Alderton, Suffolk
Encyclopedia
Alderton is a village and civil parish
in the Suffolk Coastal
district of Suffolk
, England
, about six miles north of Felixstowe
, 10 miles south-east of Woodbridge
and 2 miles south of Hollesley
, on the North Sea
coast and in the heart of Heaths of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2007 its population was estimated to be 430.
as "Alretuna". Local military defences include 3 Napoleonic Martello towers and various C20th buildings. Mill Lane marks the site of a mill
which stood here from 1796 until its demolition in 1956. An ancient settlement site 600m east of Cedar Court has been identified from aerial photographs, though nothing can be seen on the ground.
The area around Alderton was once a stronghold of Catholicism
and within the grounds of Alderton Hall stands an ecclesiastical building, possibly a chapel or refectory dating back to the 12th century and believed to be part of a group of buildings built by the Augustine monks who controlled much of the land on the Bawdsey
Peninsula at that period. Alderton Hall boasts both a priest’s hole (a hiding place created for dissident catholic priests during the purge which followed the Reformation
and a secret passage leading to the neighbouring church of St. Andrew’s. The passage was known to be haunted and so fearful were the local inhabitants that the Bishop was called in to exorcise the ghost. Whether the passageway was used by the monks as a route to the church or as hiding place for Catholic sympathizers at the time of the Reformation
we have yet to discover, but with the coast just fifteen minutes walk away and Alderton’s close proximity to the Deben Estuary at Ramsholt, this area has long been a popular landing point for Suffolk smugglers.
Tales of smuggling abound in the area and the true story of Margaret Catchpole and her efforts to save her lover, captain of a smuggler‘s ship, has much of its action around the village of Alderton. No doubt bounty was transported along Alderton Hall’s secret passage. But smuggling was not simply a matter of slipping ashore with a bag of baccy and a keg of wine. The customs men were vigilant and battles between them and the ‘free traders’ are legendary.
Alderton has a village shop, a doctor's surgery, a builder's office, a village hall, and a church without a steeple. It was destroyed in a storm in the 18th century, and the parish was too poor to replace it. Suffolk local writer Jon Fields has called Alderton "a place of sun". The sea can be observed from the outskirts of the village, and there is a foot track which leads to it next to the village store, past the recreation ground.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Suffolk Coastal
Suffolk Coastal
Suffolk Coastal is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Woodbridge. Other towns include Felixstowe.The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Aldeburgh, along with Felixstowe,...
district of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, about six miles north of Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
, 10 miles south-east of Woodbridge
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
and 2 miles south of Hollesley
Hollesley
Hollesley is a village and civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the Bawdsey peninsula five miles south-east of Woodbridge, in 2005 it had a population of 1,400.Hollesley Bay Prison is located nearby....
, on the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
coast and in the heart of Heaths of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2007 its population was estimated to be 430.
History
Alderton was recorded in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as "Alretuna". Local military defences include 3 Napoleonic Martello towers and various C20th buildings. Mill Lane marks the site of a mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
which stood here from 1796 until its demolition in 1956. An ancient settlement site 600m east of Cedar Court has been identified from aerial photographs, though nothing can be seen on the ground.
The area around Alderton was once a stronghold of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and within the grounds of Alderton Hall stands an ecclesiastical building, possibly a chapel or refectory dating back to the 12th century and believed to be part of a group of buildings built by the Augustine monks who controlled much of the land on the Bawdsey
Bawdsey
Bawdsey is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, eastern England. Located near Felixstowe, it had an estimated population of 340 in 2007.Bawdsey Manor is notable as the place where radar research took place early in World War II, before moving to Worth Matravers, which is four miles to the west of...
Peninsula at that period. Alderton Hall boasts both a priest’s hole (a hiding place created for dissident catholic priests during the purge which followed the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
and a secret passage leading to the neighbouring church of St. Andrew’s. The passage was known to be haunted and so fearful were the local inhabitants that the Bishop was called in to exorcise the ghost. Whether the passageway was used by the monks as a route to the church or as hiding place for Catholic sympathizers at the time of the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
we have yet to discover, but with the coast just fifteen minutes walk away and Alderton’s close proximity to the Deben Estuary at Ramsholt, this area has long been a popular landing point for Suffolk smugglers.
Tales of smuggling abound in the area and the true story of Margaret Catchpole and her efforts to save her lover, captain of a smuggler‘s ship, has much of its action around the village of Alderton. No doubt bounty was transported along Alderton Hall’s secret passage. But smuggling was not simply a matter of slipping ashore with a bag of baccy and a keg of wine. The customs men were vigilant and battles between them and the ‘free traders’ are legendary.
Alderton has a village shop, a doctor's surgery, a builder's office, a village hall, and a church without a steeple. It was destroyed in a storm in the 18th century, and the parish was too poor to replace it. Suffolk local writer Jon Fields has called Alderton "a place of sun". The sea can be observed from the outskirts of the village, and there is a foot track which leads to it next to the village store, past the recreation ground.