Hessett, Suffolk

Historical Description

Hessett, a picturesque village and a parish in Suffolk, 2½ miles S from Thurston station on the G.E.R., and 5½ ESE from Bury St Edmunds. Post town, Bury St Edmunds; money order office, Beyton; telegraph office, Rougham. Acreage, 1604; population, 353. The manor was given by Earl Ulfketel to Bury Abbey, and by Henry VIII. to the Bacons, and passed to the Leheups. Hessett Rectory is the chief residence. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely; net value, £209. The church is a handsome building of stone and flint, consists of chancel, nave, aisles, side chapels, S porch, and a western tower. The chancel is in the Decorated style, the nave, aisles, and tower being Perpendicular, and contains tombs of the Bacons, and a monument to Colonel Aldritch.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Hessett from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hessett, or Hedgessett (St. Ethelbert))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Suffolk is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Hessett are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Suffolk papers online:

• The Ipswich Journal
• East Suffolk Mercury and Lowestoft Weekly News
• Bury and Norwich Post
• Bury Free Press