Offton (St. Mary)

OFFTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 8 miles (W. N. W.) from Ipswich; containing 417 inhabitants, and comprising 1535a. 2r. 15p. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the rectory of Little Bricett united, and valued in the king's books at £7. 16. 0½.; patron and impropriator, H. W. Sparrow, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £216. 10., and the vicarial for £183. 10.: there is a glebe-house, with about 28 acres of land. Upon a chalky hill in the parish are the remains of a fortification said to have been built by Offa, King of Mercia, from whom the place perhaps took its name. In a meadow near Talmash Hall, formerly a large mansion, was a chapel, the site of which is still pointed out.