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Polstead 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 authority ...
in the
Babergh Babergh may refer to the following places in England: * Babergh Hundred, a defunct hundred of the county of Suffolk, named for a "mound of a man called Babba" * Babergh District Babergh District (pronounced , ) is a local government district in ...
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. The village lies northeast of
Nayland Nayland is a village and former civil parish in the River Stour, Suffolk, Stour Valley on the Suffolk side of the border between Suffolk and Essex in England. In 2011 the built-up area had a population of 938. In 1881 the civil parish had a po ...
, southwest of Hadleigh and north of
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
. It is situated on a small tributary stream of the River Stour.


History

The name Polstead is derived from "Place by a pool" There are still two large ponds in the village. The village is noted for being the site of the Red Barn Murder in 1827. The victim Maria Marten, once found, was re-buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, but her gravestone was eventually chipped away to nothing by souvenir hunters. Only a sign on a shed wall now marks the approximate place where it stood,"Polstead" at beautifulengland.net
although her name is given to Marten's Lane which adjoins Water Lane and Mill Street. The church, situated at the bottom of Polstead Hill, close to Polstead Pond, dates from the 12th century and contains some of what may be the earliest bricks made in England. The tower, which is 14th-century, is the only one in Suffolk which still has its original spire, although Pevsner says the spire is later than the tower. The tower at one time contained six bells. The interior of the church contains two brasses, one of which is of a priest and bears a date of 1460.
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
(1961), Buildings_of_England: Suffolk,
Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
, ''Polstead''.
Next to the churchyard is Polstead Hall, rebuilt in the
Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...
in about 1819. In the grounds of the hall are the remains of the " Gospel Oak", which finally collapsed in 1953, but which is believed to have been the tree under which Saint
Cedd Cedd ( la, Cedda, Ceddus; 620 – 26 October 664) was an Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop from the Kingdom of Northumbria. He was an evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons in England and a significant participant in the Synod of Whitby, a ...
preached to the heathen
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
. A small oak tree now grows next to the place it once stood.


Features

The main village is situated around Polstead Green and the Hill, although Polstead also comprises several hamlets including Polstead Heath, Hadleigh Heath, Bower House Tye, Bell's Corner, Mill Street and Whitestreet Green. The village has one remaining pub, the 17th century Cock Inn, a community shop and post office and a playing field. The playing field, known locally as the pitch, hosts an annual music festival around the
summer solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...
called "Polstice", with local punk, folk and rock bands playing. In the 19th century a fair, lasting for two days, was held on Polstead Green on the Wednesday following 16 July.Polstead at genuki
/ref> Polstead is famous for its
cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
and lends its name to a variety, the Polstead Black. In recent years more Polstead Black cherry trees have been planted in and around the village, as these trees had declined in numbers.


Bower House Tye

Bower House Tye is a hamlet near the
A1071 road The A1071 road is long and runs from the A134 near Sudbury to Ipswich. Route It by-passes Boxford, Calais Street, Bower House Tye, Hadleigh Heath, Hadleigh, where it comes to a staggered junction for the A1141 road (left) and the B10 ...
within the parish. There are five Listed buildings: Bower House, Brewery Farmhouse, Holly Cottage, Holmwood Cottages 1 and 2 en The Bower Close.


Hadleigh Heath

A Baptist chapel was erected in Hadleigh Heath in 1801 and was removed to Polstead in 1849.


Polstead Heath

A primitive Methodist chapel was erected in Polstead Heath in 1838.


Notable residents

* Sir (Frank)
Patrick Bishop Sir (Frank) Patrick Bishop, MBE (7 March 1900 – 5 October 1972) was a British advertising copywriter, barrister, businessman and Conservative Party politician. Early career Bishop was born in Tottenham and went to Tottenham Grammar School. At th ...
(1900–1972), advertising copywriter, barrister, businessman and Conservative Party politician *
Eric Buckley Eric Rede Buckley (31 August 1868 – 6 March 1948) was Archdeacon of Sudbury from 1930 until 1932. Buckley was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood and St John's College, Oxford; and ordained in 1892. His first post was a cu ...
(1868–1948), Archdeacon of Sudbury, the first Archdeacon 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 ...
and Rector of Polstead from 1921 to 1945 * Air Chief Marshal Sir Gareth Clayton (1914–1992) senior
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
officer who served as
Air Secretary The Air Secretary and Chief of Staff, Personnel is the Royal Air Force officer with responsibility for appointments, promotions, postings, and discipline of high ranking members of the British air force. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was ...
from 1970 to 1972 * Percy Edwards (1908–1996), animal impersonator, ornithologist and entertainer * Simon Gales (born 1964), contemporary artist *
R. P. Keigwin Richard Prescott Keigwin ( ; 8 April 1883 – 26 November 1972) was an English academic. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club, Essex County Cricket Club and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club ...
(1883–1972), academic and cricketer *
Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...
, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE (1930-2015), author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries


See also

*
Polstead Road Polstead Road is a residential road that runs between Kingston Road and Hayfield Road to the west and the Woodstock Road to the east, in the suburb of North Oxford, England. Halfway along it forms the southern junction of Chalfont Road. The r ...
, Oxford, England


References


External links


Polstead website
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Babergh District