Nacton, Suffolk
Historical Description
Nacton, a village and a parish in Suffolk. The village stands on the river Orwell, 4 miles SE of Ipswich, and has a station, of the name of Orwell, on the Felixstowe branch of the G.E.R., and a post and telegraph office under Ipswich; money order office, Alan Road, Ipswich. The parish now includes the parishes of Alnesbourn Priory and Purdis Farm, formerly extra-parochial tracts. Area of the civil parish, 1919 acres; population, 518; of the ecclesiastical, with Levington, 693. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. The manor belonged to the Fastolfs and passed to the Brokes, and now belongs to the De Saumarez family. Broke Hall, a very fine mansion, is a seat of the De Sanmarez family, and Orwell Park, a fine brick building standing in a park of 200 acres, and having an observatory attached, is a seat of the Pretyman family. An Augustinian friary was at Ainesbourn. There are several crag pits, and several tumuli which, according to a local tradition, mark the site of a battle with the Danes. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Levington, in the diocese of Norwich; net value, £363 with residence. The church is a rubble building in the Decorated style, consists of nave and chancel, with porch and tower; and has a fine heraldic window recording the intermarriages of the Broke family. The Woodbridge Workhouse is here.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Suffolk | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Nacton St. Martin | |
Hundred | Colneis | |
Poor Law union | Woodbridge |
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 Nacton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Nacton (St. Martin))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Suffolk is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Nacton 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: