A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



the county, was also under the rule of the same bishop, and formed part of the Suffolk rural deanery 

 of Fordham. 



It is not possible to give any particular date for the subdivision of Suffolk into deaneries, but it 

 was probably an accomplished fact when the county was divided in 1126 into two archdeaconries, 

 namely those of Suffolk and Sudbury. The Norwich Taxation Roll of 1256 shows that the Suffolk 

 archdeaconry then embraced the thirteen rural deaneries of Bosmere, Carlford, Claydon, Colneys, 

 Dunwich, Hoxne, Ipswich, Loes, Lothingland, Orford, Samford, Wangford, and Wilford ; whilst 

 eight deaneries formed the archdeaconry of Sudbury, namely Blackburne, Clare, Fordham, Hartis- 

 mere, Stow, Sudbury, Thedwastre, and Thingoe. 



The only change that appears in the 1291 taxation is that South Elmham, a hitherto exempt 

 jurisdiction, had become a recognized deanery of Suffolk archdeaconry. 



These arrangements held good at the time of the Valor of 1535, and for just three centuries 

 beyond ; for it was not until the general upheaval of old diocesan arrangements by the Ecclesi- 

 astical Commissioners in 1835-6 that any change was made. At that time the archdeaconry of 

 Sudbury was annexed to the small diocese of Ely, with the not inconsiderable exceptions of the 

 deaneries of Hartismere, Stow, and Sudbury, which were added to the archdeaconry of Suffolk. 1 



By this division of Suffolk between two dioceses there were left in the diocese of Norwich and 

 archdeaconry of Suffolk 348 cures, namely 198 rectories, 135 vicarages or perpetual curacies, and 

 15 chapelries; whilst in the diocese of Ely and archdeaconry of Sudbury there were (in Suffolk) 

 174 cures, namely 126 rectories, 37 vicarages or perpetual curacies, and n chapelries. 2 



The Clergy List of 1860 shows that there were then two rural deans appointed for each of the 

 deaneries of Bosmere, Carlford, Dunwich, Hartismere, Lothingland, Orford, and Wilford, implying 

 their subdivision. At the present time (1906) the archdeaconry of Suffolk contains eighteen 

 deaneries, all the old names and boundaries being maintained, but with the subdivisions they are : 

 Bosmere, Carlford, Claydon, Colneys, Dunwich North, Dunwich South, Hartismere North, Hartis- 

 mere South, Hoxne, Ipswich, Loes, Lothingland, Orford, Samford, South Elmham, Stow, Wangford, 

 and Wilford. 



The changes in the deanery designations and boundaries of the archdeaconry of Sudbury are 

 much greater. The Cambridgeshire deanery of Camps, which was added to the archdeaconry at 

 the time of the diocesan change, was transferred to the archdeaconry of Ely before 1880. Sudbury 

 archdeaconry now consists exclusively of Suffolk parishes and is divided into the eleven deaneries of 

 Blackburne, Clare, Fordham, Hadleigh, Horningsheath, Lavenham, Mildenhall, Sudbury, Thed- 

 wastre, Thingoe, and Thurlow. 



There used to be four peculiars in Suffolk that were exempt from both diocesan and archidia- 

 conal visitation. These were the rectories of Hadleigh, Monks Eleigh, and Moulton in the juris- 

 diction of Canterbury ; and of Freckenham in the jurisdiction of Rochester. There is a movement 

 now (1906) on foot for securing, by a readjustment of dioceses, a bishop to be spiritual overlord for 

 the whole of Suffolk. Should this be accomplished there will be a reversion to the ancient arrange- 

 ment of the seventh century. 



1 6 & 7 Will. IV, cap. 77 ; Phillimore, Ecc. Law, i, 25. ' Suckling, Hist. o/Stif. i, 15. 





