Hawkedon is a village and civil parish in the

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

district 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 ...

in eastern England. Located around south-south-west of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

, the parish also contains the hamlet of Thurston End, and in 2005 had a population of 120. The majority of the village is classed as a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

Etymology

The name means 'hill of the hawks', derived from 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 ...

''hafoc'' meaning hawk (in the genitive plural), and the

''dūn'' meaning hill.

History

The village is recorded in the Domesday book with a population of 24 households in 1086; 10 freemen, 7 smallholders, 5 slaves, & 2 villagers. In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

described the village as: :''HAWKEDON'', a parish in Sudbury district, Suffolk; 5½ miles NNE of Clare r. station, and 10 NW by N of Sudbury. Post town,

Stansfield Stansfield is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located seven miles south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2011 its population was 221. The village has an Anglican church dedicated to All Saints. ...

, under Sudbury. Acres, 1,461. Real property, £2,049. Population, 321. Houses, 67. Hawkedon Hall belongs to J. E. Hale, Esq.; and Thurston Hall, to H. J. Oakes, Esq. The living is a rectory in the

diocese of Ely The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now co ...

. Value, £400. Patron, H. J. Oakes, Esq. The church is ancient, with a tower; and contains an ancient font, and several brasses and monuments. There is a national school.'' In 1887,

John Bartholomew John Bartholomew (25 December 1831 – 29 March 1893) was a Scottish cartographer. Life Bartholomew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, John Bartholomew Sr., started a cartographical establishment in Edinburgh, and he was educated ...

also wrote an entry on Hawkedon in the Gazetteer of the British Isles with a much shorter description: :''Hawkedon, parish, W. Suffolk, 5½ miles NE. of Clare, 1461 acres, population 278; P.O.

Buildings

There are many other medieval and listed properties in the parish, notably the Grade I Swan Hall and Thurston End Hall (both fine timber-framed 16th-century houses). The village also has a 1935 listed K6 telephone box to the west of the pub. There's a total of 19 listed buildings in the parish. Although there are now no shops, there is a 15th-century pub called The Queen's Head (formerly known as the Queen Inn).

Church

The 15th-century church, St Mary's is very unusual in that it is placed on the green. It is reputed to be the only church in Suffolk located in this way. It is a Grade I listed building, and includes a painted panel depicting St Dorothy and a square font with carved panels thought to date from the 12th-century. Hawkedon - Thurston End Hall

Notable residents

Lady Pauline Trevelyan (1816-1866); painter &

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

References

External sources

Hawkedon
Vision of Britain

External links

Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Borough of St Edmundsbury {{Suffolk-geo-stub