Wickhambrook Local History Society

The Official Wickhambrook Village Website - homepage


BOOKMARK

page updated 16 April 2008

The History of the Wickhambrook Local History Society together with how it is today
providing interesting facts, exhibitions, talks and entertaining events

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.

From last year, meetings have been 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 Fund- raising Concert in aid of All Saints’ Church.

LIBRARY
The library is now all set up at the Primary School. Please let us know your views on this.
(Little Bradley trip - we have bought Wendy Barnes' book for the library)

THE MAIN COMMITTEE
Chairman	Percy Nunn
Treasurer	Pam Miller	01440 820696
Secretary	Dorothy Anderson	01440 820376
Events Secretary	Gillian Cooper	01440 820052

FUTURE EVENTS

Tuesday 20th May 2008
‘History of Sanitation’
Tony Redman

Tuesday 20th May 2008
‘History of Sanitation’
Tony Redman

Monday 9th June 2008 > VISIT
Giffords Hall
Lady Rowland
with The Horticultural Society

Wednesday 11th and 25th June 2008 > VISIT
Royal Anglian Regimental Museum
Gwyn Thomas

Wednesday 16th July 2008 > VISIT
‘Lesser Known Bury’
Clive Paine

Wednesday 10th September 2008 > VISIT
‘Update on Farm visit and Bee Keeping’
Philip and Roger Draycott

Tuesday 16th September 2008
‘Samuel Pepys’
Dr David Dougan

Tuesday 21st October 2008
‘RAF Stradishall - Up To Date’
Jock Whitehouse

Tuesday 18th November 2008
‘The Victorian Christmas’
Clive Paine
> with raffle

Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Christmas Evening Dinner
> Haverhill Golf Club

Tuesday 20th January 2009
‘Show and Tell’
Members Special

Tuesday 17th February 2009
‘Introduction to Antiques’
Christopher Holmes

Tuesday 17th March 2009
‘The Black Death’
Leigh Alston

Tuesday 21st April 2009 > AGM
> at 7.00pm followed by
‘Our Find Of Treasure Trove’
Cherry Fisher

Tuesday 15th April 2008 : AGM
at 7.00pm followed by
‘Lord Nelson’ - Robert Borridge

Membership costs £8 per year
payable in April
+ 50p for each meeting

Guests are always very welcome - £2 per occasion

Meetings held at 7.30pm in the W.I. Hall

SEE OUR 2007 - 2008
FULL PROGRAMME OF EVENTS HERE

For information about the Society or the above events contact

Secretary	Dorothy Anderson	01440 820376
Events Secretary	Gillian Cooper	01440 820052

Previous reports that have been listed on this website and reported by various means throughout the village, mainly The Scene and What's-On, are listed below in date order - click on the report you are interested in to read more about it:

Percy Nunn (Chairman)
receiving the Biscuit Barrel Award

Percy Nunn receiving the Biscuit Barrel Award

Other websites which have interesting historical information are as follows:

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. Just go to http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml. Very easy to listen to, providing you've got broadband

The Family and Community Historical Research Society: - www.fachrs.com
The Archive CD Books Project: - www.rod-neep.co.uk

Doctors who practised in Wickhambrook up until 1900 -
http://suffolkmedicalbiographies.co.uk
type in 'Wickhambrook' in the 'place of practice' box and then 'search'

Discover the Paintings you Own - The Hidden Heritage of Suffolk Revealed by the Public Catalogue Foundation

www.suffolkfhs.co.uk - Suffolk Family History Society

www.suffolklocalhistorycouncil.org.uk - Suffolk Local History Council

www.suffolk-surnames-list.co.uk - Information, help and advice for anyone researching their Suffolk Roots

and now for some interesting facts ...

If anyone knows of any other useful sites, please let the History Society know (contact details as above)

new members are very welcome

2007 REPORTS

January 2007 - RAF Chedburgh

February 2007 - Prince Duleep Singh of the Punjab

March 2007 - The Suffolk/Essex Border in Roman Times

April 2007 - AGM followed by Floods in the Fens in 1947

May 2007 - The Huguenot Society

June 2007 - Gainsborough's House, Sudbuy

July 2007 - Visit to Mildenhall and Ashfield Farm

August 2007 - Visit Ashley Cooper’s farm at Gestingthorpe

September/October 2007 - Rags and Bones / East Anglian Farm Buildings

January 2008 - Dig for Victory and the Festival of Britain

February 2008 - The remains of conflict from earthworks to pillboxes

March 2008 - Victorian Way of Death

April 2008 - AGM and Lord Nelson

PREVIOUS REPORTS

2003 l 2004 l 2005 l 2006

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 Marlow 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.

During the past thirteen 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.

Alf Hicks and Colin Bird posting a letter into the Victorian Post Box
Post Box 1859
Only one of its kind in the British Isles
Photo taken 1987

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!