Redgrave, Suffolk
Encyclopedia
Redgrave is a civil parish and a small village in the Rickinghall and Walsham ward in the Mid Suffolk
district in Suffolk
county in eastern England
.
The village of Redgrave is the descendant of the historic Redgrave Manor (Redgrave Park) which contained Redgrave Hall and currently contains Redgrave Park Farm which once farmed free range turkeys.
In November 2007, Redgrave Park Farm had an outbreak of H5N1
.
completed in 1086, the Redgrave Manor was given to the Bury St. Edmunds Abbey
by Ulfketel. (Ulfketel was Earl of East Anglia
and leader of local resistance against the invading Danish armies in 1004 and 1010.) By 1211, Abbot Samson of Bury St Edmunds had built a hunting lodge (or Hall) and "deer park" (a deer hunting ground enclosed by fence or ditch) which soon included a stable, dairy, chicken house, dove house, goose house, orchard, kitchen, bake house, chapel, and guest house. Redgrave Church was added in the early 14th century. In 1539 King Henry VIII
dissolved the monasteries
and Redgrave Manor and Park passed into the hands of the King.
who was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
from 17 April 1689 to 11 March 1710. After John Holt, his brother Rowland Holt was Squire of Redgrave, followed by his son, Rowland II, followed by his 16 year-old son Rowland III who remodeled the Hall and Park in the 1760s adding a sinuous, 50 acres (202,343 m²) lake, "a Palladian 'rotunda' or round house in one corner of the Park, and a 'water house' (later known as the Kennels) beside the Lake. A decorative Orangery
and a red brick stable block were built near the Hall. [...] He owned a house in London, at 47 Pall Mall. When he died unmarried in 1786 the Estate passed to his brother Thomas. Thomas Holt was Squire of Redgrave until his death in 1799, when the Estate passed to his nephew George Wilson
, eldest son of his sister Lucinda, who had married Thomas Wilson
in 1752. Thus the Estate passed into the Wilson family."
(1756-1826; who became one of the four Admirals of the Fleet) inherited the Redgrave Estate. Admiral Wilson's eldest son, George St Vincent (1806-1852) inherited what King William IV
called "the most beautiful combination of land and water in Eastern England".
"George St V.'s youngest brother John Wood Wilson (1812-1872) worked hard to put the management of the Estate on a sounder footing, and to invest in farm improvements. [...] In 1898 financial problems forced George Holt Wilson to move out of Redgrave Hall, and he took up residence at Broom Hills house, Rickinghall. He was the last of the Wilsons to live at the Hall. [...] In the First World War troops were billeted in the Park. Between 1919 and 1921 George Holt Wilson sold most of the contents of the Muniment Room at the Hall. This was a room on the ground floor which contained Estate and manorial records and legal documents relating to the successive owners of the Estate dating back to the Middle Ages. The bulk of the early material went to the University of Chicago, where it forms a uniquely important collection of documents for studying Mediaeval and Tudor history. [...] In 1924 George Holt Wilson died, and his son George Rowland died in 1928. The Estate therefore had to pay two lots of death duties tax in four years. This set the scene for the climate of financial stringency facing John Holt Wilson (1900-1963) when he took over running the Estate. For a few years in the 1930s John Holt Wilson was able to let the Hall as a hotel and country club. [After World War II he] decided to demolish the Hall to raise money to plough into the Estate. The interior features - fireplaces, ceilings, staircases - were sold, and then the house itself was taken down brick by brick."
s in the area. Gressingham Foods is the parent company of Redgrave Poultry and is a small agribusiness
that is known for a wide range of high quality speciality poultry
including its exclusive production of "Gressingham Duck". In November 2007, the highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1
stain that is considered a flu pandemic threat was discovered at several Redgrave Poultry farms near Diss, Norfolk; including at Redgrave Park where free range
turkey
s (with access to housing at night) are farmed. DEFRA killed tens of thousands of poultry to stop the spread of this outbreak of H5N1 and announced that "Local authorities and Animal Health are enforcing a 3km Protection Zone, a 10km Surveillance Zone and a wider Restricted Zone covering the whole of Suffolk
and most of Norfolk
around the Infected Premises. In these zones, movement restrictions will be imposed and poultry must be isolated from wild birds. In addition, it has been announced that the national general licence on bird gatherings has been revoked, and bird shows and pigeon racing will not be permitted for the time being."
Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Needham Market, and the largest town is Stowmarket.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Borough of Eye, Stowmarket urban district, Gipping Rural District, Hartismere Rural District and...
district in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
county in eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The village of Redgrave is the descendant of the historic Redgrave Manor (Redgrave Park) which contained Redgrave Hall and currently contains Redgrave Park Farm which once farmed free range turkeys.
In November 2007, Redgrave Park Farm had an outbreak of H5N1
H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
.
History
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Redgrave like this:- "REDGRAVE, a village and a parish in Hartismere district, SuffolkSuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. The village stands near the river WaveneyWaveneyWaveney is a local government district in Suffolk, England, named after the River Waveney that forms its north-west border. The district council is based in Lowestoft, the major settlement in Waveney, which is the only unparished area in the district...
at the boundary with NorfolkNorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, 4¼ miles NW of MellisMellisMellis is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has the largest area of unfenced common land in England. Oliver Cromwell exercised his troops in Mellis. It once had a railway station on the main line between London and Norwich, and a small branch line that ran to nearby Eye.In summer rare...
[rail] station, and 7 WNW of Eye; and has a post-office under ScoleScoleScole is a village on the Norfolk/Suffolk border in England. It is 19 miles south of Norwich and lay on the old Roman road to Venta Icenorum, which was the main road until it was bypassed with a dual carriageway...
. The parish contains also the hamlet of BotesdaleBotesdaleBotesdale is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is about south west of Diss.Botesdale is located about 25 miles from Norwich and 16 miles from Bury St Edmunds.- Road :...
, and comprises 3353 acres (13.6 km²). Real property, £7,722. Population in 1851, 1,382; in 1861, 1,266. Houses, 299. The [Redgrave] manor was given, by UlfketelUlfcytel SnillingrUlfcytel was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman. He was apparently the ealdorman of East Anglia from 1004 to his death at the battle of Assandun, although he is not called an ealdorman in any of the charters he witnessed...
the Dane, to [the Bury St. Edmunds AbbeyBury St. Edmunds AbbeyThe Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. Its ruins lie in Bury St Edmunds, a town in the county of Suffolk, England.-History:...
]; passed to Lord Keeper Bacon, Chief Justice HoltJohn Holt (judge)Sir John Holt was an English lawyer and served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 17 April 1689 to his death.-Biography:...
, and others; and, with Redgrave Hall, belongs now to G. H. Wilson, Esq. [Redgrave Hall] occupies the site of a residence of the Abbots of BuryBury St. Edmunds AbbeyThe Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. Its ruins lie in Bury St Edmunds, a town in the county of Suffolk, England.-History:...
; was rebuilt in 1770; and has a very fine park. Limetree House is the seat of J. R. Whit-hair, Esq. The living is a rectory, united with the chapelry of BotesdaleBotesdaleBotesdale is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The village is about south west of Diss.Botesdale is located about 25 miles from Norwich and 16 miles from Bury St Edmunds.- Road :...
, in the diocese of NorwichNorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. Value, £889.* Patron, G. H. Wilson, Esq. The church was restored in 1850. There are a WesleyanWesleyanismWesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
chapel, a national school, an endowed grammar school with £28 a year, and charities £21. Cardinal Wolsey was rector."
Before 1542 (Bury Abbey)
According to the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
completed in 1086, the Redgrave Manor was given to the Bury St. Edmunds Abbey
Bury St. Edmunds Abbey
The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. Its ruins lie in Bury St Edmunds, a town in the county of Suffolk, England.-History:...
by Ulfketel. (Ulfketel was Earl of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
and leader of local resistance against the invading Danish armies in 1004 and 1010.) By 1211, Abbot Samson of Bury St Edmunds had built a hunting lodge (or Hall) and "deer park" (a deer hunting ground enclosed by fence or ditch) which soon included a stable, dairy, chicken house, dove house, goose house, orchard, kitchen, bake house, chapel, and guest house. Redgrave Church was added in the early 14th century. In 1539 King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
dissolved the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
and Redgrave Manor and Park passed into the hands of the King.
1542 - 1702 (Bacons)
Nicholas Bacon (father of philosopher/statesman Sir Francis Bacon) bought Redgrave Manor from the Crown in 1542. Bacon rebuilt the Hall and made some alterations to the Park. Robert Bacon, the 5th baronet, sold the Redgrave Estate in 1702 to John Holt, the Lord Chief Justice.1702 - 1799 (Holts)
In 1702 Robert Bacon sold the Redgrave Hall Estate to John HoltJohn Holt (judge)
Sir John Holt was an English lawyer and served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 17 April 1689 to his death.-Biography:...
who was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
from 17 April 1689 to 11 March 1710. After John Holt, his brother Rowland Holt was Squire of Redgrave, followed by his son, Rowland II, followed by his 16 year-old son Rowland III who remodeled the Hall and Park in the 1760s adding a sinuous, 50 acres (202,343 m²) lake, "a Palladian 'rotunda' or round house in one corner of the Park, and a 'water house' (later known as the Kennels) beside the Lake. A decorative Orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
and a red brick stable block were built near the Hall. [...] He owned a house in London, at 47 Pall Mall. When he died unmarried in 1786 the Estate passed to his brother Thomas. Thomas Holt was Squire of Redgrave until his death in 1799, when the Estate passed to his nephew George Wilson
George Wilson
-Arts and entertainment:* George Wilson , British actor* George Balch Wilson , American composer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan* George Washington Wilson , pioneering Scottish photographer...
, eldest son of his sister Lucinda, who had married Thomas Wilson
Thomas Wilson
-Politicians:*Thomas Wilson of Adelaide, Australia*Thomas Wilson , US Representative from Virginia*Thomas Wilson , US Representative from Minnesota*Thomas Stokeley Wilson, judge in Iowa...
in 1752. Thus the Estate passed into the Wilson family."
1799 - 1971 (Wilsons)
In 1799, Thomas Holt's nephew George WilsonGeorge Wilson
-Arts and entertainment:* George Wilson , British actor* George Balch Wilson , American composer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan* George Washington Wilson , pioneering Scottish photographer...
(1756-1826; who became one of the four Admirals of the Fleet) inherited the Redgrave Estate. Admiral Wilson's eldest son, George St Vincent (1806-1852) inherited what King William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
called "the most beautiful combination of land and water in Eastern England".
"George St V.'s youngest brother John Wood Wilson (1812-1872) worked hard to put the management of the Estate on a sounder footing, and to invest in farm improvements. [...] In 1898 financial problems forced George Holt Wilson to move out of Redgrave Hall, and he took up residence at Broom Hills house, Rickinghall. He was the last of the Wilsons to live at the Hall. [...] In the First World War troops were billeted in the Park. Between 1919 and 1921 George Holt Wilson sold most of the contents of the Muniment Room at the Hall. This was a room on the ground floor which contained Estate and manorial records and legal documents relating to the successive owners of the Estate dating back to the Middle Ages. The bulk of the early material went to the University of Chicago, where it forms a uniquely important collection of documents for studying Mediaeval and Tudor history. [...] In 1924 George Holt Wilson died, and his son George Rowland died in 1928. The Estate therefore had to pay two lots of death duties tax in four years. This set the scene for the climate of financial stringency facing John Holt Wilson (1900-1963) when he took over running the Estate. For a few years in the 1930s John Holt Wilson was able to let the Hall as a hotel and country club. [After World War II he] decided to demolish the Hall to raise money to plough into the Estate. The interior features - fireplaces, ceilings, staircases - were sold, and then the house itself was taken down brick by brick."
1971 - present (Tophams)
In 1971 Redgrave Park was sold out of the Holt-Wilson family to Guy and Elizabeth Topham who turned it into a farm. Of the buildings erected by Brown, only the Roundhouse and the Kennels survive, and are subject to a Grade Two preservation order by the Government to keep them for posterity.H5N1 outbreak in Redgrave
The Tophams rent out Redgrave Park to Redgrave Poultry which operates several farmFarm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s in the area. Gressingham Foods is the parent company of Redgrave Poultry and is a small agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
that is known for a wide range of high quality speciality poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
including its exclusive production of "Gressingham Duck". In November 2007, the highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1
H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
stain that is considered a flu pandemic threat was discovered at several Redgrave Poultry farms near Diss, Norfolk; including at Redgrave Park where free range
Free range
thumb|250px|Free-range chickens being fed outdoors.Free range is a term which outside of the United States denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. In the United States, USDA regulations apply only to poultry and...
turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
s (with access to housing at night) are farmed. DEFRA killed tens of thousands of poultry to stop the spread of this outbreak of H5N1 and announced that "Local authorities and Animal Health are enforcing a 3km Protection Zone, a 10km Surveillance Zone and a wider Restricted Zone covering the whole of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and most of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
around the Infected Premises. In these zones, movement restrictions will be imposed and poultry must be isolated from wild birds. In addition, it has been announced that the national general licence on bird gatherings has been revoked, and bird shows and pigeon racing will not be permitted for the time being."
Further reading
- Diss Express - village's local newspaper website
- map
- Redgrave Park- website detailing the history of Redgrave Park