Thorington Street is a large

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

on the

B1068 road B1, B.I, B.1 or B-1 may refer to: Biology and chemistry * Bradykinin receptor B1, a human protein * Cinnamtannin B1, a condensed tannin found in cinnamon * Combretastatin B-1, a stilbenoid found in ''Combretum sp.'' * Fumonisin B1, a toxins pro ...

, in the

Babergh Babergh may refer to the following places in England: * Babergh Hundred, a defunct hundred of the county of Suffolk, named for a "mound of a man called Babba" * Babergh District Babergh District (pronounced , ) is a local government district in ...

district, in the English county 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 ...

. The hamlet is part of the civil parish of Stoke-by-Nayland, and is located in between the villages of

Stoke-by-Nayland Stoke-by-Nayland is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England, close to the border with Essex. The parish includes the village of Withermarsh Green and the hamlets of Thorington Street and Scotland S ...

and Higham. The hamlet has approximately 35 houses.

Thorington Hall

Thorington Hall is a Grade-II* Listed manor house, owned and managed by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, but not regularly open to the public.Thorington Hall - Stoke-by-Nayland - Suffolk - England , British Listed Buildings
/ref> It is described as "one of the best timber-framed houses in Suffolk".Visitor information – National Trust
/ref> The building is timber-framed and plastered. The original house dated from the 16th-century, but little is known about it. The core of the house dates from the 17th-century, but was extended in the following century. The house also displays Witches' Mark (also known as

Apotropaic Mark An apotropaic mark, also called a witch mark or anti-witch mark, is a symbol or pattern scratched on the walls, beams and thresholds of buildings to protect them from witchcraft or evil spirits. They have many forms; in Britain they are often ...

s), and several other superstitious practices, including shoes which were left behind walls, bones under the floors and burns on the attic ceilings caused by candles (all thought to ward off evil spirits). The house was owned by Thomas May until his death in 1645, after which passed through two more generations of his family, both also called Thomas May. In 1700 Thorington Hall was bought by a London Merchant called Bedingfield Heighman and his wife Esther. They extended the house and changed which way the house faced, creating the current entrance. Following their deaths Thorington Hall passed to their daughter, Hester Wade and then, in 1741, to her uncle Thomas White.History – National Trust
/ref> Thomas White sold the house in 1746 to Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, Bart, of nearby Tendring Hall. Thorington Hall was then incorporated into the Tendring Hall estate and leased as a farmhouse. The same family held the tenancy from 1784 to 1901. The English physician

Henry Bence Jones Henry Bence Jones FRS (31 December 1813 – 20 April 1873) was an English physician and chemist. Early life Bence Jones was born at Thorington Hall, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, the son of Lieutenant Colonel William Jones, an officer in the 5th ...

, son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Jones, was born in the Hall on 31 December 1813.Payne J F (2004) ‘Jones, Henry Bence (1813 –1873 )’, rev . N. G. Coley , ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. By 1912, Thorington Hall had fallen into disrepair, and by 1937 was "practically derelict". It was purchased the same year by Professor Lionel Penrose who restored the house and donated it to the

in 1940. The Penrose family continued to live in the house until 1973. During the Penrose's tennancy, the house was used as an evacuation hostel for the

Friends Relief Service The Friends Relief Service (FRS) was a voluntary humanitarian relief organisation formally established by a committee of Britain Yearly Meeting in November 1940. Largely staffed by pacifists and conscientious objectors, its aim was to provide hu ...

. Elderly Londoners who had lost their homes during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

came to live at the Hall. These residents included "an old lady with a fondness for yodelling" and two widowed evacuees who married after meeting at the hall. The Penrose family left in 1973. In 1976 the National Trust leased the house to "Mr and Mrs Wollaston" who lived in the hall until 2007. The house required modernisation as there was "stinging nettles growing under bookshelves and toothpaste freezing in the tube in winter". The house was modernised following the departure of the Wollaston's, which included installing new plumbing and heating systems and upgrading the bathrooms and kitchen. The house is again leased to a private tenant but is still owned and managed by the National Trust. The house is not regularly open to the public but has been known to take part in

Heritage Open Days Heritage Open Days (also known as HODs) is an annual celebration of England's architecture and culture that allows visitors free access to historical landmarks that are either not usually open to the public, would normally charge an entrance fee, ...

References

{{Babergh Hamlets in Suffolk Stoke-by-Nayland