CAMPSEY-ASH

"CAMPSEY-ASH, a parish in the hundred of Loes, in the county of Suffolk, 2½, miles to the E. of Wickham Market, its post town, which is a station on the Framlingham Junction of the East Suffolk railway. The parish lies on the E. side of the river Deben, and was the site of a nunnery of the order of St. Clare, founded in the latter part of the 12th century by Theobald de Valoines, and to which a chantry was attached by Maud de Lancaster. The nunnery, of which there are some remains, had a revenue at the Dissolution of £182 9s., and was given to Sir William Willoughby. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Norwich, value £350, in the gift of Lord Rendlesham. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and is a structure of comparatively modern date, with an ancient tower, repaired in 1792. The register dates from the year 1559. The parish estate for the benefit of the poor is worth £10 a year. Ash High House was built about 1600 for the Duke of Norfolk, but came into the possession of the Sheppard family before 1648. It stands in a large and finely-wooded park abounding in deer."

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003