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Wissett

Coordinates: 52°21′40″N 1°28′23″E / 52.361°N 1.473°E / 52.361; 1.473
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Wissett
Church of St Andrew
Wissett is located in Suffolk
Wissett
Wissett
Location within Suffolk
Area8 km2 (3.1 sq mi) [1]
Population268 (2011)[1]
• Density34/km2 (88/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTM366794
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHalesworth
Postcode districtIP19
Dialling code01986
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°21′40″N 1°28′23″E / 52.361°N 1.473°E / 52.361; 1.473

Wissett is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the market town of Halesworth in the East Suffolk district. Historically, it was in the Blything Hundred.[2]

At the 2011 United Kingdom census the parish had a population of 268.[1] The village is spread along the Halesworth road with the Lowestoft to Ipswich railway cutting through the extreme eastern edge of the parish. The nearest railway station is Halesworth railway station.[2][3][4] The parish borders the parishes of Rumburgh, St James South Elmham, Spexhall, Halesworth and Chediston.[1]

History

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Wissett manor was held by Ralph the Staller, Baron of Gael in Brittany before the Norman Conquest. Ralph was created Earl of East Anglia in 1067, but his son lost the title and the manor passed to Count Alan of Brittany and Richmond in 1075.[2] The Domesday Book of 1086 records that Wissett was then combined with Rumburgh; the site of Rumburgh Priory which had 12 Benedictine monks. It had four carucates of land and a population of 97 families. The village chapel was a cell of the priory.[2][5][6]

The artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, and Grant's lover the writer David Garnett, lived in Wissett for the summer of 1916.[7] Bell's sister, Virginia Woolf, wrote after visiting them that: "Wissett seems to lull asleep all ambition. Don't you think they have discovered the secret of life? I thought it wonderfully harmonious."

Culture and community

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The parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew. It is one of around 40 round-tower churches in Suffolk[a] and dates from the 11th century. The tower has a floor partly dated to the 12th century, one of the oldest recorded church tower floors in the United Kingdom. The church was built as a chapel to Rumburgh Priory. Two doors and the tower arch are the remaining elements of Norman architecture. The church is a Grade I listed building.[2][14][15][16]

The carved wooden statue of St Andrew was crafted from driftwood in 2006 by Peter Eugene Ball.[14][16] The parish is now one of fourteen which together form the Blyth Valley Team Ministry in the Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich.[17]

The village has a village hall and a public house, The Plough Inn, which also operates as a village shop.[3] Wissett Hall is a red-brick manor house dating from the 17th century,[18] whilst Manor Farmhouse dates from the 16th century and The Grange from the 14th; both are Grade II* listed buildings.[19][20] The Old Chapel, a former dissenters' chapel, is now a private dwelling.[4]

The parish council operates a regular newsletter, The Wissett Web.[3] Valley Farm Vineyard was established in the parish in 1987 and has produced United Kingdom Vineyard Association Gold Medal winning wine.[3][21]

Education

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The Wissett School Board was formed in 1878, and the village school opened the following year, 1879. It operated as a board school until 1902, when it became a local authority primary school under the provisions of the Education Act 1902. The school continued to operate until 1961, when it closed due to the small size of its roll.[2][22] Children now attend primary school in Halesworth and secondary school at Bungay High School.

The Wissett Hoards

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Early in 2011 two hoards of Bronze Age axe heads and spears, together with a single rapier blade, were discovered in Wissett by two metal detectorists. The hoards were found about nine metres apart. The second hoard was excavated fully by the County Archaeological Team, and expert examination of the objects has shown them to be over 3,000 years old, dating to the Middle Bronze Age.

It is considered unusual to find two hoards so close together. From the identical alloy used in both hoards, it has been suggested that they are contemporary with each other. Several of the items are of a type that have never previously been found together.

In all, fifteen objects were authenticated by the British Museum, and were valued at £4,300. They were purchased by the Halesworth and District Museum.[23]

Notes

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  1. ^ The exact number of round-tower churches in the county is a matter of debate. Some sources list 38,[8][9] others cite between 40 and 43.[10][11][12][13] They almost all date from the late Anglo-Saxon or early Norman periods and were mostly built between the 11th and 14th-centuries. There are around 183 round-tower churches in England, most of them in Norfolk, which has around 124, and Suffolk.[11][13] Four of the churches now in Norfolk were previously in Suffolk before boundary changes in 1974.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Village profile: Wissett, East Suffolk District Council, 2019. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Wissett, Suffolk Heritage Explorer, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  3. ^ a b c d Wissett, Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  4. ^ a b Wissett Conservation Area Appraisal, East Suffolk District Council, 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  5. ^ Page W (1975) 'Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Rumburgh' in A History of the County of Suffolk: Volume 2, pp. 77–79. (Available online at British History Online. Retrieved 2011-05-02.)
  6. ^ Wissett, Open Domesday. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  7. ^ Vanessa Bell, Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  8. ^ Round Tower Churches Map, The Temple Trail. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  9. ^ Suffolk Churches, Weald and Downland Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  10. ^ Norfolk Round Tower Churches, Great English Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  11. ^ a b Hart S (2019) Round Tower Churches, Building Conservation, Cathedral Communications. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  12. ^ a b Knott S Suffolk churches with round towers, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  13. ^ a b Welcome to the Round Tower Churches Society, The Round Tower Churches Society. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  14. ^ a b Knott S (2019) St Andrew, Wissett, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  15. ^ Church of St Andrew, List entry, Historic England. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  16. ^ a b Kiddy M (1997) St Andrew's, Wissett: A Guide. Wissett: St Andrew's church.
  17. ^ Churches in the Blyth Valley Team Ministry, Blyth Valley Team Ministry. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  18. ^ Wissett Hall, List entry, Historic England. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  19. ^ Manor Farmhouse, List entry, Historic England. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  20. ^ The Grange, List entry, Historic England. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  21. ^ Williams A (2020) This could be your chance to own a vineyard, East Anglian Daily Times, 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  22. ^ Wissett Board School, Suffolk Archives, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  23. ^ The Wissett Hoards, Halesworth Museum. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
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Media related to Wissett at Wikimedia Commons

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