All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham

All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham is a civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the market town of Bungay and the same distance north-west of Halesworth and east of Harleston. The parish is in the East Suffolk district and is one of the parishes that make up the area around Bungay known as The Saints.^[3] It includes the settlements of All Saints, South Elmham and St Nicholas, South Elmham.

All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham
The church of All Saints
All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham Location within Suffolk
Area	7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) [1]
Population	130 (2005 est.)[2]
• Density	19/km2 (49/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TM330826
District	East Suffolk
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Halesworth
Postcode district	IP19
Post town	Harleston
Postcode district	IP20
Dialling code	01986
UK Parliament	Waveney
List of places UK England Suffolk 52.392°N 1.423°E / 52.392; 1.423

The parish has a population of around 130.^{[lower-alpha 1][2]} It borders the parishes of St Peter South Elmham, St Michael South Elmham, St Margaret South Elmham, St Cross South Elmham, St James South Elmham and Rumburgh.^[1] The parish council is operated jointly with St Peter and St Michael South Elmham.^[3]

History

The parish is believed to be part of the land given by Sigeberht of East Anglia, the ruler of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia to Felix of Burgundy during the 7th-century.^[4] At the Domesday survey on 1086, both All Saints and St Nicholas were included as part of the area recorded as South Elmham in Wangford Hundred. A population of 108 households was recorded.^[5] By the early 12th-century, the land was held by the Bishop of Norwich, before being seized during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and transferred to Edward North, 1st Baron North in 1535.^[4]

By the late 16th century the Tasburgh family from the Flixton area had become dominant in the parish. The Adair family from Cratfield later became the main landowners. The two parishes of All Saints and St Nicholas were combined in 1737.^[4][6]

Culture and community

Moated farmhouse next to All Saints church.

The parish church of All Saints survives, although it is formally redundant and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. It is a Grade I listed building, dates from the 12th-century and is one of around 40 round-tower churches in Suffolk.^{[lower-alpha 2][13][14][15][16]} Other than the parish church, the village has no services.^[3]

The church of St Nicholas was in ruins by the 17th-century and by the early 20th-century only a cross survived marking the position of the building.^[17][18][19]

Notes

1. 2011 United Kingdom census population data does not report population figures for parishes where the population is small enough to potential identify individuals and the population of All Saints and St Nicholas was combined with the sparsely populated parishes of St Peter South Elmham and St Michael South Elmham. As a result no population figure is available for All Saints and St Nicholas South Elmham at the census. The population figure for the three parishes combined was 233.^[1]
2. The exact number of round-tower churches in the county is a matter of debate. Some sources list 38,^[7][8] others cite between 40 and 43.^{[9][10][11][12]} 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.^[10][12] Four of the churches now in Norfolk were previously in Suffolk before boundary changes in 1974.^[11]

References

1. All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham, East Suffolk District Council, 2019. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
2. Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk, Suffolk County Council, 2007-05-01. Retrieved 2021-02-23. (Archived, 2008-12-19.)
3. All Saints & St. Nicholas, St Michael and St Peter, South Elmham, Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
4. South Elmham All Saints and St Nicholas, Suffolk Heritage Explorer, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
5. (South) Elmham (All Saints, St Cross, St James, St Margaret, St Michael, St Nicholas and St Peter), Open Domesday. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
6. Suckling AI (1846) 'South Elmham, All Saints', in The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1 pp.183–189. Ipswich: WS Crowell. (Available online at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-27.)
7. Round Tower Churches Map, The Temple Trail. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
8. Suffolk Churches, Weald and Downland Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
9. Norfolk Round Tower Churches, Great English Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
10. Hart S (2019) Round Tower Churches, Building Conservation, Cathedral Communications. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
11. Knott S Suffolk churches with round towers, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
12. Welcome to the Round Tower Churches Society, The Round Tower Churches Society. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
13. Church of All Saints, List entry, Historic England. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
14. All Saints' Church, South Elmham, Suffolk, Churches Conservation Trust. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
15. Knott S (2008) All Saints, South Elmham All Saints, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
16. All Saints, South Elmham, The Round Tower Churches Society. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
17. Knott S (2008) St Nicholas, South Elmham St Nicholas, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
18. Suckling AI (1846) 'South Elmham, St Nicholas', in The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1 pp.227–229. Ipswich: WS Crowell. (Available online at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-02-27.)
19. Monument record SEN 008 - St Nicholas' Church (site of), Suffolk Heritage Explorer, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2021-02-27.

External links

Media related to All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham at Wikimedia Commons