| Woolpit | |
Church of St Mary |
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Woolpit
Woolpit shown within Suffolk |
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| OS grid reference | TL973624 |
|---|---|
| District | Mid Suffolk |
| Shire county | Suffolk |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| List of places: UK • England • Suffolk | |
Woolpit is a village in the English county of Suffolk, midway between the towns of Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket As of 2007 it has a population of 2030. It is notable for the 12th-century legend of the green children of Woolpit and for its parish church, which has especially fine medieval woodwork. Administratively Woolpit is a civil parish, part of the district of Mid Suffolk.
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The village's name, first recorded in the 10th century as Wlpit and then later as Wlfpeta, derives from the Old English wulf-pytt, meaning "pit for trapping wolves".[1]
Before the Norman conquest of England, the village belonged to Ulfcytel Snillingr.[2] Between 1174 and 1180, Walter de Coutances, a confidante of King Henry II, was appointed to Woolpit. After his "death or retirement" it was to be granted to the monks of Bury St Edmunds Abbey. A bull of Pope Alexander III likewise confirms that revenues from Woolpit are to be given to the abbey.[3]
In 15th century and some time later, two fairs were held annually. The Horse Fair was held on two closes, or fields, on September 16. The Cow Fair, on September 19, was also held on its own field; here toys were sold as well as cattle.
The shrine of the Virgin St Mary was a popular stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Walsingham Abbey, and a local spring (Lady Well) was renowned for its healing properties. From the 17th century, the area became an important manufacturing centre for "Suffolk White" bricks but today only the pits remain.
Woolpit is in the Hundreds of Suffolk of Thedwestry, 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Bury. The area of the parish is 2,010 acres (8.1 km2) ; the population in 1831 was 880, less than half agricultural.
Mill Lane marks the site of a post mill which was demolished in about 1924. Another mill, which fell down in 1963, stood in Windmill Avenue.
In 1811, Woolpit had 625 inhabitants in 108 houses. By 1821 the population had increased to 801 inhabitants in 116 houses.[2]
Two children are reported to have appeared mysteriously in the village some time during the 12th century. The brother and sister were of generally normal appearance except for the green colour of their skin. They wore strange-looking clothes, spoke in a unknown language, and the only food they would eat was green beans. Eventually they learned to eat other food and lost their green palour, but the boy was sickly and died soon after the children were baptised.[4] The girl adjusted to her new life, but she was considered to be "rather loose and wanton in her conduct".[5] After learning to speak English she explained that she and her brother had come from St Martin's Land, an underground world whose inhabitants are green.[4]
Some researchers believe that the story of the green children is a typical folk tale, describing an imaginary encounter with the inhabitants of another world, perhaps one beneath our feet or even extraterrestrial. Others consider it to be a garbled account of a historical event, perhaps connected with the persecution of the many Flemish mercenaries living in the area at that time.[4]
Local author and folk singer Bob Roberts states in his 1978 book A Slice of Suffolk that "I was told there are still people in Woolpit who are 'descended from the green children', but nobody would tell me who they were!"[4]
The church has "Suffolk's most perfectly restored angel hammerbeam roof",[6] a profusion of medieval carved pew-ends (mixed with good 19th-century recreations), and a large and very fine porch of 1430–55. The tower and spire are by Richard Phipson in the 1850s, replacing the originals lost to lightning in 1852 or 1853. Most of the rest of the church is Perpendicular, except for the 14th-century south aisle and chancel. There is fine flushwork decoration on the exterior of the clerestory. The medieval shrine was at the east end of the south aisle.[7] The "quite perfect"[2] eagle lectern is a rare early-Tudor original from before the English Reformation.[8]
A well, like the church dedicated to Mary, is found in a meadow near the eastern end of the church; local tradition held that there was once a chapel next to the spring; the church contained a Marian shrine as described above. The perpetual spring, bricked and about two feet deep, is the source of cold and "beautifully clear water". An early 19th-century description states that "weakly children" and people with poor eyesight are immersed in the water.[2]