History of Beck
Row, Holywell Row and Kenny Hill
In 1086 these villages were
part of the large and wealthy manor of Mildenhall
(Mitdenhalla) with its church, 3 ½ fisheries, 31 wild mares, 37
cattle, 60 pigs and 1000 sheep. It then belonged to King William,
but Domesday Book records show that it had been given by King
Edward the Confessor to the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds and that it
had later been held by Archbishop Stigand. The gift to Bury Abbey
took place in 1043-4 and it seems that afterwards it was leased to
Archbishop Stigand. He had been bishop of East Anglia in the 1040s
and had retained considerable property there but when he was
deposed in 1070 much of his estate was taken into the king’s hands.
The manor of Mildenhall was redeemed by Abbot Samson of Bury from
King Richard 1. in 1189 for 1000marks. It remained a possession of
Bury Abbey down to the dissolution of the monastery.
By the late 16th century, Mildenhall
comprised the main town (sometimes called High Town) and a number
of daughter settlements closer to the fen edge. These fen
edge hamlets were variously called ‘rows’, ‘greens’ and ‘streets’.
In the Beck Row area they included Beck Row Green, Cake Street
Green, Hern’s Green, Holmsey Green, Holywell Green, Stock Green,
Wilde Street as well as Lambholme and Aspal Hall.
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Beck Row Green is now The Street from Holmsey
Green corner towards Stock Corner.
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Cake Street Green is now St. John’s
Street.
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Hern’s Green is now the housing estate off
Holmsey Green.
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Holmsey Green remains the same.
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Holywell Green is now Holywell Row.
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Stock Green is now Stock Corner.
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Wilde Street remains the same.
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Lambholme is now Lamble Close.
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Aspal Hall has disappeared .
(see
draft map from E. Martin’s Fenland Project and Suffolk Survey
circa Saxon & Medieval )
Beck Row
In 1327 there is
mention in documents of John de Beche. The village was called Le
Bek or Bekgrene between 1390-1401, le Beckegrene in 1538-40, Becke
streete, the middle row in Beckstreete, Beckwatch, Beck(e) waye in
1574 and Beck Row from 1735-1783. It then became Beck Row Field,
Green and Road in 1812 and Beck Row and Watch in 1836. The word
bekkr is an old Norse word for a stream.
Mary Rolfe writes “In the early part of the
20th Century Beck Row was just a small part of the parish of
Mildenhall and considered to be within the Mildenhall Fen area. In
those days other small hamlets existed in their own right such as
Wilde Street, Kenny Hill and Burnt Fen (part of Burnt Fen in
Suffolk from Kenny Hill Council Houses to The Old Plough and Duck
public house just before Shippea Hill Railway Station is in this
parish as well.) each of which had their own shops, families and in
some cases their own school and church.
So it was to this area that the Air
Ministry came in 1934 in search of a suitable site for an
airfield and it was decided to develop the large flat plain between
Mildenhall, West Row and Beck Row. This development was to become
what we now know as R.A.F. Mildenhall. It was from this airfield
that aircraft flew in the world famous Mildenhall to Melbourne Air
Race, thereby putting Mildenhall on the map of aviation. There have
been many other notable events with which R.A.F. Mildenhall has
been connected . Since those early days through R.A.F. Mildenhall
falling into the parish of Beck Row the village has played host to
several members of the Royal Family, three Presidents of the United
States and through the annual Air Fete, numerous dignitaries from
all over the world plus many thousands who enjoy airshows.”
Aspal
Hall/Close
This Hall was once known as Aspallgate
between 1538-40. It was the manor of Aspalis 1554, Aspolls man,
Aspolls land, Aspole way and Aspoll Wongs in 1574. It became
Aspalls in 1651, Aspall Farm in 1725 and Aspall Grounds, Lane, Road
and Farm in 1836. It became Aspall Hall in 1855. This small manor
takes its name from Sir Robert de Aspal of Stonham Aspal who owned
it in the early 14th century. Robert went overseas in the service
of the King in 1308-9, was a justice in Suffolk 1317 and 1331, was
a co executor of the will of the Countess of Norfolk 1322-3, was
summoned as a knight to the Great Council at Westminster in
1324 and was Knight of the Shire of Suffolk in 1327. The manor
descended to the Hemenhale and Felbrigge families before being
acquired by Bury Abbey in 1445. During the reign of Henry V111,
just before the Reformation, it was taken into the Duchy of
Lancaster and various parcels of land were leased out to tenant
farmers. Robert and Ellen Fincham lived at Aspal Hall throughout
their married life-first as tenants of the Bunbury Estate and then
as owners when the Estate was sold off. All twelve of their
children were born whilst they were at the Hall and on Robert’s
death in 1940 the mixed farm was taken over by two of the sons,
Stanley and John. John l lived alone at the Hall until he
died intestate in 1961 whereupon the whole farm, including the Hall
and Aspal Close were put on the market. Even as late as 1961 the
Hall had neither electricity nor water-John had no desire to move
with the times! Only the small part of medieval moat that
surrounded the manor house still survives around the houses in Park
Close, Aspal Lane. Aspal Close was a small home park belonging to
the manor. It is now an English Heritage site owned by Forest Heath
District Council. It was owned by builders Buckingham and Sparrow
who had planned to develop it until our local County Councillor
Jack Haylock stepped in and with Forest Heath District Council’s
help secured it for the village. A carved seat in Jack’s memory
was installed in the Close by Jack’s widow Peggy in------ It
is now nationally known as a wonderful Nature Reserve.
Cake
Street
This street which is now St John’s Street
was called Cakestreete at Beckwatch or Cakestrete field in
1574, Cake-street greene in 1651, Cake-street green in 1725, Cake
Street in 1783, and Cake Street Field and Green in 1812.This name
is possibly from the Middle English kake which was a smallish
flattened sort of bread and street, presumably meaning
a street where this bread was made or sold.
Hern’s Green
Called this in 1812 then
the name eventually disappeared being resurrected when a new
housing state was built on the land by F. Bonnett ( builders
).
Holmsey Green
Around 1189 – 1200 this street was called a
variety of names including Holmersye, Holmereseye, Holmeresheye and
Holmershe. A Geoffrey de Holmereseye was mentioned in 1285and it
became Le Holmesheye, Holmseye Way,and Holmeshey medwe from
1390 –1401. In 1538-40 it was called Holmesey and Holmsey Green,
Holmsey meade and Homsey Field in 1574. It was just called Holmsey
in 1589 and Holmsey Green and Holmsey Field in 1812. The name
possibly derived from the Old English hol+mersc/mere+eg which was
an island by or near the marsh /mere in the hollow.
Lambholm which is now Lamble Close may have
been named after Maurice de Lambholm. He was married to Agnes.This
name lasted from 1189 –1285. It then becames Lamhom or Lamholm
felde from 1390-1401, Lambholme Lynches from 1409-10 and Lambhome,
or Lambholme Furlong by 1574. It then went on to be called Lambholm
in 1616, an e was added to the name in 1651 and Lambholm Close in
1725. Around 1963 when Clements Way’s housing and the adjoining
estate was built the road through it was called Lamble Close. The
name is from the Old English lamb+ Old Norse holmr which means an
isle or meadow.
Stock Corner
This area of Beck Row was called Le Stoke,
Stokefeld, Stokelode, Stokmedwe, Stokpath, Stokepatheshende from
1390-1401, Stokepathe from 1538-40, Stock furlong, Stocke
greene,Stockpath, Stoke green Common, Stoking Lane by 1534. In 1590
it was called Stocke meadowe and Stacklode in 1636. This
changed to Stoc Load in 1789 and then Stock Green and Stocks Corner
in 1812. The word is from the Old English stoc which means place,
secondary or outlying settlement.
Wilde
Street
This street in Beck Row was once called
Wyldweye from 1390-1401, then Wildstreete in 1574. It became Wild
Street in 1783, Wildstreet in 1812 and Wild Street in 1836. The
word means Wild’s Street possibly after a Robert le Wylde who lived
in Mildenhall in 1285. Wildmere Farm and Lane is documented in 1574
as is Wildmere Drove in 1812. The word means Wild’s mere
These subsidiary hamlets were arranged in
three zones called watches and were named after Beck Row, Holywell
Row and West Row. The term may refer to arrangements for watching
the sheep flocks.
Kenny Hill
This appears to be a later
settlement established on the edge of Baldwin’s Lode- a drainage
ditch that marked the edge of the fen area that was colonized
before the 17th Century. It was called Kenne lane in 1574, Kenny
Hills in 1759, Canna Hill in 1825, and finally Kenny Hill in 1855.
The word is possibly from Middle English kyne + eg –cattle island.
The word hill has a different meaning in the fens meaning an area
of land that does not flood in winter.
Burnt Fen
This is a collection of houses either side
of the A101from Kenny Hill to the last house before Shippea Hill
railway crossing. This point also marks the end of West Suffolk and
the beginning of Cambridgeshire. The name of Burnt Fen appears to
have risen from the practice of paring and burning that was
characteristic of this part of the fens. In this great tufts of
rushes locally known as hassocks which made the land rough and
unequal were cut, dried , burnt and the ashes spread. These acted
as a fertilizer. This practice is recorded in the fens as early as
the mid 17th century. There are still some cut reed hassocks
preserved in Lakenheath church.
Holywell
Row
This village developed from Holywell Field
and was called Haliuelle/Haliwe/
Halywelle around1189-1200. Documents mention an Osbert de Haliwell
and Henry de Haliwell in 1285. From 1390-1401 it was called
Haywelle and Halywell feld. It then went to Hallywell from 1538-40
before changing to Hal(l)/Halywell streete and waye in 1574. It was
called Holywell-Row in 1735, Holiwell Row in 1759, Holywell Field,
Green, Lane and Holywell Row Road in 1812, and Holywell Row from
1836. The name comes from the Old English halig+wella which is a
holy spring or well.
Bill Haylock writes: “ It was suggested
that here was a Holy Well, a place for baptism.In 1934 I remember
my grandfather showing me this well or pool situated adjacent to
the Eriswell Road, some 200 yards north of Holywell Farm House, He
also claimed that this was a starting place when rowing to Ely
Cathedral. Hence Holywell Row . This tends to tie in with the
winding nature of the Street. For this characteristic is due to
almost certainly the high water mark in winter. Also
almost certainly looking due west from this point for six months of
the year one would have been confronted by flood water. The
suggestion of this high water mark is strengthened by the fact that
not until modern local drainage post WW11 only 9 cottages were
located on the North of the Street, with 31 on the south. Also I
have ice skated from the front gate of No.4 to Lakenheath some 6
miles, during the severe winter of 1941-2. Land to the north of the
village street was made up of either water meadows or heath land
resulting in adequate feeding of the dairy herd kept at Holywell
Farm i.e. good grazing in winter on heath land and lush grass
and hay on water meadows in summer. Conventional crops of wheat,
barley and mangolds could only be grown on the grade one land (
about a quarter of the total) to the south. Hurst Fen to the east
provided a ready supply of reed for thatching , sedge for litter
and an inexhaustible stock of firewood. Evidence of early
settlement in the village was confirmed when a Neolithic ( New
Stone) age farmstead covering 1 ½ hectared was excavated near
Hurst Fen, arrowheads, querns and fragments of pots with
rounded bases were found.
No public house since the middle of the
19th century . At the time the little cottage now known as Walnut
Tree Grove on the Mildenhall Road served as the local hostelry but
there was a village store and post office until 1948( now a private
residence). This store was owned and operated by my grandmother
Kate Haylock who annually for some 5 months of the winter was able
to increase her sales by some 30% because of the influx of Romany
families to a paddock adjoining the store, owned by Isaiah Brinkley
who had settled in the village around 1900. These Romany families
would spend the Spring and Summer months working in labour
intensive crops ( sugar beet and potatoes ) in the very fertile
Burnt Fen area. As the whole family worked (children had no
schooling), by the time they arrived in Holywell Row (up to 30
caravans) they had considerable savings and to my grandmother’s
delight were big spenders. I remember well visiting the shop after
school to find 10-15 Romany children buying sweets and toys galore
and walking back home past the Romany site salivating heavily due
to the delicious smells coming from their outdoor cooking pots. I
wonder was it someone’s rooster or was it hedgehog? Whatever it was
it smelled jolly good. Happy days but tough.
An unusual feature of Holywell Row is that
the Quakers had a meeting house here from as early as 1678. The
earliest headstone in the graveyard is dated 1698. The original
building had a thatched roof of sedge and was built like a barn
except that it was boarded up all round inside and had a painted
ceiling. The woodwork was unpainted and my grandfather was the
first to put any paint on it in 1885. Like most country
meeting houses Holywell Row served a large scattered area, Friends
( Society of Friends-Quakers) coming to the meeting on horseback in
carts and carriages and on foot from all the district around. In
1759 a brick wall six feet high was built round the graveyard to
keep the cattle out , the village Common commenced nearby, the date
was inserted in the brickwork in red bricks, the figures being four
feet high. Nearby were the village stocks, the keys kept by my
Great Great Grandfather, he was the village constable and the last
person to have charge of the keys from 1816-1824. My Great
Grandfather was then a small boy and was sent to school in the
cottage adjoining the meeting house. The school was kept by a lady
named Dinah Payne and it was open five days a week, the weekly fee
being one old penny. My Grandfather also went to the same cottage
school in 1875 before the school in Beck Row was built. People from
as far away as Brandon used the graveyard. One ancient inscription
is worthy of notice- “ Guy Bullen of Brandon died ye twenty fifth
day of ye third month commonly known as MARCH.” The Quakers called
the days and months by their numbers discarding the names because
of their pagan origin.
In 1815 permission was obtained from the
Society of Friends to place Holywell Row on the Methodist Plan.
This followed a mission in Beck Row Wesleyan Chapel at this time by
Isaac Marsden, a great Methodist preacher , and in 1890 the
centenary of Robert Raikes founder of the Sunday School movement
was celebrated in the grounds of the Manor House, Mildenhall, home
of the Bunbury family who owned the village of Holywell Row.
Scholars came to the celebration from surrounding Sunday Schools in
ornately decorated farm wagons and this annual custom was kept up
until the advent of the motor bus leading to Sunday School outings
to the seaside. These annual decorated farm wagon tours of
surrounding villages with the horses in shining plumes and wearing
gleaming brasses took 6 to 8 hours for the round trip of some
12 to 14 miles caused great excitement for both children and
adults.
Holywell Row had no large farms and
compared to its neighbours , Beck Row and West Row was a poor
labourer inhabited hamlet. Then one of these labourers was thrust
into the limelight in 1946 when it was learnt that Gordon Butcher a
ploughman of Holywell Row was the man who found one of the
British Museum’s most prized exhibits, a magnificent hoard of
Roman silver known as the Mildenhall Treasure, whilst ploughing in
January 1942 in the village of West Row.
Small it may be but Holywell Row could once
boast its own Silver Band. This was active from its foundation
around 1875 until it petered out in 1935. Originated by Matthew
Haylock it was carried on by his son William and was always in
great demand at local flower shows and village fairs.”
You may read about the Anglo Saxon cemetery
that was excavated in 1929 in a book published by T.C.Lethbridge in
Recent Excavations in Anglo Saxon Cemeteries in Cambridgeshire and
Suffolk, a copy of which is in the Suffolk Record Office in Bury
St. Edmunds.