Semer is a small 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 Suffolk, England. Located adjacent to a bridge over the

River Brett The River Brett is a river in Suffolk, England. Its source is in the villages to the north of Lavenham and it flows through Hadleigh to its confluence with the River Stour via Monks Eleigh Monks Eleigh is a village and a civil parish in B ...

on the B1115 between Hadleigh and

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 trunk road between Bury St Edm ...

, it is part of Babergh district. The parish also contains the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Ash Street and Drakestone Green. The parish was recorded in the 2011 census as having a population of 130, down from 158 in the previous census.

History

Semer is recorded 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 manus ...

as belonging to Bury St Edmunds Abbey in both 1066 and 1086. The abbey acted as both Lord of the Manor and Tenant-In-Chief.
The village is recorded as home to 20 households: six villagers, 13 small holders and one slave. It is recorded as having enough ploughland for 3 lord's plough teams and 3 men's plough teems; and the village also had 12 acres of meadow, a mill, a church, 0.25 acres of church land, 16 cattle, 2 cobs, 24 pigs and 97 sheep. In 1086 the village is valued as worth £6 a year to its lord, Bury St Edmunds Abbey, a £1 increase on its value in 1066. Its taxable value is recorded as 3.8 geld units and 2.5 villtax.

All Saints Church

The small church is set a few hundred yards off of a minor road across a meadow beside the

, It is almost entirely Victorianised with a chancel that was rebuilt in 1870. One notable feature of the graveyard, to the east of the church, is a marble

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

angel scattering roses. The church has a plain square-cut font which is thought to be 14th-century, as is the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. There is also a Royal Arms of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, painted before the union with Ireland.

Hamlets

Ash Street

The small hamlet of ''Ash Street'' is centred approximately east of Semer church; it is located to the north of a bridge over the

. Ash Street is recorded in the

as a very small settlement of just five smallholders, with of meadow and a mill; the hamlet had a taxable value of 1.5 geld units. Prior to the Norman Conquest of 1066, the hamlet was owned by an unnamed "Free Woman". After the Conquest it is recorded as under the Lordship of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

's half-brother: Robert, Count of Mortain.

Drakestone Green

The small hamlet of ''Drakestone Green'' is centred approximately south of Semer church.

References

External links

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