Foxhall is a

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 East Suffolk 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 ...

, England a few miles east of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. It is adjacent to the parishes of Kesgrave to the north,

Martlesham Martlesham is a village in Suffolk, England about two miles (3 km) South-West of Woodbridge and East of Ipswich. It is often referred to as "old Martlesham" by locals in order to distinguish this old village from the much more recent Martl ...

to the northeast, Brightwell to the east,

Purdis Farm Purdis Farm is a civil parish, in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the eastern edge of Ipswich and includes areas of suburban housing and industrial development along the A1156, including the area of ...

to the south and the borough of

to the west. The three parishes of Brightwell, Foxhall and Purdis Farm have a common council. The 2001 population was 151 persons in 57 households according to the census, the population having increased at the 2011 Census to 200. Foxhall 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 manusc ...

as "Foxehola". The history and meaning ('fox-hole') of the name Foxhall and many other place-names in the parish are studied in a paper by Briggs. The survey mentions 1 holding under Foxhall: 15 acres valued at 2 shillings held by the

Abbot of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

. Under the heading of "Derneford", "which is no doubt Darnford in Foxhall, there was 80 acres and 2 acres of meadow, 3 bordars in Saxon times having 4 ploughteams when it was valued at 40 shillings, but at the time of the survey 3 ploughteams only, when it was valued at 15 shillings." On the heath are several springs which give rise to the Mill River, a tributary of the

River Deben The River Deben is a river in Suffolk rising to the west of Debenham, though a second, higher source runs south from the parish of Bedingfield. The river passes through Woodbridge, turning into a tidal estuary before entering the North Sea at Fe ...

. All Saints Church stood north of Mill River; it was in ruins by the mid-16th century. Much of this church building survives; the north wall is mainly intact and can still be seen put to a new use as part of the barn of Foxhall Farm. It stands at the top of a slope overlooking one of the backroads that link Foxhall Road with Bucklesham Road. Two enormous buttresses give the game away, as well as an expanse of flint amongst the red-brick. In 1530, Foxhall became an ecclesiastical hamlet to Brightwell. Despite its name the

Foxhall Stadium Foxhall Stadium is a Stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using car ...

, the home stadium of the

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first ra ...

speedway team, is actually just across the parish boundary in Kesgrave. The stadium is run by Spedeworth UK Ltd stock car promoters. More recently the

banger racing Banger racing is a tarmac, dirt, shale and chalk track type of motorsport event popular in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Vehicles are raced against one another, with the winner being the first to the c ...

Unlimited World Final has been staged here since its move from the Plough Lane venue in London. The World Final was first held at Foxhall in 2008 and proved to be a successful event. The World Final is predicted to stay at Foxhall due to the LEZ emission laws enforced in and around London making it difficult for many racers to transport their cars to the track. The stadium opened in the mid-1950s and has been in continuous operation since. Within the parish is the Nuffield Ipswich Hospital, a modern purpose-built hospital set in twenty acres of woodland. The village once had its own beer house (brewery with pub attached) called the Waddling Duck, long since demolished. There is a caravan site at Hollies Farm. Foxhall is commonly thought of as a village because of its history and because many relatively modern houses have been built along the part of Bucklesham Road that lies in the parish. However, it is just an area with a few houses bearing the name 'Foxhall'.

References

{{Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Suffolk Coastal