Brent Illeigh, Eleigh, or Ely (St. Mary)

BRENT ILLEIGH, ELEIGH, or ELY (St. Mary), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of Cosford, hundred of Babergh, W. division of Suffolk, 2½ miles (E. by S.) from Lavenham; containing 289 inhabitants, and comprising by measurement 1597 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8, and in the patronage of Dr. Browne: the tithes have been commuted for £480, and the glebe consists of 9 acres. At the end of the chancel of the church, an apartment was built by Dr. Colman, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who placed in it a parochial library; and Edward Colman, Esq., endowed an almshouse, for six widowers and six widows.