Hartest is a small village and civil parish in the Babergh district of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of Suffolk. It is located halfway between

Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...

and Sudbury on the B1066 road in the Glem valley.

Brockley Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (' ...

is two miles north. The village of Hartest dates back to before 1086 and features 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 ...

. The name 'Hartest' is thought to mean either 'Stag Hill' or 'Stag Wood'. It is claimed that there are no other villages, towns or cities in the world of the same name. The village is centred on the large

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

, fringed by an array of brightly coloured cottages, the village hall or institute, the medieval All Saints church and the Crown

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, formerly Hartest Hall the local landowner's seat. There is an annual fete held on the village green at the end of August each year. Running east of the village centre is Hartest Hill, the steepest in Suffolk. Former Special Envoy for the Archbishop of Canterbury and

Islamic Jihad Organization The Islamic Jihad Organization – IJO ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي, Ḥarakat al-Jihād al-'Islāmiyy) or ''Organisation du Jihad Islamique'' (OJI) in French, but best known as "Islamic Jihad" (Arabic: ''Jihad al-Islami'') for ...

hostage,

Terry Waite Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is an English humanitarian and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he ...

lives in the village.

Local Features and Landmarks

On the north side of the village green stands a large boulder named the 'Hartest Stone'. This boulder, thought to have been placed on that spot in the early 18th century, has attracted speculation over its origins. One theory is that the boulder was moved by sled from the nearby Somerton Hill to celebrate the

Peace of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

and the Duke of Marlborough's victories in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. Another theory suggests the boulder was moved (for the same reasons) from Somerton Common. A third theory suggests the boulder was found in a clay pit owned by one Mr Carter, who had the stone moved to its current location. Local traditions say that the boulder will turn over at the stroke of midnight and sitting on the boulder at midnight will bring a wife or good fortune. Hartest Wood stands on the outskirts of Hartest. The wood was planted in 1999 as part of the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

's 'Woods on your doorstep' scheme to commemorate the new millennium. The wood contains 187 oak trees, representing every household in Hartest at the time. At the centre of the woods an art installation designed by Geoffrey Clarke called 'The Gift' can be found. The village pub, The Crown (previously 'the Crown Inn') stands on the South side of the green. The Crown is a sixteenth century Grade II Listed building and was previously used as a Moot Hall for the village and surrounding area.

References

External links

Parish Council website
Villages in Suffolk Babergh District Civil parishes in Suffolk {{suffolk-geo-stub