Wherstead is a village and a

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 ...

located in county

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 ...

, England. Wherstead village lies south 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 ...

on the Shotley peninsula. It is in the Belstead Brook

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of Suffolk County Council. It is an ancient settlement, and from its soil the plough has brought to light many evidences of occupation by

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and by early

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

. 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 manusc ...

'' the place is described under 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 ...

names ''Querstede'' and ''Wervesteda''Open Domesday: Wherstead
Accessed April 2020.

Toponymic surname A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a place name.

s which originate from Wherstead include

Quested Quested is an English surname. It originated as a toponymic surname referring to Wherstead in the county of Suffolk. Variant spellings include Quersted and Querstede. Early records of bearers of this surname include a John Querstede of Norfolk in ...

and Quersted. The name of the village and parish is in today generally pronounced Wersted or Warsted by the residents, the "a" in the latter case having the sound of "a" in father. Wherstead Park Mansion is a notable historic house which has been converted to a wedding venue. A short ride by train through Ipswich carries passengers to

Bourne Bridge The Bourne Bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts carries Route 28 across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the rest of Massachusetts. It won the American Institute of Steel Construction's Class "A" Award of Merit as the "Most Beautiful ...

, which marks the boundary of Wherstead parish. Near the bridge, on the Wherstead side, stands the Ostrich Inn, as it stood at the time of the New England migration. At that time, oysters were abundant in the

River Orwell The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England from Ipswich to Felixstowe. Above Ipswich, the river is known as the River Gipping, but its name changes to the Orwell at Stoke Bridge, where the river becomes tidal. It broadens in ...

, and some speculate that Ostrich was a corruption from 'Oyster Ridge' or 'Oyster Reach'. However the pub name is more likely to derive from the crest of lawyer and Chief Justice,

Sir Edward Coke ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

who acquired the surrounding estate in 1609, and the pub sign is similar to others across East Anglia with the exotic bird capable of digesting an iron horseshoe.

References

*Merrill, Samuel; ''A Merrill Memorial'', reprint, p 48-49

External links

* * * * {{authority control Villages in Suffolk Babergh District Civil parishes in Suffolk