Description
THE HISTORY OF HADLEIGH
400BC – 2012AD
Compiled and edited by Beryl Haisman–Baker
and the team at Hadleigh Heritage
Hadleigh in Essex is perhaps best known for its castle and Norman church, St. James the Less. The Hadleigh Heritage information pack presents Hadleigh’s historical timeline in a series of beautifully illustrated sheets.
Starting with the Iron Age and moving seamlessly through Roman, Saxon, Norman and Medieval times the reader is taken on a journey through Hadleigh’s rich history.
The building and ownership of the castle is dealt with in detail and it is surprising to learn that St James the Less church was heavily fortified in its early days during the great anarchy of Stephen and Matilda.
Hadleigh’s story continues through the Tudor, Stuart and Victorian eras and includes a fascinating insight into the creation of the Salvation Army Hadleigh Farm colony on land overlooked by the castle. The impact of the dark days of First and Second World Wars are revealed as is Hadleigh’s education through time.
This superb pack contains 16 topics, with 34 pages and 60 colour and black and white illustrations and is a joy to leaf through. The Hadleigh Heritage Information Pack together with Graveyard Revelations (see below) is now available at £18.00* which includes delivery to anywhere in the UK.
GRAVE REVELATIONS
1500 – 1900’s
Grave Revelations is an essential companion to the HADLEIGH HERITAGE INFORMATION PACK. Revelations gives important historical information on the graves within Hadleigh’s St. James the Less churchyard. Written by Sandra Harvey and Val Jackson, a wealth of detail from Tudor times onwards is provided supported by a numbered gravestone map.
For example John William Evans (Grave no. 6) who passed away in 1920 joined the navy in 1848 aged 16 and was almost immediately involved in action against slavers off the West African coast. Beneath Grave no. 124 the remains of Elizabeth Smith lie, a pioneering missionary to South Africa. Yet we also learn about local landowners, merchants, farmers, their tenants and servants too.
As a salute to their ultimate sacrifice the end pages are devoted to the military during the two World Wars.
No exploration of a graveyard is complete without reference to a ghost and we are told of a grey haired lady whose wandering presence is still felt in local businesses premises.
Documents also confirm that Hadleigh’s celebrated white wizard James (Cunning) Murrell) who died in 1860 is there, although there is no gravestone to mark the spot.
Grave Revelations is created by XL Creations and edited by Beryl Haisman-Baker and Maureen Lennard-Brown.
Grave Revelations measures 297mm x 210m and contains 25 illustrations.
