Thorpe-le-Soken 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 Tendring district of

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, England located east of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, west of

Walton-on-the-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of H ...

Frinton-on-Sea Frinton-on-Sea is a seaside town and (as just Frinton) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district of Essex, England. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 4,837. In 1931 the parish had a popul ...

and north of

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated ...

History

Since 2002, archaeological investigations ahead of construction work, on sites near to cropmarks, has uncovered traces of Palaeolithic (early Clactonian 424,000-400,000 BC), Mesolithic, early Neolithic and Roman rural settlements. Thorpe-le-Soken's contiguous history can be traced back to

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

times. In c970, King

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his fir ...

confirmed the grant of Eduluesnaesa – combined estate of Kirby, Thorpe and Walton – to St Paul’s. Soken meaning a jurisdiction with separate taxation and managerial responsibilities. There has been a manor house at Thorpe since about 1150. The old manor house, Thorpe Hall, was owned by the Leake family, and rebuilt in the 1820s by the wealthy lawyer J.M. Leake (d. 1862). It was later leased by Frederic Foaker, owner of Sneating Hall at Kirby-le-Soken. Thorpe Hall was the home of Viscount Byng of Vimy (Governor General of Canada 1921–6), and his wife

Evelyn Byng, Viscountess Byng of Vimy Evelyn Byng, Viscountess Byng of Vimy ( Marie Evelyn Moreton; 11 January 1870 – 20 June 1949), also known as Lady Byng, was the wife of Lord Byng, the 12th Governor General of Canada (1921–26). Biography Born as Marie Evelyn Moreton ...

, who relandscaped the gardens. Between 1690 and 1720 Thorpe housed a community of several dozen

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

refugees fleeing persecution in France, who are thought to have stayed at the large house still called Comarques. The house is now home to the Adams family. (Source: Huguenot Society records.) This was also the home of the famous Midlands author

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

just before and during the First World War. (Source: contemporary issues of ''Essex County Standard'', Arnold Bennett's Correspondence.) The local church, St Michael's, was shown in series 2 episode 4 of the BBC's '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', where comedian

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

traced a family member to the church.

Facilities

Thorpe-le-Soken has Rolph CofE Primary School in the High Street, and the Thorpe Campus of Tendring Technology College (Years 7, 8 and 9) in Landermere Road. The village is served by

Thorpe-le-Soken railway station Thorpe-le-Soken railway station is on the Sunshine Coast Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the village of Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street. Its three-letter s ...

. The village used to have a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

, but this was closed in a round of government cuts. The village hosts several shops, pubs and eateries.

Notable residents

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Lord Byng of Vimy GCB GCMG MVO (1862–1935), an officer who served with distinction during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and as

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...

, lived in Thorpe-le-Soken during his retirement and died at the now demolished Thorpe Hall. He is buried at the 11th-century parish church of St. Leonard's in

Beaumont-cum-Moze Beaumont-cum-Moze () is a civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 352, reducing to 339 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Beaumont and Moze Cross. The pla ...

. * Sir William Gull (1816 – 1890), Royal physician, and suggested as a suspect in the

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

murders, is buried in St Michael's churchyard. *

(1867 – 1931), novelist and playwright *

Nigel Henderson (artist) Nigel Graeme Henderson (1 April 1917 – 15 May 1985) was an English documentary artist, and photographer. Life He was born on 1 April 1917 to Kenneth Henderson and Winifred Ellen Henderson (née Lester). Henderson's parents divorced when he wa ...

(1 April 1917 – 15 May 1985), artist and photographer. *

Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Paolozzi was born on 7 March ...

(7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005), sculptor and artist

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe-Le-Soken Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Tendring