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Information taken from HARGRAVE - A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE.
May 2004

The pattern of roads which form the linear structure of our current village, were recorded on Joseph Hodskinson’s map of 1783, one hundred years prior to the Ordnance Survey’s first edition. The route from Barrow through to Wickhambrook was crossed by routes from Saxham to Denham at the northern end of the village, and by the Chevington to ‘Ouesden’ route at the southern end. With the exception of the road that used to continue from the western end of the present Church Lane to Denham, they remain in the same locations today, and the sole development of back-land from these roads did not take place until School Cottages were built in 1947.  These early roads  recognised the routes from dwelling to work, and between nearest neighbours, hamlets, villages and church, and Hargrave today can be seen as the linked hamlets of Bird’s End, Hargrave Green and Knowles Green.

Hargrave’s architecture is not exceptional, and its housing is predominant.  Apart from the Church, no non-residential buildings appeared until the Public Elementary School was erected in 1840, and the Methodist Chapel and the Village Hall were built in 1926. The Drill Hall was added in 1949.

The church has been restored many times, and little of the original building remains. The Norman nave is very simple and somewhat rudely executed. The chancel was added in the middle of the thirteenth century, and its Early English architecture is clearly evident.  The tower was added in the latter part of the fifteenth century during the Tudor period of the Perpendicular style, and alterations to the windows and other parts of the building were also undertaken at that time. The north aisle was built by the Victorians in 1869 during the English Renaissance period of architecture, and the north vestry was removed when the aisle was built. A second world war bomb demolished the south porch, which unfortunately was not replaced, and the building is poorer for its loss.  The 15th century font was moved to the nave when the north aisle was built, and the carved screen at the junction of the nave and chancel which includes carvings of a fox and goose, unicorn, dragon , fish and eagles, together with figures of saints, facing toward the chancel, was probable re-erected the wrong way round during one of the restorations.  The tower houses three bells which have not rung full circle for many years. Unfortunately, swing chiming is also not now possible, owing to the deterioration of the bell wheels.  The oldest of the three is the Tenor Bell founded in Bury St Edmunds. It is inscribed - ANNO DOMINI 1566 * ANNO REGINA REGINAE * ELIZABETH DE BVRE SANTI TONI ME EDMONDI STEFANVS FECIT. The Treble Bell was also founded in Bury and is inscribed - THOMAS CHEESE * JAMES EDBERE 1622 ,but the Second Bell was founded in Whitechapel and is inscribed - T.MEARS OF LONDON  FECIT 1831* ELIZABETH WHITE * SARAH WHITE.

John Wesley frequently addressed audiences in Suffolk throughout his mission, during his journeys to and from Norwich. Hargrave’s Methodists are recorded as first meeting in a barn in the village in 1800. Their present Chapel was built with donated money from villagers and local friends, and is built of Suffolk red brick with pebble-dashed walls and a slate roof. The building is of modest rectilinear form, and has  domestic type fenestration. The Drill Hall, sited immediately to the rear of the Chapel is used mainly by the thriving Boy’s Brigade which attracts members from adjoining villages. It was built by the boys and their officers, utilising a second hand Nissun-Hut from Newmarket which was dismantled transported and re-erected. It was obtained post second world war, when building materials were almost impossible to find.

The original Village Hall, built with money raised by its trustees, was a very simple building but nevertheless served as the only meeting place for villagers. The guinea that visitors paid for its hire in 1928, was double the charge that villagers had to find for a meeting, and they were obliged to vacate by midnight!  It has been improved and altered over the years, most recently in 1993 when a dedicated group of villagers raised considerable money for its modernisation. The building is of rendered brick construction with a metal roof finish, having a main hall of sixty-five square metres in area together with ancillary accommodation.

The Bull became a public house in 1844 and from 1859 until 1912 the village boasted two pubs through the addition of the Cock Inn. Both are now private residences, and it has been suggested that the Cock, once an ale-house, may in earlier times have been a hospice for pilgrims in transit to the great abbey in Bury. A third opportunity for a pint was once available at the Kicking Dicky at Bird’s Ends, apparently frequented by the ‘Horse Men of Hargrave’ the workers of the Suffolk Punches, the magnificent shire horses so essential to the farming of Hargrave’s stiff clays in the days before mechanisation. The last pint was pulled at the Bull on March 6th. 1995.

There are records of a number of shops in the village over the years, including locations at Bird’s End, Wash Cottage, Corner Cottage, and Meadow Cottage, but the most recent was at the Old Post Office which was run for many years by the Pask family.  This Post Office and shop finally closed in 1986 when Mr. and Mrs. Morley commenced their well earned retirement.

Housing developed alongside the existing roads throughout the centuries, but during the early years of the present century, many were allowed to deteriorate and were caused to be demolished as unfit for occupation. However, many early houses have survived and thirteen are currently ‘listed’ as having architectural merit.  Most of these are of cottage form with plainly rendered external walls and exhibit little ornament or architectural detail in their external features. Their architectural qualities are mainly internal, in the details of their timbering, brick fireplaces, chimney breasts, and staircases, and it is probable that in common with many Suffolk houses, their original timber frames have been plastered over. Wash Cottage is the only building now with external timbering.   Unfortunately, the fine pargeting of many Suffolk houses does not appear in Hargrave, and neither has dressed stone been used in the village. The costs associated with the importation of stone into Suffolk, and with  fine ornamental plaster work, caused them to be employed only in the houses of more affluent villages than Hargrave.  Thatch roofing predominates in the ‘listed’ houses, though two have Suffolk pan-tiles, and slate and plain tiles have also been used.  Hargrave Hall, Grove Farm House and Green Farm House all of which are 17th - 18th century buildings have brick external walls, the former having a plain tiled roof and the latter two using slate roofing. The 16th century Tithe Barn at Southwood Park has a tiled roof and external timber boarding. The 15th century Mill House is the oldest surviving house in the village, but its 18th century windmill unfortunately did not survive beyond 1914.

Approximately one third of the present houses in the village are more than one hundred years old, and a similar proportion are less than fifty years old.  The village has enjoyed the statutory services of water and electricity for only the last fifty years - installation having been accomplished just twelve years before Yuri Gagarin successfully orbited the earth !