Brief History of the Village

The first surviving written record of the village was in the Domesday Book of 1086. Since that time there appear to have been three manors which comprised the village, the principle one being the Manor of Thorpe Morieux with the other two being the Manor of Gorget's and the Manor of Throgton.

At the time of the Norman Conquest Thorpe Morieux Manor supported ten peasants and their families. The records show two horses, seven cattle, sixty pigs and one hundred and forty sheep. Gorges Manor supported eight peasants and their families, three plough teams, twenty six pigs, thirty sheep and thirteen goats. Throgton Manor details were not shown prior to 1289

The 1327 Subsidiary Rolls showed the more wealthier inhabitants. About this time also Sir Thomas Morieux was shown as being High Sheriff of Suffolk.

The 1674 Hearth Tax showed a total of 37 households in the village.

The next useful source of information is the Tithe Map of 1843 which gave the details of every field, house, outbuilding, road, path and footpath together with the Tithe Apportionment which gave the details of ownership, occupations, descriptions, acreage and amounts of tithe. The original of this is in the Bury St. Edmunds Record Office.

During the First World War the village lost 11 men out of 43 who served and in the Second World War lost one. During the Second World War the siting of a major US airbase at Rattlesden nearby affected the life of the village considerably. In the village there was a local Home Guard and search light positions were situated at two positions in the village.

Since the Second World War the major change that the village has seen is due to the increasing mechanisation of agriculture which has caused consequential loss of some hedgerows and the halving of the number of ponds.

There has also been the total loss of shops within the village whereas in 1927 there were no fewer than 3 shops in the village where now there are none. The School also closed in 1949.

In the present day we still have however a Church, a Pub, a Village Hall together with a number of very active clubs and organisations.

The current population stands at 255 with 106 houses.

The District Council Website can be found at: http://www.babergh-south-suffolk.gov.uk The County Council Website can be found at: http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk