Wortham, Suffolk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wortham is a village and parish in Suffolk, England.

Its church, St Mary The Virgin, lies about a mile north of the village. It is one of 38 existing round-tower churches in Suffolk. It has the largest round tower by diameter in England.

Diss is the nearest railway station.

[edit] History

In the time of Edward the Confessor Wortham consisted of two parishes, each with its own church and parsonage. They had 40 acres of glebe between them and a combined value of 7 shillings. After the Norman Conquest there were still two parishes, corresponding to the two Norman manors: Southmoor, held by the Abbots of Bury, and Eastgate (Wortham Hall) held by the Barons of Rye.

In 1769 the parishes were combined under William Evans, Rector of Eastgate. The Saxon church in Southmoor disappeared and was never rebuilt, although the Rectory remained until 1785. A faculty was granted by the Bishop of Norwich to Rowland Holt (Patron) and Henry Patterson (Rector) for taking down and excusing the rebuilding of one of the parsonages belonging to the Rectory of Wortham Edward w. Jervis annexed. This parsonage was stated to be above a mile from the church and built of stud and claywork and covered with a thatch.

Wortham was the family seat of the Betts family, as cronicled by K. F. Doughty in 'The Betts of Wortham in Suffolk - 1480-1905' published in 1912 by John Lane Co. described in more detail at www.ancestry.com

Home to the author Richard Cobbold between 1825 and 1877. In addition to his famous story of Margaret Catchpole, he published (1860) 'The Biography Of A Victorian Village - Wortham' which contained a series of drawings and character details of various members of the community during the mid-Victorian period. A useful source for genealogists.