Alderton, Suffolk
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Alderton 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the East Suffolk district of
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, England, about six miles north of
Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...
, 10 miles south-east of
Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of **Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...
and 2 miles south of
Hollesley Hollesley is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk east of Ipswich in eastern England. Located on the Bawdsey peninsula five miles south-east of Woodbridge, Suffolk, Woodbridge, in 2005 it h ...
, on the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
coast and in the heart of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2007 its population was 430, reducing to 423 at the 2011 Census.


History

Alderton 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
as "Alretuna". Local military defences include 3 Napoleonic
Martello towers Martello towers are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up to high (with two floors) and typica ...
and various 20th-century buildings. Mill Lane marks the site of a
mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...
which stood here from 1796 until its demolition in 1956. An ancient settlement site 600m east of Cedar Court has been identified from aerial photographs, though nothing can be seen on the ground. The area around Alderton was once a stronghold of
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, and within the grounds of Alderton Hall stands an ecclesiastical building, possibly a chapel or refectory dating back to the 12th century and believed to be part of a group of buildings built by the
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
monks who controlled much of the land on the
Bawdsey Bawdsey () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, eastern England. It is situated on the other side of the mouth of River Deben from Felixstowe. It had an estimated population of 340 in 2007, reducing to 276 at the Census 2011. Bawdsey Mano ...
Peninsula at that period. Alderton Hall boasts both a priest's hole (a hiding place created for dissident Catholic priests during the purge which followed the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
) and a secret passage leading to the neighbouring church of St. Andrew's. The passage was known to be haunted and so fearful were the local inhabitants that the Bishop was called in to exorcise the ghost. Whether the passageway was used by the monks as a route to the church or as hiding place for Catholic sympathizers at the time of the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
has yet to be discovered, but with the coast just fifteen minutes walk away and Alderton's close proximity to the Deben Estuary at Ramsholt, this area has long been a popular landing point for Suffolk smugglers. The poet
Giles Fletcher Giles Fletcher (also known as Giles Fletcher, The Younger; 1586? – 1623 in Alderton, Suffolk) was an English cleric and poet chiefly known for his long allegorical poem ''Christ's Victory and Triumph'' (1610). Life Fletcher was the younger ...
was rector of St. Andrew's from 1619 until his death in 1623. Tales of smuggling abound in the area and the true story of Margaret Catchpole and her efforts to save her lover, captain of a smuggler's ship, has much of its action around the village of Alderton. It is possible that bounty was transported along Alderton Hall's secret passage. But smuggling was not simply a matter of slipping ashore with a bag of tobacco and a keg of wine. The customs men were vigilant and battles between them and the ‘free traders’ are legendary. Alderton has a village shop, a doctor's surgery, a village hall and a church without a steeple. It was destroyed in a storm in the 18th century, and the parish was too poor to replace it. The sea can be observed from the outskirts of the village, and there is a foot track which leads to it next to the village store, past the recreation ground. Between 1960 and 1991, the village was the location of a
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...
monitoring bunker, to be used in the event of a nuclear attack. It remains mostly intact.


References


External links

*
Photos of Alderton
* {{authority control Civil parishes in Suffolk Villages in Suffolk Wilford Hundred