Sudbourne Timeline

C960: King Edgar gave Manor of Sudbourne to Bishop Æthelwold in return for the Bishop’s translation of the Rule of St Benedict into English. The Bishop granted the manor to the Benedictine monastery at Ely.

Note: The Manor of Sudbourne originally encompassed the present villages of Sudbourne, Orford, Iken and Chillesford

1042: Sudbourne included in a list of lands granted to Ely Abbey by King Edward.

1086: Sudbourne listed in the Domesday book. Gilbert of Wissant and Walter of Caen held land in Sudbourne, including a church, from Robert Malet. The previous English landowner was Edric of Laxfield. The monastery at Ely also held land at Sudbourne including a church.

12th century: Stone church replaced Saxon church.

1600: Sir Michael Stanhope purchased the Manor of Sudbourne from the Crown, including a manor house, originally known as Chapmans, which becomes Sudbourne Hall

1621: Death of Sir Michael Stanhope. His estate passed to his three daughters.Estate passed by marriage to Sir William Withipole, then to  the sixth Viscount Hereford.

1753:  Estate sold by executors of tenth Viscount Hereford to first Marquess of Hertford.

1784:  James Wyatt re-built Sudbourne Hall for the first Marquess of Hertford, Francis Seymour-Conway.

1835:  Long Row Cottages built for estate workers at Sudbourne Hall.

1863: Baptist Chapel built in School Road.

1871:  Sir Richard Wallace purchased Sudbourne Hall from the fifth Marquess of Hertford, having inherited a fortune from the Fourth Marquess, his “natural” father.

1875: Sudbourne National School erected in School Road.

1878-9: Church restored, paid for by Sir Richard Wallace.

1884: Arthur Heywood purchased Sudbourne Hall estate from Sir Richard Wallace.

1898: Arthur Wood purchased Sudbourne Hall estate from Arthur Heywood.

1904: Kenneth Clark (father of Lord Clark, the art historian) bought the Sudbourne estate from Arthur Wood.

1918: Walter Boynton bought the Sudbourne estate from Kenneth Clark. His main interest was in timber and he felled large numbers of trees in Sudbourne. Public auction on 24 July of the Stud of Suffolk Punches belonging to the late Mr. Kenneth Clark of Sudbourne Hall. 98 horses are sold including 17 foals. First sale of farms & cottages from the Sudbourne Hall estate.

1920: Forestry Commission purchased 437 acres fron the Sudbourne estate, the beginning of Tunstall Forest.

1921: Joseph Watson (later Lord Manton) bought Sudbourne Hall estate.

1923-1936: Further sales of parts of Sudbourne Hall estate. The Watson family retained part of the estate centred on Chillesford Lodge and still farm it today. Jeremiah Lyons bought the remainder including Sudbourne Hall and lived there until 1935. Sir Bernard Greenwell bought much of the estate piecemeal in the thirties, including Sudbourne Hall. His grandson Sir Edward Greenwell now owns the remnants of Sudbourne Hall and land in Sudbourne, Orford and Gedgrave.

1938: Forestry Commission purchased 133 acres of Church Farm, Sudbourne.

1942: Sudbourne evacuated. The area becomes a training ground for tanks etc. with Sudbourne Hall as the officers’ mess and soldiers under canvas in Sudbourne park.

1948: Demobilisation of area. Sudbourne villagers return.

1953: Sudbourne Hall demolished.

1988: Village Hall re-opens after significant extension and renovation.

2000: Village Sign erected to celebrate the millennium.1904:

2005: Suffolk Wildlife Trust purchased Captains Wood to create a Nature Reserve.


More detailed accountsof Sudbourne's Origins and History are on the following pages
1. The Geology of Sudbourne