Great Glemham 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 East Suffolk district, England, a mile and a half to the west of the A12 and roughly equidistant between

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include Ea ...

and

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England, set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed by the main A12 road between London and Lowestoft. The town is ser ...

. The parish takes the shape of an irregular triangle formed by two clay ridges flanking rolling countryside through which runs the channel of a seasonal watercourse, the Gull, flowing NW to SE to join the upper River Alde, which forms the village's eastern boundary. The civil parish had a population of 224 at the 2011 Census. The centre of the village is a Conservation area with numerous historic and listed buildings including its Grade I listed church, The Crown Inn and

K6 telephone box The red telephone box, a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar. Despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years ...

. The place-name 'Glemham' is first 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 ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Gl(i)emham'', in the manors of Edwin Grim and Spearhafoc of ''Glaimham''. Eilert Ekwall comments: "The first element of the names is possibly

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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''glēam'' 'merriment'..." By analogy with Glandford in Norfolk, 'Glemham' could mean the 'village where sports were held'. Glemham House was built by Samuel Kilderbee in 1814 to the designs of Thomas Hopper and is the seat of the Earls of Cranbrook and Gathorne-Hardy family. With strong connections between the family and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, the house hosted some of the earlier and more intimate performances of the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts including a notable recording by Julian Bream and

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career starte ...

. An earlier Glemham House, located closer to the village itself, had in the late eighteenth century been the home of

George Crabbe George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people. In the 177 ...

, the author of the poem '' The Borough'' which formed the basis of Britten's 1945 masterpiece ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

''. Britten worked closely with another Glemham resident, the librettist

Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Dr ...

, on many of his operatic compositions including ''

The Little Sweep ''The Little Sweep'', Op. 45, is an opera for children in three scenes by the English composer Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Eric Crozier. ''Let's Make an Opera!'' ''The Little Sweep'' is the second part of a stage production entitled ' ...

''. Although set at nearby Iken Hall, the child characters in this work were transplanted from Glemham House, at that time the home of Jock and Fidelity Cranbrook. Both personal friends of the composer, Fidelity was also chair of the newly formed Aldeburgh Festival. Britten and Crozier adopted the names and personas of Jock and Fidelity's children and nephews for the opera, and the opera is "affectionately dedicated to the real Gay, Juliet, Sophie, Tina, Hughie, Jonny and Sammy – the Gathorne-Hardys of Great Glemham, Suffolk."

Notable residents

(1754-1832) English poet. *

Ezekiel Blomfield Ezekiel Blomfield (1778–1818) was a Congregational minister, author and compiler of religious works and works on natural history. His parents were Stephen Blomfield (born c.1740, died 27 November 1809) and Elizabeth Blomfield (née Luiss (Lewis ...

(1778-1818),

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister, author and compiler of religious works and works on natural history. * Spencer Horsey de Horsey (1790-1860),

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

politician,

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the international Alde ...

, Orford, and Newcastle-under-Lyme * Robert Meadows White (1798–1865), clergyman and academic, holding the office of

Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon The Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, until 1916 known as the Rawlinsonian Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, was established by Richard Rawlinson of St John's College, Oxford, in 1795. The Chair is associated with Pembroke Colleg ...

at Oxford University *

(1914 – 1994) British theatrical director and opera librettist, long associated with Benjamin Britten. * Nancy Evans (mezzo-soprano) English mezzo-soprano who had a notable career as a concert and opera singer. Married to

she is also particularly associated with Benjamin Britten who wrote his song cycle, A Charm of Lullabies, and the role of Nancy in his opera Albert Herring for her. *

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook, (born 20 June 1933), styled Lord Medway until 1978, is a British zoologist, biologist, naturalist, and peer. Since 1956, he has been active in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, and zooarch ...

, Dato Sri, (1933- ), zoologist, biologist, naturalist, writer and peer. * Caroline, Countess of Cranbrook OBE (1935- ), writer and campaigner on

local food Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket system. Local food (or "locavore") movements aim to con ...

, mixed farming, livestock and the red meat industry and other rural issues

References

External links

Parish website
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk