Debach
Encyclopedia
Debach is a small village about 4 miles northwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk
, UK. At the time of the Domesday Book
it was called Debenbeis or Debeis, Depebecs, Debec or Debes. The book lists the landowners there at that time as Count Alan, Roger Bigot - the Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sturstan son of Widdow and Roger de Poitou from him, The Bishop of Bayeux, William de Warenne, Geoffrey de Mandeville and Ranulph Peveril.
The 2001 census
recorded 30 households in the village with a total population of 75. The population was estimated to consist of 80 people in 2005. These figures were notably smaller than those recorded in 19th century censuses:- in 1801 the population of Debach was 117, in 1851 there was a total population of 113 in 25 households and in 1881 a total of 138 people lived there in 29 households with about 66% of those whose occupation was recorded being employed directly in agriculture. The population peaked at 140 in 1901 and 1911 and was still 127 in 1951 but fell dramatically by 1961 to 90.
During World War II the village housed an airbase, RAF Debach
, which was home to the 493rd BG(H) - Helton's Hellcats- USAAF. The airbase closed soon after the war and was used as a prisoner of war camp in 1945 for German prisoners but it is now the site of Debach Enterprises, although part of the runway has been preserved.
Debach is also home to the Green label food company, situated at Loomswood Farm, which specialises in the production of Gressingham Duck.
at a cost of £1500, £400 of which was borrowed and only partially repaid which led to a local scandal and drove the aggrieved lender to publish a book in 1879 which was entitled How the Parish Of Debach Borrowed £400 And Refused To Pay It All Back. The small local population resulted in there being only a handful of worshippers at the church in the 1960s and it was deconsecrated in 1971 and the building was sold in 1979 to become a private residence. The 16th century bell was bought by St. Andrew's Church, Redlingfield in Suffolk http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/RedlingfieldPC/LocalHistory/St+Andrews+church.htm and the wooden stand-alone belfry rotted away. Gravestones were moved to the front garden area where the village war memorial is also situated. The church building has also had its stained glass removed and the carved stone font has been moved to the front garden area.
wrote the book Akenfield
while living in Debach in 1966-7 and mentions the village - "a tiny parish of some eighty souls" - in the preface to the book.
Debach was also the birthplace and home of Jimmy "Holy Jim" Knights (1882–1981), a singer of traditional East Anglian folk and music hall songs, whose renditions of such tunes were recorded by collectors of traditional music performances when he was more than 90 years old in the 1970s.
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...
, UK. At the time of the Domesday Book
Domesday 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...
it was called Debenbeis or Debeis, Depebecs, Debec or Debes. The book lists the landowners there at that time as Count Alan, Roger Bigot - the Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sturstan son of Widdow and Roger de Poitou from him, The Bishop of Bayeux, William de Warenne, Geoffrey de Mandeville and Ranulph Peveril.
The 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
recorded 30 households in the village with a total population of 75. The population was estimated to consist of 80 people in 2005. These figures were notably smaller than those recorded in 19th century censuses:- in 1801 the population of Debach was 117, in 1851 there was a total population of 113 in 25 households and in 1881 a total of 138 people lived there in 29 households with about 66% of those whose occupation was recorded being employed directly in agriculture. The population peaked at 140 in 1901 and 1911 and was still 127 in 1951 but fell dramatically by 1961 to 90.
During World War II the village housed an airbase, RAF Debach
RAF Debach
RAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
, which was home to the 493rd BG(H) - Helton's Hellcats- USAAF. The airbase closed soon after the war and was used as a prisoner of war camp in 1945 for German prisoners but it is now the site of Debach Enterprises, although part of the runway has been preserved.
Debach is also home to the Green label food company, situated at Loomswood Farm, which specialises in the production of Gressingham Duck.
All Saints' Parish Church
The former parish church of Debach dates back to the 13th century and was renovated in 1794 and then, not again until 1854-5 when it was almost completely rebuilt and enlarged by George Gilbert ScottGeorge Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
at a cost of £1500, £400 of which was borrowed and only partially repaid which led to a local scandal and drove the aggrieved lender to publish a book in 1879 which was entitled How the Parish Of Debach Borrowed £400 And Refused To Pay It All Back. The small local population resulted in there being only a handful of worshippers at the church in the 1960s and it was deconsecrated in 1971 and the building was sold in 1979 to become a private residence. The 16th century bell was bought by St. Andrew's Church, Redlingfield in Suffolk http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/RedlingfieldPC/LocalHistory/St+Andrews+church.htm and the wooden stand-alone belfry rotted away. Gravestones were moved to the front garden area where the village war memorial is also situated. The church building has also had its stained glass removed and the carved stone font has been moved to the front garden area.
Notable residents
The author Ronald BlytheRonald Blythe
Ronald Blythe is an English writer and editor, best known in his native England for his Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village , a portrait of agricultural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s...
wrote the book Akenfield
Akenfield
Akenfield is a film made by Peter Hall in 1974, based loosely upon the book Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe . It can claim a degree of cult status as a work of rural realism, unusual in relation to East Anglia...
while living in Debach in 1966-7 and mentions the village - "a tiny parish of some eighty souls" - in the preface to the book.
Debach was also the birthplace and home of Jimmy "Holy Jim" Knights (1882–1981), a singer of traditional East Anglian folk and music hall songs, whose renditions of such tunes were recorded by collectors of traditional music performances when he was more than 90 years old in the 1970s.