The official 2019 footpath map has a confusing Parish Boundary with a more southerly northern boundary and bulge at the Heath. Both maps courtesy of Suffolk County Council.
This is due to a legal technicality with the way footpaths are recorded on a 1954 map with a different boundary. So, the footpaths are correct but the boundary isn’t. We don’t know when it changed to the current one, possibly 1970s when the County reviews were undertaken. Here is the “definitive map” from SCC.
Deben first definitive map relevant date 1 January 1954
The definitive map parish boundary reflects the parish boundary as shown on the Deben first definitive map (relevant date 1 January 1954), see extract from the first definitive map below – the brown lines represent the parish boundary, which corresponds to the parish boundary as shown on the Ordnance Survey County Series 1:2500 scale map circa 1904/5.
This is the 2019 boundary from Ordnance Survey.
2019 Parish Boundary
Janet Elliott has spoken to SCC and this is the answer: SCC is the body with the sole responsibility for producing and maintaining the Definitive Map which is then the conclusive legal record of PROW – see extract below. Makes sense as they are responsible for local “highways”. “The Definitive Map and Statement form the legal record of public rights of way. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Sections 53 and 57(5) the County Council has a duty to keep the Definitive Map and Statement under continuous review and to make them available for inspection by the public. The… Read more »