Sapiston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map sources for Sapiston at grid reference TL917750

Sapiston is a small village in the county of Suffolk in England, UK located near the Suffolk-Norfolk border. It is in northern Suffolk lying on the river Blackbourn (really a stream). The name means village of soapmakers.

Sapiston is bordered to the south-west by Honington, to the north-west by Fakenham Magna, to the north by Euston, to the east by Bardwell, and to the south by Ixworth Thorpe. It is 8 miles from Bury St Edmunds and 6 miles from Thetford in Norfolk.

Also near RAF Honington and two Joint RAF/USAF Bases RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall

1 History
- 1.1 About Sapiston
2 Sapiston and Honington
3 References

[edit] History

Sapiston, a parish in the hundred of Blackbourn, county Suffolk, 3½ miles N.W. of Ixworth, its post town, and 7 from Bury St. Edmund's. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the Thet, a branch of the river Brandon. It is wholly agricultural. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Ely, value £100. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient stone structure, with a thatched roof and a square embattled tower. The interior of the church contains a monument to Farmer Austin, who resided here with Bloomfield. There is a parochial school, erected by the Duke of Grafton, who is lord of the manor.

From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)

Settled in the 1070's, the oldest reference thus found of Sapiston is in the history of the Drurys, one of the oldest Suffolk families. Matilda, one of that family, married Henry de Sapiston to become Matilda de Sapiston around 1185.

Sapiston church dates back to the 12th century, (a little before the time of Matilda). It has not been in use since 1972 when the parishes of Sapiston and Honington were combined. The church is now maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust [1] and, although Sapiston's church is redundant, occasional services are still held there. For more details and photos of Sapiston church, see Simon Knott's informative page on his site Suffolk Churches

The village was originally right by the ford across the Blackbourn (or Black Bourn), but During the 14th Century the entire village moved a few hundred meters north to escape from the Black Death. Now only the church St Andrew's and The Grange farmhouse remain at the village’s original location.

It was in Sapiston that the Suffolk poet Robert Bloomfield, author of "The Farmers Boy" (1800), worked from the age of ten to the age of fifteen. He was a farm labourer on the farm of his uncle William Austin (who is buried in Sapiston churchyard). Bloomfield was born in nearby Honington, and the church there contains a memorial to the poet, as well as many notes from admirers.

The local lord of the manor was the Duke of Grafton in neighbouring Euston. The first Duke of Grafton, previously Earl of Euston, was Henry Fitzroy, the son of King Charles II. The third Duke of Grafton was briefly Prime Minister. The current Duke of Grafton is the 11th, and his son is the Earl of Euston.

[edit] About Sapiston

Village Life & Folk Remembered a book by Syd Thurlow was written detailing many local stories about Honington & Sapiston. Here's what the Gazetteer of Suffolk had to say about it in 1855. Kelly's Directory of Suffolk described it like this in 1912.

[edit] Sapiston and Honington

The map below shows how small and close together Sapiston and Honington are. The distance between the two red outlines is only about 200 metres! Note that the red line does not represent the size of the two villages!

The local Pub is actually in Honington and called the Honington Fox Pub.

[edit] Populations

The populations of the villages over the years were:

	Sapiston	Honington	Source
1855	255	331	Source
1881	263	308	Source now offline
1891	233	259	Source
1901	211	236	Source
1911	197	221	Source (for Sapiston)
1991	160	1160 (because of the air force base)	Source now offline
1999	160	1040	Source now offline
2001	164	1247	Source

[edit] Local Walks

Local walks shown here will take you through some of the beautiful countryside about which Robert Bloomfield wrote. The descendants of his patron, the Duke of Grafton, still reside at nearby Euston Hall and own much of the land over which the walks shown here pass. The Fox pub is happy for you to leave your car there during your walk.

The Walks:

(1) 1.5 miles (45 minutes) (a) From Church, Mill Road, (b) Sapiston Mill, (c) Clay Line or (d) Hilly Close if wet, B Road over Bridge (e) River Path.

(2) 3.5 Miles (75 minutes) Follow Footpath (1) but instead of returning to Honington, carry on to (f) George Cottages on the Coney Weston road. Turn left over the stile and then take the field path, then over the next two stiles (g). Cross the river by the footbridge and turn left along field boundary. Follow way markey signs into (h) Water Lane and then rejoin River Walk.

[edit] Dad's Army

This sleepy part of Suffolk proved to be an ideal filming location for the 1970s British TV show Dad's Army. In common with much of the surrounding area, Sapiston and Honington were used for part of the series, in particular the episode "Dads Army Things that go Bump in the Night".

David Croft the director/producer of Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo!, Are You Being Served?, Hi-de-Hi!, etc lived in Honington.