Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB),

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 Ald ...

and

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is ...

. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a

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 ...

opera. The name 'Yoxford' comes from

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 ...

''geoc-ford'' meaning 'yoke ford' probably indicating that the ford was wide enough for a

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, u ...

oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE, AusE, and IndE), is a male bovine trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration inhibits testosterone and aggression, which makes th ...

to pass through.

Location and governance

Yoxford, some north-east of London and north-east of Ipswich, is surrounded by the parkland of three country houses, in an area known as the Garden of Suffolk. It takes its name from a ford across the nearby River Yox, where

could pass. The village includes the junction of the A12 trunk road and the A1120. Before 1 April 2019, its

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

in the Suffolk Coastal district bore the same name, but the village is now within the enlarged ward of Yoxford and Kelsale, in the East Suffolk district. At the 2011 census, the previous ward's population was 1901.

Facilities and sights

The Church of St Peter has a 15th-century Perpendicular-style exterior, but is mainly Victorian inside. However, it possesses a number of 15th–17th-century

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the pav ...

es, which are displayed on the walls. The finely carved font dates from the early 15th century and the pulpit from the 17th century. The church parish belongs to the

Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich The Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a Church of England diocese based in Ipswich, covering Suffolk (excluding Lowestoft). The cathedral is St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and the bishop is the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is part ...

. Up to about 1830, the village came under the Blything Hundred. Yoxford Village Sign - geograph

On the edge of the village is Cockfield Hall, once the old home of the Blois family. The village is known for its antique shops. It also has a general store, a restaurant and a village hall.

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 ...

and 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 D ...

are believed to have adapted the name of Yoxford to create the fictional town of Loxford, which provides the setting for Britten's opera, ''

Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera ''The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Croz ...

''.

Education

Yoxford and Peasenhall Primary School caters for children aged 3–11. The school has an Early Year Centre, purpose-built for pupils aged from 3–6. The school works in partnership with Middleton Primary School in

Middleton, Suffolk Middleton is a village in the east of the English county of Suffolk. It is located approximately north-west of Leiston, north east of Saxmundham and from the Suffolk coast.

and Southwold Primary School in Southwold, Suffolk, the three making up Yox Valley Partnership of Schools.

Hospitality

Yoxford's two pubs are the ''Griffin Inn'', a medieval house that reopened in 2013, and ''The King's Head''. The ''Griffin Inn'' offers accommodation, as does the 18th-century Satis House. This is sometimes described wrongly as the original for the Satis House in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

's ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

''. In fact the book describes

Restoration House Restoration House in Rochester, Kent in England, is a fine example of an Elizabethan mansion. It is so named after the visit of King Charles II on the eve of his restoration. Charles had landed in Dover on 25 May 1660 and by the evening of t ...

Rochester, Kent Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gil ...

, referred to as ''satis'' by Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. Yoxford's Satis House was known as plain Yoxford House until well after the novel appeared, as old

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

maps confirm. Every year on the first Sunday after Easter, a competition is held for eating brawn, known locally as pork cheese. A Brawn Queen is picked from the village and her first ceremonial task as Queen is to cut the cheese.

Public transport

The village is served by

Darsham railway station Darsham railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the villages of Darsham and Yoxford, Suffolk, lying midway between the two communities. It is down the line from and measured from London Liverpool Street; i ...

on the East Suffolk Line, one mile (1.6 km) away. The line offers hourly weekday services (two-hourly on Sundays) between

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 ...

, with connections to London, and

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

, with connections to Norwich. It is also served by four weekday buses a day between

and

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tributary of the River Blyth, upstream from Southwold. T ...

and a once-daily Monday-to-Friday service between Leiston and

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 ...

. There is also demand-responsive transport for disabled passengers.Bus time
Retrieved 30 August 2020.
/ref>

Notable residents

In order of birth: * Arthur Hopton (1488–1555), knight, landowner,

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

, and

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

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 ...

Owen Hopton Sir Owen Hopton (c. 1519 – 1595) was an English provincial landowner, administrator and MP, and was Lieutenant of the Tower of London from c. 1570 to 1590. Early career Owen Hopton was the eldest son and heir of Sir Arthur Hopton of Coc ...

(c. 1519–1595), provincial landowner,

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, and

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

, and Lieutenant of the Tower of London from c. 1570 to 1590 * Lady Katherine Grey (1540–1568), granddaughter of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's sister Mary Tudor, she emerged as a prospective successor to her cousin,

. *

Robert Hopton Robert Hopton (c.1575-1638) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in two parliaments between 1604 and 1622. Hopton was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Hopton of Witham Friary, Somerset and his wife Rachel Hall, da ...

(died 1590),

Knight Marshal The Knight Marshal is a former office in the British Royal Household established by King Henry III in 1236. The position later became a Deputy to the Earl Marshal from the reign of King Henry VIII until the office was abolished in 1846. The Kni ...

of the Household, and English

for

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territ ...

* Robert Brooke (1572–1646), landowner, magistrate, commissioner and

for

Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was ...

* Elizabeth Brooke (1601–1683), religious writer and landowner *

John Eachard John Eachard (1636?7 July 1697) was an English divine and satirist, noted for his humorous descriptions of the contemporary clergy. From Yoxford in Suffolk, he was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, of which he became master in 16 ...

(c. 1636–1697),

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-196 ...

* Robert Brooke (1637–1669), landowner, magistrate, commissioner, military officer, knight and

for

* Sir Charles Blois, 1st Baronet (1657–1738), politician, landowner and

for

and

Ann Candler Ann Candler (1740–1814) was a poet, known as "The Suffolk Cottager", whose works appeared in the ''Ipswich Journal'' and a volume published toward the end of her life. Life Ann More was born at Yoxford, Suffolk, 18 November 1740, one of the ch ...

(1740–1814), poet known as "The Suffolk Cottager" *

David Elisha Davy David Elisha Davy (1769–1851) was an English antiquary and collector from Suffolk. Life He was son of a farmer at Rumburgh, Suffolk, and nephew of Eleazar Davy of Yoxford, locally prominent as sheriff of the county in 1770, and the marriage of ...

(1769–1851), antiquary and collector *

James Allen Ransome James Allen Ransome (July 1806 – 29 August 1875), known as Allen Ransome, was an English agricultural-implement maker and agricultural writer, known from his 1843 publication of ''The Implements of Agriculture.'' He was considered as "one of t ...

(1806–1875), agricultural tool-maker and writer * Sir Arthur Birch (1837–1914),

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

, Colonial Secretary for Ceylon and acting Lieutenant

Governor of Penang The governor of Penang ( ms, Yang di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang) is the head of state of the Malaysian state of Penang. The role of governor is largely ceremonial with the power vested in the executive branch of the state government led by the ...

and Province Wellesley * William R. Symonds (1851–1934), painter *

Samuel Lomax Lieutenant General Samuel Holt Lomax (2 August 1855 – 10 April 1915) was a British Army officer who commanded the 1st Division during the early battles of the First World War. He was fatally wounded in action in October 1914 at the First Batt ...

(1855–1915), British Army officer who commanded the 1st Division as

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

* Day Joyce (1905–1975), nurse and prisoner of war * Flavia Blois (1914–1980), landscape artist

References

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk