HORNINGSHEATH

"HORNINGSHEATH, (or Horringer), a parish in the hundred of Thingoe, county Suffolk, 2 miles S.W. of Bury St. Edmund's, its railway station and post town. It is a small agricultural parish, and contains the hamlet of Horsecroft. It formerly belonged to the abbots of Bury, who resided here. Previous to 1528 it formed two parishes, distinguished as Great and Little Horningsheath. The land is chiefly arable. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £575. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £459, in the patronage of the Marquis of Bristol. The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, is a small edifice with a tower containing six bells. The interior of the church was repaired in 1818, and contains a painted window. The parochial charities produce about £24 per annum, £9 of which goes to the free school built by the Marquis of Bristol. Horringer House and Brooke House are the principal residences. The Marquis of Bristol is lord of the manor and principal landowner. A fair for lambs is held on Sheep Green on the 4th September.

"HORSECROFT, a hamlet in the parishes of Horningsheath and Nowton, county Suffolk, 2 miles S.W. of Bury St. Edmund's."

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