ROUGHAM

"ROUGHAM, a parish in the hundred of Thedwestry, county Suffolk, 4 miles S.E. of Bury St. Edmund's, and 1½ mile S. of Thurston railway station on the Bury and Ipswich branch of the Great Eastern railway. The village, which is large but irregularly built, is chiefly agricultural. Rougham was given by Ulfketel, the Saxon, to the abbots of Bury St. Edmund's, and by Henry VII. to the Drurys. The soil is of a loamy and sandy nature, upon a subsoil of gravel and clay. The Suffolk hounds meet in this parish. The tithes were commuted for corn-rents under an Enclosure Act in 1813. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £756. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, has a tower containing five bells. The interior of the church contains a brass of Sir R. Drury, bearing date 1405, also other tombs. The register dates from the middle of the 16th century. The parochial charities produce about £150 per annum, £47 of which goes to Edward Sparke's school, founded in 1720. The Baptists have a place of worship. Rougham Hall, the principal residence, has two lofty towers at the E. and W. wings. It is situated in a park celebrated for its oaks."

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