Ilketshall St John 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 the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

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 ...

. It is south-east of the market town of

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

and is part of a group of parishes with similar names known collectively as the Saints. The parish is sparsely populated and is estimated to have a population of between 40 and 50.St. John, Ilketshall
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-02-17. It has an area of and borders the parishes of Bungay,

Mettingham Mettingham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is east of the market town of Bungay in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district. It had a population of 211 at the 2011 United Kingdom census. ...

Shipmeadow Shipmeadow is a village and civil parish located in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is in the East Suffolk district, east of Bungay and the same distance west of Beccles on the B1062 road. Norwich is to the north-west. At the ...

, Ilketshall St Andrew, Ilketshall St Lawrence and

Ilketshall St Margaret Ilketshall St Margaret is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is south of the market town of Bungay in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district. The parish is part of the area known as The Sai ...

. The

A144 road The A144 is an A road in the English county of Suffolk. It runs from the town of Bungay, close to the border with Norfolk, to the A12 road (England), A12 trunk road near the village of Darsham, passing through the market town of Halesworth. It ...

between Bungay and

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, 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 tribut ...

runs through the parish, passing just south of the parish church. Other than the church there are no local services.

Mettingham Castle Mettingham Castle was a fortified manor house in the parish of Mettingham in the north of the English county of Suffolk. Details Mettingham Castle was founded by Sir John de Norwich (died 1362), John de Norwich, who was given a licence to crene ...

is just to the north of the parish.

History

At the

Domesday survey 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 ...

, Ilketshall was recorded as a single settlement with a population of 82 households in

Wangford Hundred Wangford was a hundred (subdivision), hundred of Suffolk, England, consisting of . Wangford Hundred was an area of around from west to east and five across. The River Waveney formed its northern border separating it from Norfolk. To the east la ...

.Ilketshall (St Andrew, St John, St Lawrence and St Margaret)
Open Domesday. Retrieved 2021-02-17. Most of the land was held by

Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avra ...

. The parish church, which is dedicated to

St John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, was established during the 13th century by Sir James de Ilketshall. The church became part of the holdings of Bungay Nunnery in 1267 when Sir James failed to repay a loan to the nuns. Suckling AI (1846) 'Ilketshall St. John', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1'', pp. 161-163. Ipswich: WS Crowell.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-17.)Church of St John the Baptist
List entry,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. Retrieved 2021-02-17.About us
Ilketshall St John, A Church Near You,

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. Retrieved 2021-02-17. A

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

, known as The Mount, is located in the east of the parish. This has a series of well preserved earthworks and is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

.Motte and bailey castle known as The Mount
List entry,

. Retrieved 2021-02-17. The parish has always been sparsely populated. At the 1841 census it had a population of 71. This rose to 87 at the 1881 census and declined during the 20th century, reaching less than 50 by the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the 1850s, The young

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, Prince Albert Edward, the future

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, lived in the rectory where he was tutored by Charles Féral Tarver, at the time the rector of the parish church.Knott S (2020
St John, Ilketshall St John
Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-02-17.

St John's Church

The parish church is dedicated to John the Baptist and dates from the 13th-century. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and features a 15th-century tower and octagonal font. A window containing 13th-century glass remains, whilst a large stained glass window was donated by the future Edward VII in 1861. The church was restored in 1860, with the work paid for by the Royal Family.

Notes

References

Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District {{Suffolk-geo-stub