A Suffolk village, home to the earliest Aldous family on record |
Village History |
The village of Fressingfield is situated in the Waveney Valley, north Suffolk and dates back to 1086 when it was known as Fessefelde. The name is derived from the Old English 'Fyrsenfield', translating to a firze-covered field.
The most famous son of Fressingfield was William Sancroft (1617 - 1693). He was Dean of Emmanuel College Cambridge and Dean of St. Paul's where he oversaw Wren's re-building after the Great Fire of London. William Sancroft, as Archbishop of Canterbury showed strong allegiance to James 11 and was disposed, returning to Fressingfield in 1690 where he provided support for local education and charities for poor children.
William Sancroft
The parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Fressingfield, built around 1320. It has a memorial plaque on the wall bearing the name of a Jacob Robert Aldous of London and is dated 1876. The plaque has an inscription in Latin and is dedicated to our earliest known ancestor William Aldous and his wife Johane. The church is particularly noted for its wood carvings. The graveyard surrounding the church has several headstones bearing the Aldous name.
Parish Church of
St. Peter and St. Paul
Guild Hall
Now the Fox and Goose, the Hall of the Guild of St. Margaret of Antioch, was built in 1509. Following the abolition of the Guilds. A fine example of a brick and timber building, it became an overflow for the poorhouse and a school. The building was first used as a public house in 1710 and became the Fox and Goose in 1791. A modern reference to the Fox and Goose is a range of frozen 'ready meals' produced by Birds Eye based on recipes served in the place.
Headstone of a Henry Aldous - d1865
Suffolk Agriculture 1750 - 1850
Before 1800 this are of Suffolk had been primarily a dairy farming district, but the increasing demand for food during and following the Napoleonic Wars prompted a changeover to arable farming. Suffolk was able to make this change very quickly because there were no delays caused.
The church is particularly noted for its wood carvings. The graveyard surrounding the church has several headstones bearing the Aldous name.
Memorial Plaque
Around 1813 a depression set in due to falling prices, especially that of corn. The depression lasted until the late 1830's with many farms having been abandoned with farmers not being able to pay increasing Poor Rates (equal to one tenth part of the produce value). At the time, Fressingfield had 140 'able men', only 30 of these remained in employment. During these times, the Aldous families had land in Fressingfield (James Aldous), Stradbroke and (Robert Arnold Aldous) and elsewhere, but the Industrial revolution was beginning to attract groupd yo the North West, and in particular the fast developing town of Glossop.
The Fox and Goose