Simon Garrett
This is the first in a series of articles that will describe many aspects of the history of Framlingham, its castle, its people and some of the most notable features of the town.
Come back to the Framlingham History Advent Calendar each day in December 2024 up to Christmas Eve, and a new door will open with more history of Framlingham.
Framlingham is a town in Suffolk, England, of Anglo-Saxon origin.
However, settlements in the area existed earlier. There is evidence of an early Iron Age settlement less than 1.5km South of Framlingham Castle on a small spur within a loop of the River Ore1 (behind the current premises of Ernest Doe Power). There were Romano-British settlements in the area (for example a site between Hacheston and Easton, and along the Roman Road running SW-NE to the North of Framlingham between Saxtead Green and just South of Badingham). There is only circumstantial evidence (such as coins and pot sherds) in Framlingham itself related to the Romans.
From the English Heritage report cited in the previous paragraph (p6):
The centrality of Framlingham within its parish is very striking as is the relative size of the parish when compared to its neighbours. Though circumstantial, this points to an early origin as an important centre and suggests a pre-parish estate. It is probably that Framlingham, Saxtead and parts of Dennington formed parts of a single large “multiple” or “composite” estate in the middle Anglo-Saxon period.
From its place-name it seems likely that Framlingham was an early Anglo-Saxon centre. Framlingham means “homestead/village of the followers of Framela” from an Old English (OE) personal name, combined with OE -ingas and OE ham, and probably dates from the very early Anglo-Saxon period (5th Century).
A settlement called Framlingham very probably existed at the time of King Uffa (or Wuffa) in the 6th Century, and almost certainly existed in the 8th Century at the time of King Rædwald, buried at Sutton Hoo.
One of the earliest sources of documentary evidence of the town is the Domesday Book of 1086, which states that before the Norman Conquest Framlingham was largely held by Edric of Laxfield. After the Conquest the land was redistributed to William the Conqueror’s nobles, including Roger Bigot, Robert Malet, William of Caen and Bishop William of Thetford.
Roger Bigot (or Bigod), a farmer in Normandy, came to England with his father Robert le Bigot as knights for William the Conqueror. After the Conquest he was given great power in East Anglia, and his family were to become Earls of Norfolk.
Robert Loder’s “History of Framlingham” from 17982 describes Framlingham as:
“Framlingham is a Town of large bounds, containing upwards of 500 acres of rich arable and pasture land, within the Hundred of Loes, and County of Suffolk, in the Diocese of Norwich; which County lieth on the eastern coast of Britain. And in the midst of that Town, is the Borough, pleasantly seated, but indifferently built, upon the side of a clay-hill, in a fruitful soil and healthful air, near the fountains or head of the river Ore. Whose springs arising from the hills, on the northern parts of the Town, falls into a Meer, containing several acres of land covered with water; whence the stream directing its course through the Borough, passeth on towards the south, with many windings and turnings ’til lost in the sea at Oreford, a port-town, which derived its name from this river.”
Those “indifferently built” houses are now much-loved historic Listed Buildings in Framlingham’s Conservation Area!
Loder goes on the describe the town centre:
From thence to the greater and better part of the Borough, where the Church, Castle, Market-Place and Principle Houses are built, there is a passage over the River on a Bridge of brick, called the Mill-Bridge, (from a Water-Mill anciently near that place) which hath been usually repaired by the Lords of the Manor.
The Market Place is spacious, and almost a triangle, about which, the trader-men have good houses, and convenient shops, for the sale of wares and merchandise, in the general line of trade; interspersed with several reputable inns. Between the Market-Place and the Church stood a Guild-Hall, being the Hall of a Guild, or Fraternity in time of Popery, incorporated by the Name of the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Framlingham.
In 1831, James Bird waxed eloquent3:
Heir of Antiquity! — fair castled Town,
Rare spot of beauty, grandeur, and renown,
Seat of East-Anglian kings!—proud child of fame,
Hallowed by time, illustrious Framlinghame!
Framlingham had a railway until 1965, when lack of usage led to its closure.
The town has a medieval castle, now managed by English Heritage. Tudor Queen Mary proclaimed herself Queen in Framlingham Castle in 1553, and rather more recently it is referenced in Ed Sheeran’s 2017 song “Castle on the Hill”. Ed Sheeran grew up in Framlingham, and lives near by.
Other famous former residents of Framlingham include:
- Sir Henry Thompson, surgeon and polymath
- Thomas Howard and other Dukes of Norfolk who owned Framlingham Castle. The 3rd Duke is buried in the church of St Michael in Framlingham.
- Sir Robert Hitcham, MP and philanthropist, who owned Framlingham Castle until his death in 1636.
- Thomas Danforth, a Massachusetts Bey Colony magistrate and landowner was born in Framlingham in 1623. Framingham Massachusetts is named after Thomas Danforth’s home town. Somewhere along the line, the “L” got lost; possibly a typo!
A curious note: D’Urbans Farm, at the far end of Brook Lane, is so named as it belonged to Dr John D’Urban in the 18th Century. He later moved to Halesworth, and his son Sir Benjamin D’Urban became a colonial administrator in Cape Colony (now South Africa), and the city of Durban was named in his honour.
Further articles in this series will describe the market, castle, church and other aspects of Framlingham history in more detail.
Footnotes and sources
- “Framlingham Castle Suffolk,The Landscape Context, Desktop Assessment”, Engligh Heritage report 106-2007, ISSN 1749-8775 ↩︎
- The History of Framlingham, in the County of Suffolk: Including Brief Notices of the Masters and Fellows of Pembroke-Hall in Cambridge, from the Foundation of the College, to the Present Time, Robert Hawes & Robert Loder, published 1798. ↩︎
- Framlingham: A Narrative of the Castle, James Bird, 1831 ↩︎
See also:
- Framlingham facts, Suffolk Heritage Explorer, https://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/media/pdfs/framlingham.pdf