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NOTE: There is also a place named Hadleigh in the adjacent county of Essex.
Hadleigh is an ancient market town and civil parish in the southern part of Suffolk, in eastern England, situated, next to the River Brett, between the larger towns of Sudbury and Ipswich. The headquarters of Babergh District Council were located in the town until 2017. It had a population of 8,253 at the 2011 UK census. Hadleigh is surrounded on three sides by the parishes of the former Cosford Rural District; the souther border is the county of Essex. In 1306 Hadleigh was a moderately-sized town, with a reckoned population of about 1,100 or 1,200. At that time there were 118 "unfree tenants", who had to pay rent and provide labour services, and 75 "free tenants" who had had fewer obligations and dues. The manor had 2,000 acres (810 ha). It was a working farm, with crops and some animals, and had quite an important dairy. Hadleigh Hall was the site of the medieval manor house, in 4 acres (1.6 ha). Hadleigh was one of the East Anglian towns that derived its prosperity from its wool and cloth industries. [edit] Buildings of NoteIt has a 15th-century timber-framed Guildhall and many fine examples of timber and brick listed buildings, some with highly detailed 17th century plasterwork or "pargeting". Most of these buildings can be found in the High Street, Angel Street, Benton Street and George Street. The Guildhall buildings are, in fact, formed of three separate structures, all of which lie to the south of the churchyard: the Market House, the Guilds Halls and the New Town Hall (Grand Hall). They are located on land that belonged originally to the manor of Toppesfield Hall. In 1252, king Henry III of England granted a weekly market and an annual fair to Gilbert de Kirkeby, his wife Lauretta and their heirs. By 1438, the Lord of the Manor was William de Clopton, who granted these rights, to fifteen trustees, with an initial annual payment of 6s 8d. In 1438, the Hadleigh Market Feoffment was formed, to manage the market and buildings. The oldest part of the complex, the Market House, fronts the churchyard. Later the Guilds Halls were built and the final addition was the New Town Hall. Abutting the Market House to the west was the 'Long Hall newly built' (1438), which appears to have been the home of the Grammar School, the earliest record of which is dated 7 May 1382. Its last use was as an almshouses and accommodation for the Dean's servants; but it was seriously damaged in a storm in 1884 and was demolished. The town has a total of 246 listed buildings. Of these, four are Grade I listed: the grouping of St Mary's Church, the Deanery Tower and the Guildhall; and the Coffee Tavern in the High Street. Twenty-seven are II* listed. Hugh Pigot, curate of Hadleigh, identifies four further 'remarkable' houses in his 1866 history of the town: Sun Court; a house in the High Street, a house in George Street; and Place Farm (demolished). The house in George Street has since been identified as a hall house, known as Thorpes in the 1600s, and dated to 1380–1420. Originating in the 14th century, the Grade II* listed Toppesfield Bridge, over the River Brett, is the oldest in the county still carrying vehicles. It was widened in 1812. Hadleigh also had its own Corn Exchange, completed in 1813. [edit] ChurchesThe Anglican church of St Mary the Virgin is an active parish church in the archdeaconry of Ipswich in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. Its earliest parts date from medieval times. On 26 April 1950, the church was designated a Grade I listed building by English Heritage. According to the Annals of St. Neots, a chronicle compiled in Bury St. Edmunds, king Guthrum (later called Æthelstan, died c.890) was buried at "Headleage", which is usually identified as Hadleigh. He may have built the original Saxon church at this site; there are traces of which were revealed in the churchyard in 1829 and in 1984 to the south of the church porch. There is no real evidence, however, that Guthrum was the founder of the church. In the Domesday Book of 1086, there is mention of a church at "Hetlega" being owned by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. The deanery, with a tall Tudor gatehouse in brick built just before the Reformation, next to the church, is also a Grade I listed building. Like its near neighbour, East Berghol, Hadleigh was known during the 16th century for its Protestant radicalism. [[wikipedia:Rowland Taylor|Rowland Taylor (1510-1555), a preacher from the town, and his curate, Richard Yeoman, were martyred by being burned at the stake during the reign of Queen Mary I. The Oxford Movement was said to have been founded in 1833 following a meeting in the deanery. Hadleigh United Reformed Church, off Market Place, was originally the town's Congregational Church, founded in 1688. It was rebuilt in the early 19th century and restored in 1890. The Baptist chapel was built in 1830. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1966. In 1814, the Wesleyan Methodists purchased the 14th-century Thorpes hall house in George Street and leased it to the Primitive Methodists, in 1836. In 1848, the Wesleyans built a chapel on land adjoining Thorpes and enlarged it in 1875. The chapel is now a Grade II listed home. There was also an Episcopal Mission Chapel built on Hadleigh Heath in 1878 and restored in 1891; it was disused by 1912. [edit] Research Tips
[edit] Suffolk Information
For those whose families may have wandered over the county borders:
[edit] British Government Information
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