Woolverstone is a small village and civil parish in

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 located on the Shotley peninsula. It is situated about 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 ...

, near the southern shore of the River Orwell. In 2005 it had a population of 240,Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk
Suffolk County Council increasing to 265 at the 2011 census. It is now home to the Ipswich High School, which moved to the vacated premises of the former Woolverstone Hall School in 1992 after having been well established in

since 1878. The Woolverstone Marina and the

Royal Harwich Yacht Club The Royal Harwich Yacht Club is a UK sports club for sailing and other waterborne leisure activities. History Founding and early history Annual regattas at Harwich providing racing events for both yachts and working boats had been organise ...

are also located in the vicinity. HMS Woolverstone, a Royal Navy landing craft training and loading base, was housed in the school and used moorings in the River Orwell between 1943 and 1944.

Facilities

The main part of the village is situated either side of the Ipswich to Shotley road (B1456). The village itself has no pubs, shops or Post Office; however, it has a village hall, a church, and a popular marina where there is a chandlery for provisions and a local bar and restaurant named Buttermans. The area is served by primary schools at

Chelmondiston Chelmondiston is a small village and civil parish in Suffolk, England located on the Shotley Peninsula, five miles south-east of Ipswich. The hamlet of Pin Mill lies within the parish on the south bank of the River Orwell. The village comprises ...

Holbrook Holbrook may refer to: Places England *Holbrook, Derbyshire, a village *Holbrook, Somerset, a hamlet in Charlton Musgrove *Holbrook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a former mining village in Mosborough ward, now known as Halfway *Holbrook, Suffolk, a ...

Tattingstone Tattingstone is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England on the Shotley peninsula about south of Ipswich. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 540. History The Domesday Book of 1086 records the toponym as ''Tatituna'' or ''Tatist ...

and

Shotley Shotley is a village and civil parish south-east of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Babergh District, Babergh district and gives its name to the Shotley peninsula between the Rivers River Stour, Suffolk, Stour and River ...

and the nearest secondary school, Holbrook High School, which shares a site with the Peninsula Sports Centre. There is a regular bus service (route 202) from Ipswich Old Cattle Market to Shotley Marina which passes through the village. The parish church is dedicated to St Michael, and belongs to the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

History

The name Woolverstone (originally WoluestunThe English Home of Mr. Timothy Dalton, B.A. : Parish of Woolverstone, Section 10
/ref>) is supposedly derived from Wulfhere, whose “tun” or enclosure was at its beginning. There have been numerous archaeological finds in the area, including flint axes and an arrowhead believed to be

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

, beaker shards and flints from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, shards and a brooch from the Romans, and a coin and brooch from the

Saxons 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 ...

. Two separate holdings were recorded in the

Domesday 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 ...

survey of 1086, including woodlands for 15 pigs and 10 acres belonging to the Church. There is a very detailed account of the Parish of Woolverstone and surrounding area between 1639 and 1661 in the book entitled ''The English Home of Mr. Timothy Dalton, B.A.''

Listed buildings

There are a number of notable buildings within Woolverstone, including St Michael's Church (Grade II*), Woolverstone House (Grade II*), Berners Hall (the village hall) (Grade II), The Dairy House (Grade II), The Widows' Homes (Grade II), The Cat House (Grade II) and

Woolverstone Hall Woolverstone Hall is a large country house, now in use as a school and available at times as a function venue, located south of the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It is set in on the banks of the River Orwell. Built in 1776 for William Be ...

(Grade I). The Widows' Homes have two stone monkeys set on the roof, said to relate to an incident where a pet monkey saved a child of the Berners family from a fire. The Cat House (a Gothic-style house) is reputed to have belonged to a man who was sympathetic to boats carrying contraband along the river. When his favoured cat died he had it stuffed and when he could see that no customs boats were patrolling the river, he put it in the window to signal that the "coast was clear." Woolverstone House was designed in 1901 by "arts and crafts" architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and was built for Mrs C. Berners, a lay-sister of the East End Sisters of Mercy. The original

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

gardens have been restored and replanted and the sunken garden has also been given Grade II status.

Other establishments

Woolverstone Marina is set in 22 acres of parkland on the River Orwell, with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club nearby. Woolverstone Marina is one of 21 locations owned and operated by Marina Developments Limited (MDL). There are the normal marina facilities, including The Wheelhouse bar and restaurant and a chandlery. There is also a family business based at Woolverstone Marina supplying leisure and marine products for campers, caravanners and yachtsmen. The nearby Royal Harwich Yacht Club is a Victorian yacht club formed in 1843 and has had many Royal connections; Before his death Prince Philip was the Patron. The yacht club moved to its present site soon after

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 ...

after its previous premises had been demolished for the expansion of the Navy Yard at Harwich. In 1973, floating pontoons were stationed at the bottom of the club lawn, which then provided the club with its own marina. The Royal Harwich Yacht Club supports The Woolverstone Project, which has Paul Heiney as Patron and provides sailing for people with disabilities at Woolverstone and the nearby

Alton Water Alton Water (or Alton Reservoir) is a manmade reservoir located on the Shotley peninsula. It is the largest in Suffolk, with a perimeter of over . Construction Due to a shortage of water in the Ipswich area in the 1960s, a list of twenty poten ...

reservoir. Spring Lodge Care Home was formerly the parsonage to

, which explains the building's grand yet tranquil appearance. This residential and

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

care home is located at the heart of the village and provides a home to some 40 elderly people.Spring Lodge
at carehome.co.uk

Notable people

* John Dwight, settler of

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

Nathaniel Colburn Nathaniel Colburn (1611–1691) was an early settler and selectman in Dedham, Massachusetts. Early life He was baptized in 1611 in Woolverstone, Suffolk, England. His parents were Leonard Colborne and Sara (née Lewes) and he had a sister named ...

, settler of

References

External links

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