Yaxley is a small village just west of

Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

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. The name means 'cuckoo-clearing'.

Church of St. Mary

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

describes the north porch of the 12th-century church as 'one of the most swagger in Suffolk'. Inside the church are the remnants of a large medieval

doom painting A "Doom painting" or "Doom" is a traditional English term for a wall-painting of the Last Judgment in a medieval church. This is the moment in Christian eschatology when Christ judges souls to send them to either Heaven or Hell. The subje ...

and high on the wall above the door hangs a Sexton's Wheel. This curious survival, is a device consisting of two wheels, 2 feet 8 inches in diameter, revolving on a single axle. Many theories have been proposed for use of the wheels, including the idea that they were used purely as ornaments for church doors. It has also been suggested that those wishing to fast, in honour of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, from one of the six

Lady Day In the Western liturgical year, Lady Day is the traditional name in some English-speaking countries of the Feast of the Annunciation, which is celebrated on 25 March, and commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, durin ...

s, could choose one at random by catching one of six strings attached to named spokes. It was the Sexton who would set the two wheels revolving. The only other example in the country is claimed to be at

Long Stratton Long Stratton is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It historically consisted of two villages; the larger, Stratton St. Mary, is to the south, and the other, Stratton St. Michael, is to the north. It had a population of 4,424 in the ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Local houses

Ashton Cottage in Church Lane, once the village school, was for many years the home of choreographer

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...

. He lived in Valley Farm House on Old Ipswich Road, until recently a property of the Henniker-Major family. 16th-century Yaxley Hall is a Grade II*

listed building 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 fanciful

Gothick Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

facade and, according to Pevsner, 'a composite picture' including older range with

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed and transomed windows. Two wings burnt down in 1922. A painting of

Henrietta Nelson Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...

at the hall is said to be haunted, and has recently been returned to display after an absence of nearly a century. Yaxley Manor, built for John Fanner in 1520, is of

timber frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

construction, clad in brickwork. It is a Grade II* listed building. Bull's Hall is named after William de Bulle, owner in 1328; the present timber-framed and

jettied Jettying (jetty, jutty, from Old French ''getee, jette'') is a building technique used in medieval timber-frame buildings in which an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. This has the advantage of increasing the availa ...

building dates from 1570.

References

External links

Parish Council websiteYaxley Hall website
at suffolkchurhes.co.uk

at paintedchurch.org
Sexton's Wheel
at geograph.org.uk
Medieval glass
at geograph.org.uk
Yaxley ManorBull's Hall
at britishlistedbuildings.co.uk Villages in Suffolk Mid Suffolk District Civil parishes in Suffolk {{Suffolk-geo-stub