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Framlingham in Suffolk County England History and GeographyFRAMLINGHAM, a market town and parish in the hundred of LOES, county of SUFFOLK, 18 miles (N.E. by N.) from Ipswich, and 87 (N.E.) from London, containing 2327 inhabitants. This place is of very remote antiquity, having been one of the chief towns of the Iceni, a British tribe in alliance with the Romans, to whom their king, Prasatagus, bequeathed a part of his dominions, in the hope of securing to his queen, Boadicea, the undisturbed possession of the remainder. On the death of Prasatagus, the Roman procurator took possession of the whole, and on Boadicea's remonstrating, ordered her to be scourged like a slave, and violated the chastity of her daughters. Boadicea, in revenge for this outrage, excited the Trinobantes and other tribes to revolt, and heading her own forces with masculine intrepidity, obtained a victory over the Romans, of whom seventy thousand were slain in battle, though she was subsequently defeated and lost her life, or, as some say, took poison. At what time the castle was originally built is uncertain, but it is a very ancient structure, and it is known that a fortress existed here in the time of Redwald, third king of the East Angles, who occasionally retired to it from his court at Rendlesham. The castle was also the retreat of King Edmund the Martyr, who, when pursued by the Danes, fled from Dunwich, and took refuge within its walls, whence endeavouring to escape, when closely besieged, he was overtaken, and beheaded at Hoxne. In 1173, it became the temporary asylum of Prince Henry, whom Queen Eleanor, his mother, had incited to rebel against his father, Henry II. And upon the death of Edward VI., in 1553, Mary retired to this castle, where she was joined by the inhabitants of Suffolk and the neighbouring counties, who, to the number of thirteen thousand, accompanied her to London, to take possession of the crown. The castle was a spacious and noble structure, the surrounding walls including an irregular quadrilateral area of nearly an acre and a half; they were forty-four feet in height, and eight feet in thickness, defended by thirteen square towers of considerably greater elevation, of which, one towards the east, and one towards the west, were watch-towers: the whole was surrounded by a double moat, over the inner of which was a draw-bridge. The walls are in a tolerably perfect state, and in front of the gateway-tower are the arms of the Howards, Mowbrays, Brothertons, &c., all quartered in one shield, having lions for supporters, and for the crest, a lion passant. In the interior, the buildings of which were demolished about the year 1670, an almshouse for aged men, who are supported by an endowment by Sir Robert Hitcham, and a workhouse for the poor, have been built with the materials of the castle. The town is pleasantly situated on a hill, near the source of the river Ore, which rises to the north of the castle, and falls into the sea at Orford; it contains many respectable and well built houses, is lighted with oil by subscription, and amply supplied with water; the air is salubrious, the approaches good, and the town generally improving. The trade is principally in malt: the market is on Saturday, for corn, and occasionally for cattle; the fairs are on Whit-Monday, and October 11th, for toys. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Suffolk, and diocese of Norwich, rated in the king's books at £43. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a stately structure, partly in the decorated, and partly in the later, style of English architecture, with a lofty square embattled tower, strengthened with buttresses; over the west entrance, a representation of St. Michael encountering the dragon is finely sculptured in relievo: the chancel, which, both in style and workmanship, is superior to the rest of the church, is supposed to have been added in the reign of Edward VI.: the roof of the nave, which is of oak curiously carved, is supported by octangular pillars, and that of the chancel by clustered columns of very graceful proportion. The church contains several fine monuments, and the ashes of many illustrious personages; among the former are the monuments of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, natural son of Henry VIII.; the two wives of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, who was beheaded in the reign of Elizabeth; and the wife of Sir Robert Hitcham. There is a chapel of ease at Saxtead, in this parish. Here are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. The free school was founded in 1636, by Sir Robert Hitcham, Knt., who endowed it with lands producing an ample revenue for the instruction in writing, reading, and arithmetic, of forty boys, to each of whom he allowed an apprentice fee of £10; the number of scholars has been recently increased to fifty. There are four Sunday schools, in which five hundred children are instructed, partly supported by subscription, and partly by the charitable bequests of Sir Robert Hitcham, who also founded an alms-house for twelve aged widows, or widowers, who receive each a weekly allowance in money, and an annual supply of coal and a gown, on which they wear a badge with the arms of the founder: the alms-people are required to attend morning prayer at the parish church daily, for which purpose Sir Robert Hitcham bequeathed £20, now increased to £30 per annum, to the minister, and £5 per annum to the clerk and sexton; the school and almshouse are under the management of the Master and Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Thomas Mills, in 1708, bequeathed estates producing at present nearly £700 per annum, for the foundation of almshouses for eight aged persons; and also for the education of children, and the relief of the poor: there are like-wise several other bequests for charitable purposes. In 1823, some remains of elephants' tusks were dug up at the depth of ten feet from the surface, in a field to the north of the town. Robert Hawes, who compiled a history of the hundred of Loes, still in manuscript, and to whom, as a zealous investigator of antiquities, the Master and Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, presented a silver cup and cover, was buried here in 1731. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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