Walsham le Willows

History Group

Thursday July 22nd 2010

AUDREY McLAUGHLIN

A photograph showing a lady in a mauve jumper looking towards the left of the picture.
Audrey Mc Laughlin

Walking the claylands of Walsham le Willows after autumn ploughing in a search for fragments of ancient pottery was considered a somewhat eccentric occupation for people in the 1970’s & 1980’s with an interest in history, particularly when you made your way back to a metalled highway after a couple of hours plodding across fields, your aching limbs dragging feet heavy with tenacious clay.

Yet here was the origin of Audrey McLaughlin’s deep and lasting interest in Walsham’s past. She helped to map the location of scores of Roman and Medieval homesteads to reveal a village layout quite different to our present village. This corroborated Sir Nicholas Bacon’s survey of 1577 in The Field Book of Walsham which had already been transcribed and edited by Kenneth Dodd. But Audrey taught herself to read and transcribe the documents, wills, inventories, surveys, accounts, court rolls and to understand the evolution of timber framed buildings. Thus, over a period of twenty years she came to know and understand Walsham's past, to identify an earlier landscape from the fragments which remain today and to appreciate something of the lives of its inhabitants.

Along the way she enthused others to work with, alongside, or independently of her but always wanting the knowledge and understanding gained to be accessible to the general public. For some years static displays and informative exhibitions were staged in the Scullery of The Priory, in The Guildhall and later in St Mary’s Church. A programme of lectures and informative walks was instituted. From 1997 Audrey edited items of research for publication in The Walsham Village Museum Quarterly Reviews; number 54 was published this month. The culmination of her work was the publication of The East Anglian Archaeology Report number 85 " Towards a Landscape History of Walsham" and written jointly with Stanley West. But other publications followed documenting yet more of our village history.

On moving to Halesworth, this rigorous and indefatigable researcher embarked on the more difficult project to uncover something of the history of the group of parishes making up South Elmham, onetime seat of Anglo Saxon Bishops and her own chosen final resting place. Here in Walsham she leaves a fine legacy of research and education. She was inspirational.

An old grainy image of Walsham street with a number of people standing round in the mid distance dressed in old fashioned clothes. The street looks like it’s covered in soil or similar and grooves of wheel marks are visible in it. The building visible on the far left is what is now the Six Bells Public House and the rest of the street with buildings running along next to it goes off into the distance.
The Street; about 1900

Almost exactly the same shot as the previous image, but in colour, taken much more recently with relatively minimal additional features and changes: a few telegraph poles with wires running down above the road, a grey tarmacked road with white lines, a largish chimney missing that was present above the house next to the Six Bells in the old image but not this one, a largish tree that was present further down the road isn’t there in this more modern day image, and the lack of old fashioned dressed people. But generally not much has changed: the buildings all look very similar as they did in the much older photograph.
The Street; 1984

Walsham Village History Group began in the early 1980s when Dr. Stanley West, then County Archaeologist and living in Walsham, located the sites of several medieval houses around Cranmer Green. Wishing to find other sites he gathered a small group of local enthusiasts and, over the next few years, field-walked all the available land in the parish teaching them how to spot, identify and record their finds of pottery sherds and worked flints. It soon became apparent that many of the medieval sites were those referred to in a 1577 survey of Walsham and conjectural maps were drawn of the reconstructed medieval landscape. Work began on transcribing the original documents held at Suffolk Record Office including manorial court rolls, account rolls, rentals and charters together with parish registers and wills gradually building up a history of the village previously unknown. Some of this work has been published, some has been printed and is available locally. In 1997 the first Quarterly Review consisting of original research was printed. In 2001 it was decided to formalise the history group with a committee, constitution and a programme of talks and visits relating to the history of Suffolk in general and that of Walsham in particular. The group has started to record oral history and there is a programme of lectures, visits and walks for our membership. The group has gone from strength to strength and now has over seventy members.

Thursday July 22nd 2010

AUDREY McLAUGHLIN

This Obituary of Audrey McLaughlin originally appeared on the 'Updates' pages of this website in July 2010. Audrey was one of the original members of the Walsham le Willows History Group and was instrumental in encouraging the various aspects of the group. Audrey died in July 2010.

Walking the claylands of Walsham le Willows after autumn ploughing in a search for fragments of ancient pottery was considered a somewhat eccentric occupation for people in the 1970’s & 1980’s with an interest in history, particularly when you made your way back to a metalled highway after a couple of hours plodding across fields, your aching limbs dragging feet heavy with tenacious clay.

Yet here was the origin of Audrey McLaughlin’s deep and lasting interest in Walsham’s past. She helped to map the location of scores of Roman and Medieval homesteads to reveal a village layout quite different to our present village. This corroborated Sir Nicholas Bacon’s survey of 1577 in The Field Book of Walsham which had already been transcribed and edited by Kenneth Dodd. But Audrey taught herself to read and transcribe the documents, wills, inventories, surveys, accounts, court rolls and to understand the evolution of timber framed buildings. Thus, over a period of twenty years she came to know and understand Walsham's past, to identify an earlier landscape from the fragments which remain today and to appreciate something of the lives of its inhabitants.

Along the way she enthused others to work with, alongside, or independently of her but always wanting the knowledge and understanding gained to be accessible to the general public. For some years static displays and informative exhibitions were staged in the Scullery of The Priory, in The Guildhall and later in St Mary’s Church. A programme of lectures and informative walks was instituted. From 1997 Audrey edited items of research for publication in The Walsham Village Museum Quarterly Reviews; number 54 was published this month. The culmination of her work was the publication of The East Anglian Archaeology Report number 85 " Towards a Landscape History of Walsham" and written jointly with Stanley West. But other publications followed documenting yet more of our village history.

On moving to Halesworth, this rigorous and indefatigable researcher embarked on the more difficult project to uncover something of the history of the group of parishes making up South Elmham, onetime seat of Anglo Saxon Bishops and her own chosen final resting place. Here in Walsham she leaves a fine legacy of research and education. She was inspirational.

Walsham le Willows History Group Publications.
Victorian Walsham–a reflection of 19th Century Life in a Suffolk Village. £3.50
A Story of Walsham Folk 1800–1850 £3.50
A Short History of Walsham le Willows £2.00
Walks to Remember. 5 Walks around Walsham £2.00
A Trail around Historic Walsham £2.00
It Is With Deep Regret £5.00
Gravestones in Walsham £3.00
A Walk in A Suffolk Churchyard £2.50
Constables Bills in Walsham 1708-1821 £2.50
Malting, Brewing, Ale & Beer in Walsham £1.00
Walsham Photos (Millenium Issue) £6.00
Wartime Walsham £5.00
Court Rolls 1399–1500 No longer available!
Who Lived in Your House £10.00
Quarterly Reviews (10 bound copies) £3.00
Quarterly Reviews Singles 30p
Parish Registers CD’s 1373–1900.
Parish Registers 1539–1900 £10.00
Probate Wills 1396–1798 £10.00
Workhouse Inventory 1783 £10.00
1581 Survey (Terratorium) of Walsham Manor with Church House Manor £10.00
1695 Survey of Walsham Manor with Church Reviews £10.00
Church Wardens Accounts 1741, and Town Wardens Accounts 1646, 1662,1707, 1739, 1742,1760. High Hall Accounts 1373–1374 £10.00

Obtainable from: Tel 01359 258535

Contacts

History Group Guided Walk

Four people (two adults and two kids) out in the country, the lad sitting on a branch of a tree.

Monday 1st January 2007 at 10.30 am.

The New Year guided walk took place with 13 adults plus 4 children enjoying a stimulating after New Year’s walk which went up Wattisfield road and then beyond Squirrel’s Hall ending up with soup and rolls at the Six Bells. Included in the 13 adults were 2 visitors who were accompanied by their dog. Luckily the weather was very kind although there were parts of the walk where it was rather muddy!

These walks take place on New Years day, Easter Monday and various other Bank Holidays throughout each year, for up to date details please refer to the Diary of Events.

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