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Hoxne Hundred

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"HOXNE, a village, a parish, a district, and a hundred in Suffolk. The village stands near the river Waveney and the boundary with Norfolk, 3½ miles NE of Eye r. station, and 6 ESE of Diss; was anciently known as Eglesdune; is a seat of petty sessions; and has a postoffice under Scole, and a fair on 1 Dec. The parish includes also the hamlets of Hilton and Thorpe-Hall. Acres, 4,257. Real property, £8,544. Pop., 1,218. Houses, 264. The property is much subdivided; but the greater part belongs to Sir Edward Kerrison, Bart. The manor belonged to the bishops of Norwich; had a seat of theirs; was given, by Henry VIII., to the Southwells; and belongs now to Sir EdwardKerrison, Bart. Oakley Park, the seat of Sir Edward, is a beautiful mansion, in the Grecian style; has a gallery 80 feet long, resting on eight marble pillars; and stands in a park of upwards of 600 acres. A fine mansion has lately been erected by Admiral Sir Baldwin W. Walker, Bart. King Edmund was shot to death in Hoxne, with arrows, by the Danes, after his defeat at Thetford. His remains were buried in a wooden chapel here; and this, after their removal to Bury, was converted into a Benedictine priory, a cell to Norwich abbey. The priory flourished till the dissolution; and was then, with its property, given to Sir R. Gresham. An oak tree, to which the king is supposed to have been fastened, fell in 1848; and an iron arrow head was then found in it. The parish is all included in the parliamentary borough of Eye. The living is a vicarage, united with the vicarage of Denham, in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £450.* Patron, Sir E. Kerrison, Bart. The church comprises nave, N aisle and chancel; has a large pinnacled tower; and contains several monuments. A Baptist chapel was erected in 1864. There are a national school; a free school, with £54 a year from endowment; five almshouses, erected and supported by Sir E. Kerrison; and other charities, with £87 a year. The district comprehends the sub-district of Stradbroke, containing the parishes of Hoxne, Denham, Stradbroke, Wingfield, Syleham, Weybread, Withersdale, Metfield, Fressingfield, and Mendham, -part of the last electorally in Norfolk; and the sub-district of Dennington, containing the parishes of Dennington, Saxtead, Bedfield, Monk-Soham, Laxfield, Wilby, Horham, Athelington, Bedingfield, Southolt, Worlingworth, Tannington, Brundish, and Badingham. Acres, 53, 035. Poor rates in 1863, £8, 263. Pop. in 1851, 15, 900; in 1861, 14,694. Houses, 3, 175. Marriages in 1862, 92; births, 496, -of which 52 were illegitimate; deaths, 266, -of which 87 were at ages under 5 years, and 12 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1, 125; births, 5, 047; deaths, 3,093. The places of worship, in 1851, were 24 of the Church of England, with 5, 994 sittings; 1 of Independents, with 351 attendants; 5 of Baptists, with 2, 534 sittings; 1 of Wesleyans, with 80 s.; and 2 of Primitive Methodists, with 160 s. The schools were 21 public day schools, with 943 scholars; 30 private day schools, with 495 s.; 25 Sunday schools, with 1,730 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 6 s. The workhouse is in Stradbroke. The hundred is mainly identical with the district, but is more extensive. Acres, 56, 625. Pop. in 1851, 16,894; in 1861, 15, 673. Houses, 3,413."

(From John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72).)

Civil Registration

In 1836, White's Description of the Poor Law Unions and Registration Districts shows this Hundred to be served by the Registration Districts of Blything and Hoxne.

See also Suffolk Registration Districts.

BLYTHING RD in 1836 - 49 parishes comprising all the 47 parishes of Blything Hundred and Carlton and Kelsale parishes, two detached members of Hoxne Hundred. Blything Hundred is divided into 3 districts, Cratfield, Blythburgh and Wenhaston.

HOXNE RD in 1836 - Comprises 24 of the 26 parishes of Hoxne Hundred, the exception being Carlton and Kelsale which, being detached members of Hoxne Hundred are in Blything Union. Hoxne is divided into 2 sub-districts:- Stradbroke and Dennington. Mendam parish is partly in Norfolk (800 acres).

Historical Geography

See A Vision of Britain for a description of Hoxne through time.

Poor Houses, Poor Law

The Workhouse site has an interesting description of Hoxne Workhouse.