HAWSTEAD

"HAWSTEAD, a parish in the hundred of Thingoe, county Suffolk, 3 miles S. of Bury St. Edmund's, its post town. The parish, which is inconsiderable, contains the hamlet of Hardwick. It is mentioned in Domesday Book as Halstead, and belonged to Bury Abbey. Queen Elizabeth was entertained at Hawstead Place, now a farmhouse, in one of her progresses, by Sir William Drury, who was then lord of the manor. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £428. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient structure of the 15th century, with a tower containing three bells; the interior of which contains effigies and tombs of the Drurys and Fitz-Eustaces, also three brasses. The church has recently been restored. There are almshouses endowed by the late Philip Metcalfe, Esq., for six aged persons, who have an annuity of £18 each, with the addition of £5 to each person for clothes and fuel. Here is a school for children of both sexes, erected in 1845. Hardwick House is the principal residence."

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