Glemsford

Coordinates: 52°06′08″N 0°40′30″E / 52.10231°N 0.67511°E / 52.10231; 0.67511

Glemsford
Parish Church of St Mary
Glemsford  Glemsford shown within Suffolk
Population	3,360 [1]
OS grid reference	TL833482
District	Babergh
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SUDBURY
Postcode district	CO10
Dialling code	01787
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	South Suffolk
List of places UK England Suffolk

Glemsford is a village in the Babergh district in Suffolk, England, near the town of Sudbury. Glemsford is located near the River Glem and the River Stour also flows nearby. Glemsford is surrounded by arable farmland and is not far from historic Suffolk villages such as Lavenham and Long Melford.

History

The village dates back to the Domesday Book in 1086, in which Glemsford was recorded. The village has noteworthy features such as Monks Hall, which is a medieval timber structure. It is said that a tunnel once connected Monks Hall to the nearby Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, which the monks formerly used to access the church instead of mixing with the ordinary villagers. Only a small part of this tunnel remains. The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin dates back to the early 14th century, with the earliest recorded rector being Hugh de Poynton in 1302. The church features the Golding Chapel, built in memory of the rich Glemsford cloth merchant, John Golding. Golding lived in the Angel House, another timber building adjacent to The Angel public house. Golding left money for the chapel to be built when he died, likewise as with other parish churches St Mary's Church tower was rebuilt in the 19th century. Monks Hall itself has gone through changes of use and appearance through the centuries and is now a private residence. Glemsford Methodist Church is situated at the other end of the village and dates from the Victorian era.

In the early 16th century, Glemsford became the home of George Cavendish who was a local nobleman and gentleman-usher to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Upon Wolsey's death in 1530, Cavendish retired to Glemsford and in the mid-1550s he finalized a biography on Cardinal Wolsey which was published after his own death in 1562.

The village and the surrounding area, like much of East Anglia, was a strongly Puritan during much of the 17th century. By 1640, several families had departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the wave of emigration that occurred during the Great Migration.^[2]

Glemsford railway station was on the route between Sudbury and Cambridge, known as the Stour Valley Railway. The station opened in the 1860s and saw its busiest period during the First and Second World Wars when it, along with nearby Cavendish station, was bombed. This was because Glemsford station was one of the places which harboured ammunition trains. The station was closed during the Beeching Axe in 1967; only the Station House (now private), goods shed (now converted to flats) and one level crossing post remain.

Glemsford is a large and rather industrial village by Suffolk standards; it also has a considerable number of shops and public houses. Among the public houses are The Black Lion, a Medieval timber building, The Angel and The Cock Inn.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glemsford.

• Glemsford Parish Council website
• www.glemsford.org.uk
• A Short History of Glemsford Rev Kenneth W. Glass, former Rector of St. Mary the Virgin, Glemsford.

References

• Mee, Arthur, Ed., The King's England, Suffolk, our Farthest East, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1947 (reprint), 171-72.

v t e Babergh Towns Sudbury Hadleigh Civil parishes Acton Aldham Alpheton Arwarton Assington Belstead Bentley Bildeston Boxford Boxted Brantham Brent Eleigh Brettenham Bures St Mary Burstall Capel St Mary Chattisham Chelmondiston Chelsworth Chilton Cockfield Copdock and Washbrook East Bergholt Edwardstone Elmsett Freston Glemsford Great Cornard Great Waldingfield Groton Hadleigh (town) Harkstead Hartest Higham Hintlesham Hitcham Holbrook Holton St Mary Kersey Kettlebaston Lavenham Lawshall Layham Leavenheath Lindsey Little Cornard Little Waldingfield Long Melford Milden Monks Eleigh Nayland with Wissington Nedging with Naughton Newton Pinewood Polstead Preston St Mary Raydon Semer Shelley Shimpling Shotley Somerton Sproughton Stanstead Stoke by Nayland Stratford St Mary Stutton Sudbury (town) Tattingstone Thorpe Morieux Wattisham Wenham Magna Wenham Parva Whatfield Wherstead Woolverstone Other settlements Ash Street Audley End Bower House Tye Bridge Street Broad Street Burstallhill Bury Road, Lawshall Calais Street Castling's Heath Chelsworth Common Cock Street Cornard Tye Cuckoo Tye Dorking Tye Drakestone Green East End Fenstead End Gipsy Row Gosling Green Hadleigh Heath Hanningfield Green Harrow Green Hart's Green Hibb's Green Honey Tye Horner's Green Humble Green Kersey Tye Kersey Upland Lambs Lane, Lawshall Lawshall Green Lindsey Tye Lower Holbrook Lower Raydon Mill Green Naughton Nayland Nedging Nedging Tye Newman's Green Parliament Heath Polstead Heath Priory Green Rooksey Green Rose Green, Assington Rose Green, Lindsey Round Maple Sackers Green Scotland Street Smithwood Green Swingleton Green Sherbourne Street Shop Corner Stackyard Green Stone Street Tattingstone White Horse The Street, Lawshall Thorington Street Upper Somerton Washmere Green Whelp Street Whitestreet Green Wicker Street Green William's Green Wissington Washbrook Washbrook Street White Street Green Withermarsh Green Workhouse Green Buildings Abbas Hall All Saints Church Lawshall Coldham Cottage Flatford Mill Kentwell Hall Lawshall Hall Melford Hall Milden Castle St James's Chapel Wattisham Strict Baptist Chapel Willy Lott's Cottage Woolverstone Hall