Wetherden 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 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 ...

, England, situated about northwest of

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 about west of the larger village of

Haughley Haughley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk, about two miles from Stowmarket in the Mid Suffolk District. The village is located miles northwest of the town of Stowmarket, overlooking the Gipping valley, next to the ...

. In 2011 the parish had a population of 540.

History

It was recorded in the 1086

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 ...

as 'Watdena' or 'Wederdena', the name deriving from old English '

wether Wether may refer to: *A castrated male goat *A castrated male sheep *A misspelling of weather *A misspelling of whether *Wether Down, a hill in Hampshire *Wether Hill (Lake District), a hill in Cumbria *Wether Holm (disambiguation) See also *Weth ...

' for castrated rams (male sheep) and 'dena' denoting valley. In the late 16th century the manor of Wetherden was acquired by

John Sulyard Sir John Sulyard (by 1518 – 1575), of Wetherden and Haughley, Suffolk, was a prominent East Anglian magistrate, landowner, High Sheriff, knight and standard-bearer, strongly Roman Catholic in religious affiliation, who sat in parliament during ...

who built Wetherden Hall to the north east of village - a moated farmhouse now occupies its site at Base Green.

Buildings

Buildings in the village include *a Grade I listed medieval church, dedicated to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

St Mary's Church dates from the 14th century and is listed

grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It has a late 15th century roof ( hammerbeams in the nave and camber beams in the aisle) and contains tombs to the Sulyard family, who partly funded its construction. It suffered damage 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 ...

when it was hit by bombs which also killed several village residents. The clock on the tower was erected by public subscription in 2012 to commemorate the

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. *a Baptist Chapel *a pub, The Maypole (c. 1530, a Grade II listed building). *a village hall A school was established in 1868 catering for over 80 children at its peak, but dwindling numbers led to its closure in 1985, though the building continued to be used as pre-school, catering for under-5s, until 2014.

Sport

The village playing field is home to Wetherden F.C. who play in the Ipswich Sunday football league.

Notable people

Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch (; born 31 October 1951) is an English academic and historian, specialising in ecclesiastical history and the history of Christianity. Since 1995, he has been a fellow of St Cross College, Oxford; he was former ...

, historian (born 1951) - lived in Wetherden as a boy *

William Robinson (Governor of Hong Kong) Sir William Robinson (; 9 February 1836 – 1 December 1912) was a British colonial governor who was the last Governor of Trinidad and the first Governor of the merged colony of Trinidad and Tobago. He was also the 11th Governor of Hong Kong. ...

(1836-1912) - born in Wetherden. *

Richard Shepherd (theologian) Richard Shepherd (1732?–1809) was an English churchman, Archdeacon of Bedford in 1783, known also for his verse. Life He was son of Henry Shepherd (d. 1764), vicar of Mareham-le-Fen, Lincolnshire, and matriculated from Corpus Christi College, ...

(1732-1809) - rector at Wetherden from 1792 until his death. *

(c. 1518-1575), local landowner, lawyer and politician. *

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

(1905-1998), music composer - lived in Wetherden as a boy.

References

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