Aldham (St. Mary)

ALDHAM (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Cosford, W. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Hadleigh; containing 293 inhabitants. It comprises 1742a. 1r. 33p., and has, for the most part, a hilly surface; the land consists of arable, pasture, and wood, the last of which is tithe-free; the soil is a stiff clay, and produces good corn. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 13. 4.; net income, £290; patron, Thomas Barret Lennard, Esq.: the glebe consists of 45 acres. The church is situated on a hill, and is built of flint and stone, with a round tower: the advowson formerly belonged to the earls of Oxford, whose arms are carved on the oak benches fitted up in the church in 1537. Dr. Rowland Taylor suffered martyrdom on the common of the parish, in 1555.