciscan (Greyfriars) monastery at Norwich, and an author.
He was born at Finningham, Suffolk, and educated at the monastery where he later became a monk. He flourished in the reign o ...
, who died in 1460, was born and educated in Finningham.
Church of St. Bartholomew
Built in 1560, the Church of St. Bartholomew has north and south porches, a chancel, and a west tower. The west tower is the most prominent feature of the Church, as it is the tallest and the oldest, with no buttresses to support it.
'The opening above the nave roof to the east consists of a quatrefoil in a circle and this seems likely to be original since there are no traces of any earlier openings here'.
In 1999, a memorial was installed in the church to commemorate the powers of observation and recording shown in historian
John Frere
John Frere (10 August 1740 – 12 July 1807) was an English antiquary and a pioneering discoverer of Old Stone Age or Lower Palaeolithic tools in association with large extinct animals at Hoxne, Suffolk in 1797.
Life
Frere was born in Royd ...
’s publication of Stone Age artefacts found near
Hoxne
Hoxne ( ) is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles (8 km) east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and south of the River Waveney. The parish is irregularly shaped, covering the villages of Hoxne, Cross Street a ...
in the late 1700s. Frere’s excavations and discoveries have resulted in this area of Mid Suffolk being considered one of the most important middle Pleistocene sites in Europe.
John Marius Wilson described the church as "ancient but good; and has a fine font, and monuments of the Freres and the Fenns. There are a Wesleyan chapel, and charities £26."
Geography
Finningham sits in a slight valley either side of a tributary of the
River Dove that flows north-eastwards via
Eye
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
to join the
River Waveney
The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The "ey" part of the name means "river" thus the name is tautological.
Course
The source of the River Wavene ...
at the Norfolk border. The village is situated on the 'High Suffolk' claylands, deposited on the Ice Ages over the chalk that underlies most of the county. This makes the area good for arable farming, because the clay binds the soil together and makes it less prone to erosion.
Demographics
Population
![Finningham population time series 1801-2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Finningham_population_time_series_1801-2011.png)
According to the 2011 Census there were 239 males and 241 females living in the parish.
Over the years, Finningham's population has changed, reaching its peak in 1851 with 571.
Population fell between 1911 and 1921, possibly due to World War I. In 1931, there were 175 males and 152 females in Finningham, but 20 years later, the population of females grew by 17 whereas the population of males fell by 17, most likely due to World War Two and its aftermath.
Age Structure
The mean age in Finningham was 44.9 years (2011 Census) – compared to the national average of 39.3 years.
This could be because of the higher proportion of elderly people (22.8% were over 65 years old
) who may have retired and live in rural villages such as Finningham.
Occupational Structure
![Finningham Occupation 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Finningham_Occupation_2011.png)
Agriculture was a major industry in Suffolk, partly due to the geography of the area. In 1881, 83 people were employed by the agricultural industry
- more than any other in Finningham. 81 of them were men, as women at the time spent more time doing domestic work due to social attitudes and status at the time.
![Finningham Occupation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Finningham_Occupation.png)
The occupational structure of Finningham has diversified. in 1881, 73% of men worked in the agricultural industry so there was a reliance, but in 2011 there appears to be a range of secondary and tertiary industries.
This is reflective of the UK's economic change throughout the 1800s, 1900s and the present day. In 1881, there were a majority of women working in 'Personal Service', 'Clothing', and 'Textiles',
yet in 2011 more women work in the tertiary sector.
The changed social attitudes is reflected by the occupational structure in 2011. Whilst men dominate ‘skilled trades’
(labour jobs that require specific training such as a carpenter or electrician), more women work in ‘professional occupations’ than men.
The fact that more women in Finningham work in the tertiary sector highlights the difference in the role of women in society between 1881 and 2011. 77 women had an ‘unknown occupation’ in 1881,
whereas only 0.6% are unemployed or have never worked in 2011. 'In the 1970s and continuing into the 1980s and 1990s, it became increasingly difficult to find women to hoe, weed, pick stones, and the like, work which on the whole was neither skilled nor unduly heavy'.
This, combined with increasing mechanisation and changing patterns of land use meant that the demand for such jobs declined, so women had to find work in the manufacturing and tertiary sectors.
Religion
Christianity is the most followed religion in Finningham,
shown by the presence of the Church of St. Bartholomew.
Church attendance has fallen during Christmas and Easter from 2006 to 2012. This could be reflected from the 2001 census, when 81% followed Christianity and 10% had 'no religion', compared to the 19% in 2011.
Transport
The closure of
Finningham railway station
Finningham railway station was a station physically located in the neighbouring parish of Bacton, Suffolk, Bacton, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line between London and Norwich. It was located 86 miles and 54 chains from Liverpool Street and ...
in 1966 meant that the nearest railway station is located 7.5 miles south in
Stowmarket
Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket
Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 road (Great Britain), A14 trunk ...
on the Great Eastern Main Line, providing links to Ipswich and London.
The
A140
The A140 is an A roads in Great Britain, 'A-class' road in Norfolk and Suffolk, East Anglia, England partly following the route of the Roman Pye Road. It runs from the A14 road (Great Britain), A14 near Needham Market to the A149 road, A149 so ...
- the main road link between Ipswich and Norfolk - is located 3.6 miles from Finningham,
and can be accessed via Wickham Road, or by the A143 to the north.
References
External links
Village website
{{authority control
Villages in Suffolk
Civil parishes in Suffolk
Mid Suffolk District