Some answers to the questions on Charsfield Past on which you may have pondered. More detail on Charsfield’s website in the coming months.
Contact email: charsfieldpast@btinternet.com
Q1 – During the 1500s & 1600s what was the main crop grown in Charsfield?
Barley. Also, some wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops and occasionally hemp. Considerable pasture and animal husbandry, as well.
Q2 – Charsfield in 1674 – John Leman Esq, Lord of the Manor, was assessed to have 9, George Starlinge Esq to have 7. To what do these numbers refer?
Hearths. 2 shillings tax per hearth per year. The 1674 register gives us a record of the residents of Charsfield at that time. In status, the Starlinges appear to be the second family in the village and owned the White House (whereabouts unknown).
Q3 – In 1801 the population of Charsfield was said to be 411. How many houses though?
50. Occupancy of a dwelling by two or more families was common.
Q4 – In the 1800s, maps and documents refer to Brickwall Corner, Brickwall Piece and Brickwall Farm. Where was this area of Charsfield?
From the junction of The Street and Church Road up to the school (opposite the vicarage garden). Brickwall Farm is nowadays Brook Farm.
Q5 – In the 1840s, Fanny Marjoram, though reaching her 70s in this decade, was still carrying out a much-appreciated role in the village. She would be very welcome nowadays! What was she doing?
Publican at The Horse Shoes Inn. See here for much more detail on Fanny’s life and her family.
Q6 – 1841 Census – Pembertons Lane; 1851 Census – Tinkers Lane. What do we call it now? A clue (likely, of no help!) – it was in Pymans Green.
Park Lane. Rebeccah Pemberton owned the dwellings at the top (present-day Paddocks); hence the 1841 name. Pymans Green appears to be that area from Chapel Lane eastwards and on the north side of The Street.
Q7 – An inquest was held at The Horseshoes Inn starting Friday, 21st August 1863 and reconvened the following Wednesday, 26th August. What was being investigated?
The ferocious explosion of a steam engine being used for threshing at Black Barn Farm (Monewden Road, near today’s duck farm). A tragic event in which two men and a boy died.
Q8 – What happened at the Bull Inn, Woodbridge on the afternoon of Wednesday, 25th July 1877 that would lead to major change in Charsfield?
The auction of all of Earl Howe’s property in Charsfield. The end of the Lord of Manor and transference of the largest farms into new hands, most notably the Youngman family who bought Lot 1, Charsfield Hall Farm.
Q9 – In 1896, which newly formed body in Charsfield found itself embroiled in an expenses row?
The Parish Council which had been set up by the Local Government Act of 1894. Mr Dyball, the first Chairman sued for payment of £1 11s expenses which the Council members had considered excessive. The judge sided with Mr Dyball.
Q10 – Charsfield in 1919: “First they tried to pull it down on Good Friday, but it wouldn’t come. They shouldn’t have done it on that day. They tried again on the Monday and that time it came down?” What was this eyewitness describing?
The toppling of the last mill in the village – a post mill next to Mill House, out on the Hoo Road. In earlier times, also a mill at Kings Farm and (probably) Ivy Farm, both in Hall Road. And one on Ipswich Road, now Charsfield but was Debach.
Q11 – The 1939 register taken in Charsfield in September at the outbreak of war shows “Esther Gilson, District Nurse” to be living at “The Hut”. Where was this?
Hall Road, on the east side of Kings Farm.
Q12 – The picture below shows Peggy Cole’s garden open for visitors in 1983, as it was for many years raising money for local causes. How much was the entry fee on that day?
