Very little is known of the early history of Waldringfield.
Until after WW 2 Suffolk was sparsely populated, apart from a few small market towns and the Tudor wool villages such as Lavenham. Until the motor car became widely used Waldringfield was quite isolated, unless one came by boat, bike or horse drawn vehicle. The population was small relative to the villages on the East bank of the Deben and men were ferried over from the Sutton side to work in the coprolite pits.
I have not come across any early pictures of Waldringfield, and no photographs before the 1880’s. The early maps are often inaccurate or confusing [with the ‘knowledge’ we have at the moment, which may well be erroneous].
A few Roman artefacts have been found in the village. Especially on the North field, in Mill Road to the South of the Church.
Why would the Romans come to ‘Waldringfield’ and how?
Exploring Northwards from their base at Colchester? I have never heard of a ‘Roman Road’ in the area, such as at Newmarket and Debach. So they most likely came by sea.
If this assumption is correct, they would look for a suitable landing backed by higher ground for a lookout and a water supply. All these would be found at ‘Waldringfield’ the small reservoir near the North field is fed by a spring. If thet came up river at or near high tide they would miss Ramsholt & the Rocks as suitable landing places.
If the Romans visited ‘Waldringfield’ why didn’t they have a permanent settlement? Nothing to keep them here as of no strategic importance.
Anglo Saxon remains have been found in the village. Why did they visit ‘Waldringfield’? Perhaps looking for a better site which they found at Sutton Hoo.
On the 1839 Tithe Map there is field named Blaxhall [34], near the site of the old Rivers Hall manor house.
Blaxhall is thought to be derived from ‘BLACA’ an Anglo Saxon settler and
‘HALH’ Old English nook or corner.
Waldringfield is mentioned in the Doomsday Book 1086? [see village hall]. When somebody owned or farmed 180 acres of land.
In Medieval times there were two Manor Houses. In 1305 Sir Robert Hilton was Lord of the Manor and in some old documents the village is referred to as Waldringfield Hilton, and later the Barnardiston family of Brightwell Hall. The probable site of a Manor House is on or near the present Rivers Hall, rebuilt in the 1830c. and for many years the Rectory. There was another manor in the village Rivers Hall which was on or near the present bungalow known as the Manor.
The last known Lord of the Manor is Richard Porter who lived at Hemley Hall. During the coprolite years of the 19th. century royalties were paid to Richard Porter on coprolite dug up on copyhold land. See letters and old accounts.
John Kirby in his Suffolk Traveller of 1735 lists Waldringfield but gives no information. Later editions, produced by his sons, mention Waldringfield as a small and insignificant place.
How did the first & subsequent landowners obtain their land?
How did the Lords of the Manors obtain their land?
The Enclosures Act, how did affect the village?
Some old maps indicate a ‘common marsh’.
More recent history of Waldringfield, with many gaps, & hopefully not too many errors, which I hope others will be able to fill in.
From the 1839 Tithe Map we know that there were five large landowners, including the Rector’s Glebe of 65 acres, in the village. If the Glebe acreage is added to the Waller’s acres from 1862 until the late 1970’s there were in effect only four landowners.
On the tithe map several fields are marked as ‘walks’ which suggests that sheep farming was a main stay or ‘whins’ gorse land.
One of the landowners was the Waller Trustees. The Waller family first became associated with Waldringfield in 1639 when Jeptha Waller of Woodbridge married Susan Goss of Waldringfield. From the Goss family the Wallers eventually inherited the White Hall and Church farms, although it is doubtful if they lived in the village until 1830.
In 1830 George Waller of Sutton Hall, and a younger son, married Anne Edwards of Wood Hall. The young couple were sent over to Waldringfield to farm at White Hall & Church farms, I assume they had run out of farms on the Sutton side for younger sons. At this time the White Hall farmhouse was rebuilt as it was in a ruinous condition, having been occupied by tenants for many years. George died in 1834 leaving a widow and two small children. His widow returned to Wood Hall to live with her father, she remarried 10 years later. The White Hall & Church farms were left in trust to his son Thomas Henry Waller, who returned in 1862 as Rector and lived in the village until he died in 1920.
During the cement factory era THW sold some tenements [don’t know where or which] to Mason’s for their workers.
In1834 the farms were again tenanted out, until John Henry Waller, grandson of George, took on the tenancy in about 1878 he eventually moved into White Hall farmhouse when he married in 1905, he died in 1943 leaving no issue. The farms were bequeathed to his nephews Trevor & Henry Waller sons of his youngest brother Arthur.
Between 1839, date of Tithe map, and his death in 1920 Thomas Henry Waller bought several plots of land as the other major landowners sold off their acreage. Mr. Peter Ravensheare also bought land in village which later sold off.
The Wallers have over the years sold off building plots, Broomstubs [Cliff Road] and the yachtages site [School Road] White Gates now Church Meadows [Mill Road] the Merryfield site [Mill Road] and the Barnmead site [Cliff Road] The building plots between White Gates [Church Meadow] and Broomstubs.
On the death of Rev. Thomas Henry Waller in 1920 his estate was divided amongst his nine remaining children. John Henry had received the lions share, White Hall & Church farms, in his father’s life time. The other four boys received rather smaller shares and the four girls were provided for.
After the death of his father, Canon Arthur P. Waller allowed huts to be built on the riverside Glebe, he later sold land to Tolly Cobbolds for a carpark/caravan site. Tollys eventually sold part of the site to the Sailing Club for their own carpark.
Over the years the Waller family have sold off various houses around the village. On the death of Thomas Henry Waller, Rivers Hall [former Rectory] was sold off. Woodside [Rectory Cottage] was sold to the schoolmaster who eventually bought The Old School House which had been used as a ‘Village Hall’ for several years. Other properties to go over the years as family members passed away, were the Dairy Farm & Barns, Oakland [Miss Mary Pretyman’s old cottage] Hermanus, Seven Moons [formerly Hawthorns the home of the old Rector’s four spinster daughters, the Windmill site and Mill Cottage, School Cottage and Millfield.
After the closure of cement factory in 1907 the village population gradually declined but was supplemented by holiday makers & visitors. It was a restricted area during World War 2.
It was revitalised in the 1950’s with the building of Village Way & the old people’s bungalows down Mill Road by the Deben Rural District Council.
In the early 1960’s Mrs. Dorothy Stevens set up two cul de sacs, Sullivan Place & Sunnyhill. Known in those days by the village wags as Upper & Lower Stevenage. Sullivan Place was so named as it was next to the garage, owned in those days by Mr. Gilbert. [Gilbert & Sullivan, very droll.]
Mrs. Stevens had the roads made up & adopted by the council. Her intention was that Sullivan Place would be for younger couples, who in many cases were prepared to build their own houses. Most of the original owners did in fact build their own houses.
At the same time Mrs. Stevens gave the land for the tennis court & playing field.
Another of her contributions to Waldringfield was that she stopped the Council from widening the Woodbridge Road into the village. The Inspector approved the plans but Mrs. Stevens pulled a few strings & had it stopped.
Since the 1960’s there has been a lot of ‘infilling’ and extensions to existing houses. The old cottages have either been demolished & new houses built on the site, semi detached cottages made into one or extended so that no low cost houses remain in the village.
As a honey pot village those that do come the village tend to remain & their children want to buy houses in the village when they grow up.
