The Parish Church
Although it may well have been preceeded by a wooden building a little Saxon church of flint and mortar was built about 1050. It had a forty feet high round tower, from the inside of which a lofty seventeen feet internal arch led into a simple nave only nineteen feet wide and estimated to be thirty-nine feet long. The tower exists today, although later extended by nine feet. All that remains of the first nave are projecting sections of the wall clearly visible on either side of the tower, a most unusual decoration on the tower is a series of 'blind' arcades let into the surface. Below is an impression of the first flint church.
A major rebuilding took place in 1375 when Sir Adam de Clifton demolished the tiny nave and built a new one twenty-six feet wide. At the same time the chancel with its diminutive priests door was probably added. Ten years later John de Bumpstede, whose family had been lords of Uphall Manor in the village, left money to repair the bell tower, this is thought to have been when the top nine feet, together with the parapet and gargoyles were built. In 1445 Thomas Bumpstead left money for raising the church walls, at which time it is likely that the Perpendicular style windows of the chancel and nave were added. The porch had been completed by 1539 for in that year Rose Bunlett expressed a wish in her will to be buried there.
At first the church must have been thatched but in 1532 Margaret Gambyll left thirteen shillings and four pence 'for ledying the church'. Just over 200 years later in 1748 the lead was stripped to raise money for church repairs, henceforth the roof was tiled.
Later additions were the vestry, built by Sir Charles Harvey of Rainthorpe Hall in 1911 and leading from it the Church Room, completed in 1978 with considerable backing from Mr and Mrs Walton of Tasburgh Hall.
The oldest interior feature of the church is the tall Saxon arch leading from the tower into the nave. On the nave side it has been partly built over but from inside the tower the whole ancient structure can be seen. In 1475 John Lincolne left half a combe of malt to be sold for the Guild of Our Lady. In addition to supporting the church the guild would have been a provident society, helping sick and needy members and meeting their funeral expenses. The Guild Chapel was on the south side of the nave close to the chancel where a small stone altar stood beneath a figure of St Mary in a niche. All that survives today is the piscina (priest's wash basin) with an 18th century wall painting above it.
An impressive Elizabethan tomb chest in the chancel is the burial place of Thomas Baxter of Rainthorpe Hall who died in 1611. On the opposite side of the church is an elegant alabaster wall memorial dated 1629 dedicated to Thomas and Margaret Newce who followed the Baxters at Rainthorpe. About 1820 the church lost its medieval glass windows and its altar rails both of which subsequently turned up in St Mary's, Long Stratton. At the same time the font cover, the interior door to the tower and other fittings were removed from the church. A strong clue to the cause of these disappearances comes from the fact that the rector of the day, Rev E. Burroughs, was at the same time also rector of Morningthorpe, St Michael's, Long Stratton and St Mary's, Long Stratton. There was ample scope for shuffling things around!
The arms of George Ill, which can be seen at the rear of the church, were painted in 1819, a year before his death. The rest of the church interior mainly reflects the work of restorations over the past hundred years, albeit sometimes using older material. Between 1897 and 1922 Sir Charles Harvey replaced the three-decker pulpit and box pews, took down the gallery which had been erected across the back of the nave in 1775 and built the present chancel arch. The impressive stained glass window above the altar was installed in 1903 by Mrs Berney Ficklin of Tasburgh Hall as a memorial to her son and parents.
In 1937- 8 Henry Neville, then owner of Tasburgh Hall, supervised the paving of the chancel and eastern part of the nave which had previously been floored by deal boards. At this time the present altar, choir stalls and bishop's seat were installed; all were made from old woodwork taken from Norwich Cathedral, the altar screen was constructed using 14th century traceried panels formerly in Tasburgh Hall while the Credence and Litany Desks were made from some of the altar rails which had been removed to Long Stratton more than a hundred years before. Also in 1938 a beautiful font dating from the 14th century was brought from the disused Norwich church of St Simon and St Jude. The font cover is Jacobean.
The porch has two modern stained glass windows by Paul Quail, one is dedicated to a generous benefactor to the church, Canon R. Hurd, while the other commemorates Sylvia Addington, who was a churchwarden and whose enthusiasm and hard work underlies much of this history. There are five bells, the most recent is dated 1900 while the oldest, cast in 1593, has called the faithful to church for 400 years. In 1900 the bells were the first in Norfolk to be re-tuned on the five tone principle.
CHAPELS
Two disused chapels may be seen in the village. The substantial Quaker Meeting House, first recorded in 1667, served a wide area around Tasburgh. Weddings, baptisms and funerals took place there and the premises were also described as a refuge for travellers and distressed persons. The chapel is now a private house standing close to a little lane leading off Fairstead Lane.
The diminutive Primitive Methodist Chapel can be seen on the north side of Church Hill. The chapel originally belonged to Alfred Coe who lived next door at the Beeches, shown on old maps as Grove Cottage. During the 1930s the chapel was heavily used with two Sunday services, a Sunday school, a weekly Christian Endeavour meeting and a fortnightly Women's Own meeting. Robert Clark, gardener at the Grange, was steward in the 1940s while his wife Kate played the organ, an ornate instrument with a mirror in the middle. Hilda Wigby was the Sunday school teacher and when her son Hubert died a communion table was given in his memory. At this time it was a tiny gem of a chapel with a font of white marble, a pulpit draped in blue velvet and a bible on a lectern. Sadly congregations declined until the chapel was closed in 1973.
GLEBE COTTAGE
Shortly after AD1113, on land below the watermill between the Tas and Low Road, a rectory was built, parts of which survive today in Glebe Cottage.
The original building was a small version of a typical early manor house comprising a large central 'hall' open to the rafters and probably with two-storeyed rooms on either side. A fine example of this type of building survives locally in the restored Brett's Manor House at Wacton Common which is illustrated opposite. It is likely that the original manor houses in the village at Uphall, Hunt's and Rainthorpe were also of this type. Much later, probably in the 16th century, the open hearth in the hall of the rectory from which smoke escaped through the thatched roof, was replaced by two fireplaces and chimneys. This made it possible to divide the great room into four rooms, two each at ground and first floor levels. Wings were added to each end of the building so that in 1629 the rectory contained eleven rooms including an entry, study, parlour, buttery and a room for making malt and for brewing. Outside was a yard with a barn, stables and a cow house. Like most of his flock, the rector had to live off the land.
When he arrived in 1837 Rev Henry Preston found the rectory so sadly run down that he had to live elsewhere in the village. The reason for this sad state of affairs can perhaps be laid at the door of a previous incumbent, the Rev E. Burroughs, who as we have already learnt was also rector of Morningthorpe and Long Stratton and who had shown a marked preference for Long Stratton. Henry Preston built a new rectory in the church grounds leaving the old one to be almost demolished. All that remains today, incorporated in Glebe Cottage, is part of one wing, nevertheless this is the oldest known building in Tasburgh after the church.
RAINTHORPE HALL
This impressive Elizabethan building with its charming interior has evolved from a medieval hall built some time before 1500 only to be burnt down in that year,
then rebuilt to much the same plan. In 1579 Thomas Baxter purchased the property and carried out a major redevelopment placing wings on either side of the hall, a three storey porch at the front and a stair tower at the rear to create a classic Elizabethan E-shaped building. The porch contains ancient stocks with an ominous whipping post.
After passing through the hands of many owners the hall was purchased in 1853 by the Hon Frederick Walpole MP who greatly embellished the interior of the house including the addition of wood panelling and stained glass. His sympathetic improvements were continued from 1878 by another dedicated owner, Sir Charles Harvey, who also made structural changes. These included a wing extended to the south-west which was cleverly integrated with the old building, even to the extent of transferring old Elizabethan windows to the new wing. The hall was purchased in 1934 by J. Maurice Hastings, who returned the interior to a true Elizabethan style. Over the past 190 years successive owners have cherished and improved this ancient house while creating an interior of great beauty, antiquity and character.
Tasburgh Hall in the south west corner of the parish, is close to the site of an early medieval moated manor. The present hall is of Georgian date with Victorian 'Tudor style' additions. Until this century it was known as Tasburgh Lodge. Close to the junction of Low Road and Church Hill (Cats Corner), Tasburgh Grange has a timber beamed 16th century farmhouse at its heart. Later an attached barn was converted into a wing and later still a Victorian frontage was added. It was at one time known as Maltings Farm and the 17th century malthouse is now a dwelling. Also noteworthy are the imposing Watermill House in brick and White Horse Farm in clay lump, the elegant Rookery House in Queen Anne style, Old Hall Farm, Manor Farm and Tasburgh House.
THE TOWN HOUSE
Until 1818 a small common called Briggate Green stood at the east end of the churchyard, a road crossed it then divided, one way dropped below the bank of the hillfort to join Church Hill and the other went east below the wooded bank to the south ofwhat is now Curson Road to Marl Bottom. Here much of the land was commonland upon which in 1750 was built the Town House to accommodate the paupers of the village, including those who were sick. The Town House is still there although slightly altered.
When used for the poor there were two rooms downstairs, each with a fireplace, one for the overseer and his family and the other as a day room for the inmates. The two upstairs rooms each had a separate staircase, one room being for the men and boys and the other for the women, girls and small children. In front of the house was a small hedged garden for the overseer and a path led to the Hempnall stream for fetching water.
PUBLIC HOUSES
Although only one public house survives in Tasburgh the buildings of two others can still be seen. The Countryman, still in business on Ipswich Road, was previously named The Bird in Hand. This strikingly tall building with its impressive gable ends goes back 300 years or more. An inventory of 1748 gives us a glimpse of the sparse furnishings of that time. The parlour contained a fireplace, five chairs, three stools and a table. All that is recorded in the kitchen is another fireplace, nine chairs, a table and a dresser with eighteen pewter plates and five dishes. There was a drinking room for the customers which sounds bleak indeed by present day standards for it had no fireplace and contained only a table and eight chairs! It would seem that cider was drunk since in the stable was a cider press, an apple trough and a cider mill.
Close to the The Bird in Hand and to the passing trade along Ipswich Road was the Cherry Tree on Church Road, now named Cherry Tree House. The Horseshoes stood on Low Road on the west side 200 yards north of Tasburgh Grange. Today it is still clearly identifiable as an erstwhile public house. On Saxlingham Lane, opposite the southern entrance to Rainthorpe Hall, stood the wooden White Horse public house which was burnt down early in this century.
Tasburgh Post Office was first sited at Post Office Cottage, still with that name and standing at thejunction of Low Road and Flordon Road. The post office occupied a brick building at the roadside and was conveniently situated close to Flordon Station from where the mail would arrive and depart. The post office was also a shop. Later Commerce House, also retaining its name, further south along Low Road became the combined shop and post office while the old post office continued as a shop. The post office has now moved to Church Road, Upper Tasburgh but is no longer a general store as were its predecessors. Fifty or sixty years ago there were five shops in Tasburgh. In addition to the two that had been post offices there was a shop close to the present Harvey Close, another was near Cherry Tree House in Upper Tasburgh and yet another on Ipswich Road.
