Ixworth has a long and varied history, managing to retain its own identity throughout the Roman and Saxon eras, up until today.

One road that runs through Ixworth connects Colchester and Brancaster. The Romans erected a fort across the road, protecting one of the village’s main points of entry. Once they had left England, the Saxons began to settle in the area and Ixworth continued to grow in the same place.

Ixworth has always had strong farming connections from Saxon times all the way to the well-known farms that surround the village today. The village is even suspected to have gotten its name from “Gisca’s werth”, the farm of Gisca. Gisca is believed to have been a nickname meaning ‘the man with the hiccups’.

When William the Conqueror’s Domesday Survey was conducted, this prosperous farming community consisted of a mill, vineyards, parkland and enough meadow to support a sheep herd, three plough teams and even hops. One of those plough teams, 5 acres of meadowland and 80 acres of arable land provided income to the Parish Church. In the Domesday Survey, this was valued at 5/-.

During the Norman era, the first Lord of the Manor was Robert Blount. A century after the Blount family took up residence; they built the Priory of Austin Canons in Ixworth, the remnants of which are now known as ‘the abbey’.

For the next hundred years, life was quite settled. A market was held every Friday and a fair on May Day. Another fair was thrown mid October. Research has even shown that taxes were collected at the Pykkerel Inn, which has kept its name to date and still sits on the High Street. During this time Ixworth’s growth and prosperity made it the best known and arguably the most important village in the area.

In 1537, the monastery was dissolved and the Priory Church was destroyed. Stones from the building were sold and are now in Redgrave Hall while its lead makes up the roof on Hengrave Hall. The remaining priory buildings, which make up ‘the abbey’, are the oldest surviving buildings in the village.



In the 1530’s, the Crown gave the land on which the abbey stands and all of the surrounding lands of the manor to Richard and Elizabeth Coddington in exchange for their land in Surrey. This family soon came to love Ixworth, setting up a charity that still helps people today. Their tomb can still be seen inside the Parish Church today.

The Parish added a tower to their church in the 15^th century. Thomas Vyal, a local carpenter, and Robert Schot. the Abbot of Bury St Edmunds, are known to be among those who made contributions to this community project. This Parish Church and its tower is the same one standing in the village today

In the mid-seventeenth century, the Norton-Cartwright family owned the manor. The population of Ixworth in 1700 was almost 1000 and it remained at a similar level for quite a while. Due to its stable population and prosperous farming, Ixworth was considered to be a small town during this time. White’s Suffolk Directory, in 1884, refers to Ixworth as ‘well-built and pleasantly situated’.

Even then, Ixworth had a wider variety of services than most settlements in the area. At this time they included a bell hanger, a mineral water manufacturer, watchmaker, horse slaughterer and even a marine store dealer.

Towards the end of the 19^th century, the community came together, largely through the efforts of the Ixworth Labourer’s Association, to continue Ixworth’s flourishing development. One of its most lucrative projects was the successful campaign for the country’s first rural council owned housing to be built within the village.

With the building of the Ixworth bypass, which opened in 1998, the village was able to continue as a vital part of the council structure but the village centre remains idyllic and peaceful.

The village has continued to grow and it has lost none of its community spirit. It remains a prosperous and self-sufficient village and, with the local transport infrastructure, it enjoys a wonderful location between beautiful countryside, thriving farmland and vibrant towns.