Hessett 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 eastern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Hessett is located around four miles south-east of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, 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 – ...

. It is a rural village with a single north-south road off which most other roads flow. In 2011 its population was 464 which is towards the highest recorded population since its peak in 1850.Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk
Suffolk County Council Hessett is south of

Beyton Beyton is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is around east of Bury St Edmunds, south-east of Thurston and north-west of Stowmarket. The main Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds road ...

and west of

Drinkstone Drinkstone is a small settlement and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Its name is derived from Dremic's homestead. It was located in the hundred of Thedwastre. It is near the A14 road and is southeast of the town of Bury St Edmunds. It is ...

History

A small village has been present in this area for over 1000 years with the earliest mention in AD 1005 when Ulfketel gave the village (alongside others) to Abbey Bury, St. Edmund's." According to the 2011 Census there were 216 males and 248 females living in Hessett at this time. The village's name is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for ''Hedge Fold'' with ''hecg'' meaning hedge and ''set'' meaning a dwelling, a camp, a place for animals, a stable, or a fold. The name referring to the agricultural nature and landscape of the village.

Historical writing

In 1870–72,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–72), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was a c ...

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

described the village as:

HESSETT, a parish in Stow district, Suffolk; 2½ miles S of Thurston r. station. The church was built by the Bacons; is in good condition; has a beautiful window and a tower; and contains tombs of the Bacons.

Church

The Church in Hessett is of significance and is featured in

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...

’ book of England’s 1,000 Best Churches. The dedication is to

Æthelberht II of East Anglia Æthelberht (Old English: ''Æðelbrihte'', ''ÆÞelberhte''), also called Saint Ethelbert the King (died 20 May 794 at Sutton Walls, Herefordshire), was an eighth-century saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today in ...

(St. Ethelbert), and the building is a described as a typical Suffolk

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

church of the 15th century. The chancel is separated from the nave by a 15th-century

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

, which is elegantly painted and gilded on the west (

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

) side.

Industry

1881 data for occupations of males and females in Hessett

The census in 1831 gave a more detailed information about people's occupations in comparison to the 1801 census, for Hessett, the majority of the male population aged 20 and over were involved in some sort of agricultural occupation as "the land is chiefly arable", for example; " Farmers employing labourers and agricultural labourers." The remaining of males in Hessett held occupations of "Retail and Handicrafts and 2 Farmers not employing Labourers"., with others being either gentry or their servants "63" people being grouped in this occupation.

Demographics

Hessett population time series 1801-2011

From the population time series created using data from Neighbourhood Statistics and Vision of Britain, it can be seen that there have been considerable changes in the population of Hessett. From 1801 when the first census record was carried out there was evidence of a general increase in the population until 1850. There is a decline in the population from 1850 to approximately the 1970s. This coincides with the mechanisation of agriculture and the need for fewer and fewer workers - it also coincides with two world wars which wiped out a significant proportion of the men in England. According to figures produced in the 1920s by the Central Statistical Office, the "total British Army casualties were 956,703". The most recent statistics, produced by the 2011 census, report one of the highest populations with a total of 464 residents. The rise can be attributed to the development of the village with more housing and its consequent growth as a commuter village for

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

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 ...

Housing

From the data of properties sold from 2015 the average housing pricing is relatively high as the average price for a detached house in Hessett in £314,681 with 8 properties being sold in the IP30 postcode (June 2015).

References

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Mid Suffolk District Thedwastre Hundred