Lidgate

"LIDGATE, (or Lydgate), a parish in the hundred of Risbridge, county Suffolk, 7 miles S.E. of Newmarket, its post town, and 10 S.W. of Bury St. Edmund's. The parish is of small extent and wholly agricultural. It was formerly held by Richard "sans Nose," who gave it to Bury Abbey. On a mount near the church are traces of a seat called "King John's Castle." The tithes were commuted for corn-rents under an Enclosure Act in 1812. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £473. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure with a square tower containing five bells. In 1845 a portion of the building was restored and a stained window inserted. The interior of the church contains the brass of a priest. The register dates from 1547. John Lydgate, the poet, was born in this parish in 1380. The parochial charities produce about £15 per annum, of which £6 go to a school. There is a National school, also a place of worship for the Independents. W. C. Kitchener, Esq., is lord of the manor.

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)