The History Society has been running since 1986 when meetings were held in the Bar Room at the Memorial Social Centre before moving to the Pavilion.
Meetings are now held in the WI Hall on the third Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm. We have around 50 members who enjoy talks, often illustrated by slides, on topics of local and historical interest.
We have at least two summer outings each year and a social evening in December. Members also attend events and meetings held by the Suffolk Local History Council to which we are affiliated.
In 2000 we held a very successful Millennium Exhibition, and in 2002 a fundraising Concert in aid of All Saints’ Church.
Subscriptions
Membership costs £8 per year payable in April plus £1 for each meeting.
Guests
Guests are always very welcome – £2.50 per occasion.
Meetings
Meetings are held at 7.30pm in the W.I. Hall.
Library
The library is now all set up at the Primary School. Please let us know your views on this.
Paintings
Discover the Paintings you Own – The Hidden Heritage of Suffolk Revealed by the Public Catalogue Foundation.
Interesting Facts
and now for some interesting Historical Facts from the 1500’s …
Latest Local History Society news …
A Note from your clerk -Work to parish trees
Our tree surgeon will be carrying out work to parish trees over this week and next (weather dependant)…
By the moonlyght I must go to my boke : Schools and Education in Medieval Suffolk
‘By the moonlyght I must go to my boke’ was the title of Kate Jewell’s talk and she gave us an intriguing look at medieval education in Suffolk…
Death in the Garden with Michael Brown
A joint meeting of the History and Horticultural Societies of Wickhambrook was held in October with a subject that included plenty of history and lots of gardening. Michael Brown’s talk was subtitled ‘Poisonous Plants – Magic, Myth and Passion’ and we were treated to a plant by plant analysis with historical anecdotes which was both fascinating and entertaining…
History Society visit to Pakenham Watermill and Thelnetham Windmill
Wickhambrook Local History Society members enjoyed visiting Pakenham Watermill and Thelnetham Windmill on a beautiful July day. We were warmly welcomed by volunteers at both venues and given comprehensive tour of both mills. Highlight of the day for those who climbed...
History Society visit to Stoke By Nayland
16 members of the History Society spent a day in beautiful Stoke by Nayland…
Rural Rebellion – the Tithe Wars of the 1930s
It is always a pleasure to welcome Ashley Cooper, a farmer and author from Gestingthorpe, to our meeting. He has been talking to the Society since it started in 1986 and we have also visited his farm museum and Roman Villa…
2024 AGM followed by The Trinity House Story
At the AGM on 16th April the committee and office bearers were re-elected to serve for another year. Chairman Dorothy Anderson, secretary Gillian Cooper and treasurer Pam Miller reported on an excellent year of talks and outings and thanked the members for their support.
Lost Bury St Edmunds
Martyn Taylor, local author and Chairman of the Bury Society, was our speaker at the March meeting and his talk was entitled Lost Bury St Edmunds.
The Lost Watermills of Cherry Hinton
We had a very lively and interesting talk by Michelle Bullivant, a local historian and archaeologist…
2023 Recorder Report for Wickhambrook
A look through 2023 in Wickhambrook
View our galleries…
Wickhambrook Memories …
John Bean 1927-2021
John Bean, who died in November 2021 was very well-known in Wickhambrook and the surrounding area as the editor of The Scene and the author of books including ‘Ten Miles from Anywhere’,a look back at village life…
Wickhambrook is waking up!
While working on the refurbishment of Pump Cottage in Coltsfoot Green, local builder Nick Jolland discovered a painted board being used for paneling an understairs cupboard. It is painted, with some skill, with the words ‘Wickhambrook is waking up’..
Plane Crash in Spring Wood
Did you know that in 1942, a German plane came down in Spring Wood, Genesis Green, near where the mast is now?…
Memories of WI Life by the late Ivy Haygreen
Wickhambrook WI years ago was rather different to what it is now. Mrs Helen Medcalf remembers when it was held on Wednesday afternoons . Of course, mothers were at home in the daytime, so that made sense…
How it all started
In the spring of 1986 Alf Hicks, known to many as Mr Wickhambrook for his lifelong love of his village called a meeting for all those interested in forming a local history society. About 30 people were present at the meeting in the Dulcie Smith room of the MSC and with the help of the Haverhill Society President, Lionel Mitson a society was set up to promote an interest in history with an emphasis on local matters. Alf was the first Chairman and we still have ten of the founder members in our group at the moment.
Over the years we have enjoyed a varied programme of talks, theatre trips, outings and visits to other societies.
Alf’s time as Chairman saw him undertake a successful campaign to save our Victorian post boxes, and as the longest serving village reporter (ever!!) for the Bury Free Press, he kept Wickhambrook very much in the public eye. After his death in 1995 at the age of 89, his old school friend Clement Fuller of Newmarket took over as Chairman until the A.G.M. of 1996 when Percy Nunn was elected to the post.
Under Percy’s Chairmanship, we have undertaken our most ambitious project – to “capture” the houses of Wickhambrook at the turn of the century. With the financial help of St Edmundsbury and the Parish Council we are compiling a record of the village which we hope will be of use to researchers in the future.
It was one of Alf’s dreams to investigate the many old interesting properties in the village and our project has already brought some interesting facts to light. We were fortunate to enlist the help of Leigh Alston of Madingly College, Cambridge to date some of the older properties. During his visit to the village. Leigh remarked that the “spread-out” layout of the village and it’s greens conforms to Anglo-Saxon village patterns, thus clearing up the mystery of those famous eleven greens. To have kept our village “shape” for over a thousand years is remarkable.
The survey was displayed In April 2000 at an exhibition in the W.I. Hall together with a photographic exhibition by Mike Pettitt, a video by Steve Taylor, beer tasting by Lidstones Brewery, displays by local societies and book signing by local authors.
The possibilities for further research are endless. There are wonderful grand houses, fascinating old farmhouses and famous council houses just begging for further investigation.
The Society has a hard working and “committed” committee whose interest in local history is boundless. The survey and video was also shown at the Suffolk Local History Council’s “Societies Day” at Mendlesham in March. Each time we take part in an event there, someone always says “Wickhambrook”? Oh yes we remember! The little man who used to give everyone copies of the ‘Scene’. Is he still going?” Alf’s Spirit goes on!
USEFUL LINKS AND INFORMATION
The National Archives
Many will know that The National Archives gives regular talks on various aspects of family history at the PRO in Kew. Less well known is that they're now available to replay online. Very easy to listen to, providing you've got broadband.
Suffolk Medical Biographies
Doctors who practised in Wickhambrook up until 1900 - Suffolk Medical Biographies website - type in 'Wickhambrook' in the 'place of practice' box and then 'search'.