- Wortham, Suffolk
Wortham is a village and
parish inSuffolk ,England .Its church, St Mary The Virgin, lies about a mile north of the village. It is one of 38 existing
round-tower church es inSuffolk . It has the largest round tower by diameter in England.Diss is the nearest railway station.
History
In the time of Edward the Confessor Wortham consisted of two parishes, each with its own church and parsonage. They had 40 acres of
glebe between them and a combined value of 7shilling s.After the Norman Conquest there were still two parishes, corresponding to the two Norman manors: Southmoor, held by the Abbots of Bury, and Eastgate (Wortham Hall) held by the Barons of Rye.In 1769 the parishes were combined under William Evans, Rector of Eastgate. The Saxon church in Southmoor disappeared and was never rebuilt, although the Rectory remained until 1785. A faculty was granted by the
Bishop of Norwich to Rowland Holt (Patron) and Henry Patterson (Rector) for "taking down and excusing the rebuilding of one of the parsonages belonging to the Rectory of Wortham Edward w. Jervis annexed." This parsonage was stated to be above a mile from the church and built of stud and claywork and covered with a thatch.Wortham was the family seat of the
Betts family, as cronicled by K. F. Doughty in 'The Betts of Wortham in Suffolk - 1480-1905' published in 1912 by John Lane Co. [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=BookList&dbid=16481&offerid=0%3A7858%3A0#8121616938936534356 described in more detail at www.ancestry.com]Home to the author
Richard Cobbold between 1825 and 1877. In addition to his famous story ofMargaret Catchpole , he published (1860) 'The Biography Of A Victorian Village - Wortham' which contained a series of drawings and character details of various members of the community during the mid-Victorian period. A useful source for genealogists.External links
* [http://www.roundtowerchurches.de/Suffolk/Wortham_St_Mary/wortham_st_mary.html Website with photos of Wortham St Mary]
* [http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/wortham.htm Website with description of St Mary and Wortham]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=51431&strquery=wortham#s15 A reference to Wortham is available at www.british-history.ac.uk]* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=1163913 Location and pictures at www.geograph.org.uk]
----
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.