Yaxley is a small village just west of Eye

Eye, Suffolk

Eye is a small market town in the county of Suffolk, East Anglia, England, south of Diss, and on the River Dove.Eye is twinned with the town of Pouzauges in the Vendée Departement of France.-History:An island...

 in 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...

. The name means 'cuckoo-clearing'.

Church of St. Mary

Pevsner

Nikolaus Pevsner

Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...

 said of the 12th Century Church that the north porch was 'one of the most swagger in Suffolk'. The church has the remnants of a large medieval doom painting

Doom (painting)

A Doom is a traditional English term for a painting or other image of the Last Judgment, an event in Christian eschatology. Christ judges souls, and then sends them to either Heaven or Hell...

 . High up on the wall above the door hangs a Sexton's Wheel. This curious survival is a device whereby those wishing to fast for a whole year from one of the six Lady days could choose one at random by catching one of six strings attached to named spokes after the Sexton

Sexton (office)

A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...

 had set the wheels revolving.

Local Houses

Ashton Cottage in Church Lane, once the village school, was for many years the home of choreographer Frederick Ashton

Frederick Ashton

Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...

. He was born in Valley Farm House on Old Ipswich Road, until recently a property of the Henniker-Major

Baron Henniker

Baron Henniker, of Stratford-upon-Slaney in the County of Wicklow, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Sir John Henniker, 2nd Baronet, who had previously represented Sudbury and Dover in the House of Commons. His son, the second Baron, also sat as a Member of Parliament...

 family.

Yaxley Manor, built for John Fanner in 1520, is of timber frame construction, clad in brickwork.

Bull's Hall is named after William de Bulle, owner in 1328; the present timber-framed and jettied hall dates back to 1570.

16th century Yaxley Hall has a fanciful Gothick

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 facade and, according to Pevsner, 'a composite picture' including older range with mullioned and transomed windows. Two wings burnt down in 1922. Recently, the famous haunted painting of Henrietta Nelson has returned after an absence of nearly a century.

External links

• Parish Council web site
• Yaxley Church 1
• Yaxley Hall
• Yaxley Church 2
• Yaxley Doom
• Shermans of Yaxley
• Sexton's Wheel
• Yaxley Manor
• Bull's Hall
• Diss Express - one of the local newspapers