Ixworth 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 authorit ...

in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, north-east of Bury St Edmunds on the A143 road to Diss and south-east of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

. The parish had a population of 2,365 at the 2011 Census.

History

Ixworth was settled by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and was the site of a 1st-century fort.The Willows, Stow Road, Ixworth, Suffolk – Archaeological monitoring and recording
Archaeological Solutions Ltd. June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.Ixworth Roman Fort
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013. The fort is believed to have been built as a response to

Boudicca Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...

's revolt and appears to have been in use only until the end of the 1st century. The site measures by and was surrounded by three ditches. After the fort went out of use a civilian settlement was established at the site, possibly with a pottery industry. Ixworth became an important junction in the Roman road system of East AngliaHistory
Ixworth and Ixworth Thorpe parish council. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
The Suffolk Churches Site. and the

Peddars Way The Peddars Way is a long distance footpath that passes through Suffolk and Norfolk, England. Route The Peddars Way is 46 miles (74 km) long and follows the route of a Roman road. It has been suggested by more than one writer that it was n ...

ran from Ixworth to Holme next the Sea on the north coast of

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 ...

.Peddars Way
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013. The foundations of a Roman building with

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

were discovered in 1834 and are believed to be a villa and bath house complex.Ixowth Roman villa
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013. An early pagan cemetery with Anglo-Saxon burial urns was discovered south-west of the church some time before 1849,Monument No. 385465
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013. and a number of other post-Roman archaeological finds have been discovered in the area. In 1856, the Ixworth Cross, a gold

pectoral cross A pectoral cross or pectorale (from the Latin ''pectoralis'', "of the chest") is a cross that is worn on the chest, usually suspended from the neck by a cord or chain. In ancient and medieval times pectoral crosses were worn by both clergy and ...

covered in garnets dating from the 7th century, was discovered in what is believed to be another Anglo-Saxon cemetery.Monument No. 385467
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
Sir John Evans's collections of artefacts – British, Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
Anglo-Saxon Discovery, Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2013. The cross is decorated using

cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...

work and was donated to the Ashmolean Museum in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1909. It was discovered in a rare

bed burial A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

.Anglo-Saxon Christian grave find near Cambridge 'extremely rare'
BBC Cambridgeshire news website, 12 March 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-22. The first recorded name for Ixworth is from 1025 as Gyxeweorde meaning "Enclosure of a man called Gisca". It was mentioned again as Gyxeweor∂e in th

charter of 1040 where Thurketel grants the lands to Bury St Edmunds Abbey. The settlement was 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 "Icsewrda" or "Giswortha".Ixworth
Domesday Book online. Retrieved 22 January 2013. The village, which was in the Hundred of Blackbourn, was relatively very large at this time with 51 households.Ixworth
Open Domesday. Retrieved 22 January 2013. It was held by Robert Blunt or Blount in 1086, having formed part of the lands controlled by the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds in 1066.

Ixworth Priory Ixworth Priory was an Augustine priory at Ixworth in the English county of Suffolk. It was founded in the 12th century and dissolved in 1537.

was founded as an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

priory in about 1170 and dissolved in 1537.Ixworth Priory
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013. Remains of the priory include the almost complete east range whilst some of the west range can be found incorporated into a house, known as Ixworth Abbey.Ixworth Abbey, Ixworth
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 23 January 2013. These remains are a Grade I listed building and include elements from the early 13th century. Ixworth is the site the earliest rural council housing built in England.1–2, Stow Road, Ixworth
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 23 January 2013. Four pairs of houses were built in 1893–94 for Thingoe Rural District Council, encouraged by the Ixworth Labourer's Association. These were built under the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890, the first to allow rural councils to build their own housing. The act was only adopted by eight councils. The houses exist today in a largely unaltered condition. Two of them, on Stow Road, are 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 ...

s. A Q Type bombing decoy was operated in the north-east of the parish to deflect enemy bombing from

RAF Honington Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regim ...

.Airfield bombing decoy Q28B
English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013 A former pumping station at Bailypool Lane off Stow Lane was given planning permission in 2012 for conversion to a residential dwelling.

Modern Ixworth

Entering Ixworth High Street from the south - geograph

St Mary's Church lies just west of High Street. The church dates from the late 14th century with a late 15th-century tower.Church of St Mary, Ixworth
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 23 January 2013. It contains memorials to Richard Coddington, who was granted the land owned by the priory following the dissolution. The church is a Grade I Listed Building. The village contains a number of other listed buildings, many on the High Street, some of which have medieval elements.Listed Buildings in Ixworth, Suffolk, England
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 23 January 2013. A variety of local services remain in the village, including shops, a post office and public houses as well as a village hall, doctor's surgery, a retained fire station and police station sharing the same building.About us
Ixworth and Ixworth Thorpe parish council. Retrieved 23 January 2013.Emergency services join force in Ixworth
, Suffolk County Council, 9 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-23. Ixworth is served by rural bus routesBury St Edmunds East
, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 22 January 2013. and is on the

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

London to Great Yarmouth coach route. The village was bypassed in 1986 when the A143 was diverted to run to the south-east of the village.

Government

Ixworth is in the West Suffolk district and until April 2019 the St Edmundsbury district and elected one borough councillor.Election results 2011
St Edmundsbury Borough Council. Retrieved 23 January 2013. It lies in the Blackbourn division of Suffolk County CouncilJoanna Spicer
, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 23 January 2013. and the West Suffolk parliamentary constituency. The parish council jointly administers Ixworth and Ixworth Thorpe.Parish Council
Ixworth and Ixworth Thorpe. Retrieved 23 January 2013.

Education

Ixworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary Scho

run by the Tilian Partnershi

educates children aged 5 to 11 and its maintained nursery school/class offers places to three to five year olds. At the end of year 6, children can transfer to SET Ixwort

run by Seckford Education Trust

which educates students aged 11 to 16, or Thurston Community Colleg

which educates students aged 11 to 18.

Bangrove Wood SSSI

Bangrove Wood, around north of the village, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This is an area of ancient woodland of .Bangrove Wood
SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 22 January 2013. The wood contains species such as

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

field maple ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and hazel as well as wild cherry and a range of ground vegetation species.

Notable residents

Thomas Norton Thomas Norton (153210 March 1584) was an England, English lawyer, politician, writer of verse, and playwright. Official career Norton was born in London, the son of Thomas Norton and the former Elizabeth Merry. He was educated at university o ...

* John Griffiths * John Lamb *

Joy Marshall The Rev. Joy Marriott Marshall (23 January 1867 – 2 September 1903) was a New Zealand Anglican clergyman and school teacher who was also a prominent tennis player, rugby footballer and cricketer. Early life and clerical career Joy Marshall ...

Guy Simonds Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Ha ...

* Bertie Stevens * Frederick Nunn

References

^Ixworth Roman villa, English Heritage. Retrieved 22 January 2013.

External links

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Borough of St Edmundsbury