Wingfield, Suffolk
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Wingfield is a village in the English county 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 ...
. It is found east of Diss, signposted off B1118, near
Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...
. It’s likely the name originates from Anglo-Saxon. The Old English word "winga" means a turn, corner or bend in the land and "feld" means field. The village has scattered buildings and includes several old houses such as the Grade II listed 16th-century former farmhouse "Old Hall" and the 14th-century Grade II listed "White House." The most prominent family in the area was the Wingfield family, who took their surname after the village. The village has a pub, The De La Pole Arms, across the road from the church.


Wingfield Castle and Wingfield Family

Wingfield Castle, which is now a private house, was for many centuries the home of the Wingfield family and their heirs, the De La Poles, Earls and Dukes of Suffolk. The Wingfields were a very old family and one of them, Sir John de Wingfield, was chief of staff to the Black Prince. There were generations of Wingfields living in the village before him, however John was the eldest son of his father, another John de Wingfield, and it was his line that kept ownership of the castle. Sir John Wingfield was married to Alianore De Glanville and their one child, a daughter and sole heir, was Catherine who married Michael de la Pole, later 1st Earl of Suffolk. Thus Catherine lost the Wingfield surname and her married name, De La Pole, became synonymous with Wingfield Castle. However there were other Wingfields descended from John de Wingfield's brother, some of whom made important marriages such as to Katherine Woodville and Mary Tudor. The Wingfield descendants include
Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...
and two favourites of Henry VIII, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who was great-grandson of Sir Robert Wingfield and grandson of Elizabeth Wingfield, and
Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal (catholic), cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and ...
who was also a member of the Wingfield family from his mother, Joan Daundy. Much has been written of Wolsey's beginnings, but his mother's family (the Wingfields and Daundys) were wealthy and influential and assisted in his education and career. Apart from Wingfield Castle, the Wingfield family owned or were governors of other castles some of which include Henham Hall, Eye Castle, Orford Castle, Framlingham Castle, and Fotheringhay Castle. They were also owners of Kimbolton Castle at the time when
Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...
lived there during the last few years of her life and where she died in 1536.


Wingfield Church

The current Grade I listed St Andrew's church dates from 1362. Sir John de Wingfield left money in his will to replace the original church with one larger and more elaborate in the 14th-century. The church contains fifteen 15th-century
misericord A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...
s. They have more than a family resemblance to those at Sutton Courtenay now in Oxfordshire, but pre-1974 in Berkshire, and those at
Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 road, A142 between Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely and Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. Its population ...
in Cambridgeshire. An unusual feature of the church is the moveable 'hudd', which was a portable wooden shelter made during the Georgian period for a priest to shelter under if it was raining during a funeral or burial. The church's Tudor organ has been reconstructed and tours the country. It features in the film '' The Elusive English Organ''.


Wingfield Church and Wingfield Family Tombs

The Wingfields continued to extend the church further throughout the centuries. Here visitors can see fine
church monument Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the death, dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, a ...
s of Sir John de Wingfield, whose tomb lies within the chancel, and the De la Pole family. The church contains the wooden effigies of Michael de la Pole
Earl of Suffolk Earl of Suffolk is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, in tandem with the creation of the title of Earl of Norfolk, came before 1069 in favour of Ralph the Staller; but the title was forfei ...
(who was the eldest son of Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Catherine Wingfield) and his wife Katherine Stafford. This Earl died of dysentery at the Siege of Harfleur whilst with Henry V on his Agincourt campaign of 1415. The Earl's son, also Michael, who was with his father, succeeded to the title but was killed a few weeks later whilst fighting under the King at the actual battle of Agincourt. The title then passed to the second son, William, who was aged fifteen at the time. William de la Pole, later first Duke of Suffolk, who was murdered after being exiled in 1450, was buried by his widow,
Alice Chaucer Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk (–1475) was a granddaughter of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Married three times, she eventually became a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, an honour granted rarely to women and marking the ...
(granddaughter of
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
) in the family church of the Charterhouse, Kingston upon Hull, as was his wish, and not in Wingfield church as is often stated. Another notable tomb is the alabaster effigy of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (Sir John's head lies on a Saracen's head and helmet) and his second wife Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk, sister to
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
and
Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
. John de la Pole's first wife was
Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort ( ; 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first House of Tudor, Tudor monarch. She was also a second cousin o ...
. They were married as children but never lived together and the marriage was dissolved.


Later Years of the Wingfield Family

The son of John de la Pole and Elizabeth of York was John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. He was King Richard's heir and attempted to claim the English
throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...
. His brother,
Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, Order of the Garter, KG (c. 147130 April 1513), Earl of Suffolk, Duke of Suffolk, was an English nobleman and soldier. The son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Eliz ...
, followed him and was therefore imprisoned by his rival, King Henry VII. The dukedom was surrendered in 1493. Montaigne, in his Essays, criticised Henry VII for stating in his will for Suffolk to be executed after his own death, thinking that making his son do what he couldn't do was an act of cowardice. After Henry VII's death,
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
adhered to his father's will and Suffolk was beheaded, without trial, with the King then confiscating the castle and De La Pole estates for himself. But that wasn't the end for the Wingfield family. A year after Suffolk's death, another member of the Wingfield family, Charles Brandon was made Duke of Suffolk and the previously confiscated estates, including Wingfield Castle, reverted back to the family. Around 1520, at the time of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, the Wingfields, whose family motto was "Posse Nolle Nobile" (To have the power without the wish is noble) were in a powerful position with three members of the family being politically influential: Charles Brandon was Duke of Suffolk and married to the King's sister Mary Tudor; Sir Richard Wingfield was the English Ambassador to France;
Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal (catholic), cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and ...
was Cardinal and
Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
of England.


Wingfield College

Wingfield College is a remnant of the college founded by the will of Sir John de Wingfield in 1362, and endowed by the Black Prince in his will. The college had a master, nine secular chaplains and three choral scholarships for boys. These persons were required to live at the college, pray for Sir John, the Black Prince and Edward III, run a boarding school and minister to the parish. In 1542, however, the college was dissolved and a large part was demolished. The remaining wings were remodelled in Palladian style in the 18th century. It was not until a previous owner, Ian Chance, came into possession that restoration revealed the 14th-century structure. Since 1981 the adjacent Wingfield College Farm has run a regular series of concerts, recitals and lectures, with exhibitions including ceramics, textiles and contemporary art and a creative arts visitor centre, known as Wingfield Arts. This venture closed in 2003 due to lack of funding, but the restored buildings in of gardens, ponds, garden sculpture and a play garden re-opened in April 2009 as Wingfield Barns under the stewardship of Mid-Suffolk District Council. In 2009 a Community Interest Company (CIC) was formed to formally take on the
leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a Lease, lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title (property), title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold right ...
of the buildings and run the artistic programming and venue hirings.


Other burials

* John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk * Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk


References


External links


Wingfield Barns
- website for Wingfield Barns
Wingfield Parish Council
- website for Wingfield Parish Council {{Authority control Mid Suffolk District Villages in Suffolk Burial sites of the House of Plantagenet Burial sites of the De la Pole family Civil parishes in Suffolk