RATTLESDEN

"RATTLESDEN, a parish in the hundred of Thedwestry, county Suffolk, 9 miles S.E. of Bury St. Edmund's, its post town, and 5 W. of Stow-Market. The village is situated on a small stream, which joins the river Gipping at Combs. The manor was alienated from the bishopric of Ely in the 4th year of Queen Elizabeth, and was given to William Blake by James I. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £770, and the glebe comprises 43 acres. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £930. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is an ancient stone edifice with a small tower, surmounted by a spire, and contains five bells. The roof of the church is of open carved work, and there are tablets to two former rectors. The register dates from 1558. There are some small charities. There are a National and a Sunday-school, the former partly endowed. The Baptists have a place of worship. Clapton Hall and Rattlesden Hall are the principal residences. F. L. Cocksedge, Esq., is lord of the manor."

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