Thorpeness
Encyclopedia
Thorpeness is a village in the county of Suffolk
, England
. It is part of the parish of Aldringham cum Thorpe
and is within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.
stories of it being a route for smugglers into East Anglia
. However in 1910, Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, a Scottish
barrister
who had made his money designing railways around the world, bought the entire area from north of Aldeburgh
to past Sizewell
, up the coast and inland to Aldringham
and Leiston
.
Most of this land was used for farming but Ogilvie developed Thorpeness into a private fantasy holiday village, to which he invited his friends' and colleagues' families during the summer months. A country club with tennis courts and a swimming pool, a golf course and clubhouse and many holiday homes were built in Jacobean
and Tudor Revival styles. A notable feature of the village is a set of almshouses built in the 1920s to the design of W.G. Wilson. To hide the eyesore of having a water tower in the village, the tank was clad in wood to make it look like a small house on top of a 5-storey tower, with a separate water-pumping windmill next to it. It is known as the "House in the Clouds
", and after mains water was installed in the village the old tank was transformed into a huge games room with views over the land from Aldeburgh to Sizewell.
For three generations Thorpeness remained mostly in the private ownership of the Ogilvie family, with houses only being sold from the estate to friends as holiday homes. In 1972, Alexander Stuart Ogilvie, Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie's grandson, died on the Thorpeness Golf Course and many of the houses and the golf course and country club were sold to pay death duties
.
's work, 'Peter Pan
'. Besides a large main pond, there are several channels with landings marked with names of the Peter Pan theme. Tiny islands on the Meare contain locations found in J. M. Barrie
's novel such as the pirates lair, Wendy's home, and many others which children are encouraged to play on. The Meare was dug to a shallow depth for increased safety.
A variety of boats may be rented to enjoy the facility, many of which are original boats dating from the first creation of the Meare, and were named by the local workmen who had dug out the lake.
In August the Meare serves as the location for the Thorpeness Regatta which usually takes place around the same time as the carnival in neighbouring Aldeburgh
and attracts many visitors. During the day boat races are held and at night boats that have been decorated are paraded around the Meare followed by a grand fireworks display.
Nowadays, Thorpeness is a quiet village of about 400 people in the winter, yet swelling to over 1,600 people in the summer, as it is still mainly a holiday village, with the highlight being a regatta
on the Meare at the end of August and a huge fireworks display. It is a popular day trippers' destination with its beach and Meare, many amenities and sights such as the House in the Clouds.
The Ogilvies still have a strong presence in the village and many of the families coming there for their holidays, have been doing so for generations. Also many of the families of the craftsmen, who helped build the village, are still there such as the Staff family. However, owing to its seasonal population and its bizarre history, it has also been voted into the book 'the Hundred Worst Places to Live in Britain' and voted as the 'Weirdest Village in England' by 'Bizarre' magazine in 2003, though those who actually do live in Thorpeness would tend to disagree.
To the south of the town lies the North Warren RSPB reserve
. An area of wildlife and habitat conservation and nature trails run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
. It has Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI) and Special Protection Area
(SPA) status.
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...
, 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...
. It is part of the parish of Aldringham cum Thorpe
Aldringham cum Thorpe
Aldringham cum Thorpe is a civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal district of Suffolk, England. Located south of the town of Leiston, the parish includes the villages of Aldringham and Thorpeness, which is on the coast, between Sizewell and Aldeburgh . In 2007 it had an estimated population of 700....
and is within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.
Development of the community
The village was originally a small fishing hamlet in the late 19th century, with folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
stories of it being a route for smugglers into 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...
. However in 1910, Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie, a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
who had made his money designing railways around the world, bought the entire area from north of Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
to past Sizewell
Sizewell
Sizewell is a small fishing village with a few holiday homes in the county of Suffolk, England. It is located on the East Anglian coast just north of the larger holiday villages of Thorpeness and Aldeburgh, and two miles from the town of Leiston. It is within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.The...
, up the coast and inland to Aldringham
Aldringham
Aldringham is a village in Suffolk, England. The village is located 1 mile south of Leiston and 3 miles northwest of Aldeburgh close to the North Sea coast. The parish includes the coastal village of Thorpeness. The mid-2005 population estimate for Aldringham cum Thorpe parish was...
and Leiston
Leiston
Leiston is a town in eastern Suffolk, England. It is situated near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast and is northeast of Ipswich and northeast from London...
.
Most of this land was used for farming but Ogilvie developed Thorpeness into a private fantasy holiday village, to which he invited his friends' and colleagues' families during the summer months. A country club with tennis courts and a swimming pool, a golf course and clubhouse and many holiday homes were built in Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
and Tudor Revival styles. A notable feature of the village is a set of almshouses built in the 1920s to the design of W.G. Wilson. To hide the eyesore of having a water tower in the village, the tank was clad in wood to make it look like a small house on top of a 5-storey tower, with a separate water-pumping windmill next to it. It is known as the "House in the Clouds
House in the Clouds
The House in the Clouds is a water tower at Thorpeness, Suffolk, UK. It was built in 1923 to receive water pumped from Thorpeness Windmill and was designed to improve the looks of the water tower, disguising its tank with the appearance of a weatherboarded building more in keeping with Thorpeness's...
", and after mains water was installed in the village the old tank was transformed into a huge games room with views over the land from Aldeburgh to Sizewell.
For three generations Thorpeness remained mostly in the private ownership of the Ogilvie family, with houses only being sold from the estate to friends as holiday homes. In 1972, Alexander Stuart Ogilvie, Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie's grandson, died on the Thorpeness Golf Course and many of the houses and the golf course and country club were sold to pay death duties
Inheritance Tax (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, Inheritance Tax is a transfer tax. It was introduced with effect from 18 March 1986 replacing Capital Transfer Tax.-History:...
.
The Meare
An artificial lake, 'meare' or boating lake, was created, with many of its inspirations coming from a personal family friend, J. M. BarrieJ. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
's work, 'Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
'. Besides a large main pond, there are several channels with landings marked with names of the Peter Pan theme. Tiny islands on the Meare contain locations found in J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
's novel such as the pirates lair, Wendy's home, and many others which children are encouraged to play on. The Meare was dug to a shallow depth for increased safety.
A variety of boats may be rented to enjoy the facility, many of which are original boats dating from the first creation of the Meare, and were named by the local workmen who had dug out the lake.
In August the Meare serves as the location for the Thorpeness Regatta which usually takes place around the same time as the carnival in neighbouring Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
and attracts many visitors. During the day boat races are held and at night boats that have been decorated are paraded around the Meare followed by a grand fireworks display.
Thorpeness today
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
on the Meare at the end of August and a huge fireworks display. It is a popular day trippers' destination with its beach and Meare, many amenities and sights such as the House in the Clouds.
The Ogilvies still have a strong presence in the village and many of the families coming there for their holidays, have been doing so for generations. Also many of the families of the craftsmen, who helped build the village, are still there such as the Staff family. However, owing to its seasonal population and its bizarre history, it has also been voted into the book 'the Hundred Worst Places to Live in Britain' and voted as the 'Weirdest Village in England' by 'Bizarre' magazine in 2003, though those who actually do live in Thorpeness would tend to disagree.
To the south of the town lies the North Warren RSPB reserve
North Warren RSPB reserve
North Warren RSPB reserve is a nature reserve run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Suffolk, England. It lies on the Suffolk coast on the north edge of the town of Aldeburgh and to the south of Thorpeness and includes the Aldringham Walks area of heathland to the north...
. An area of wildlife and habitat conservation and nature trails run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...
. It has Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI) and Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
(SPA) status.