Rattlesden (St. Nicholas)

RATTLESDEN (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Stow, hundred of Thedwastry, W. division of Suffolk, 5 miles (W.) from Stow-Market; containing 1141 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3254 acres, of which 27 are common or waste land. The manor was alienated from the bishopric of Ely in the 4th of Elizabeth, and in the 2nd of James I. was granted to Philip Tyse and William Blake. Here is Clopton Hall, the seat of Captain Parker, moated round on two sides. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 0. 2½., and in the gift of J. Moseley, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £770; the glebe comprises 43 acres. The church is in the decorated style, with a square tower surmounted by an obtuse spire. There is a place of worship for Baptists; and a national school is partly supported by an endowment of £16 per annum. Silver and copper coins have been found. Dr. Bedell, rector of Rattlesden, was collated to an Irish bishopric in the early part of the seventeenth century.