Cockfield - A Brief History
The earliest ‘history’ of most places is probably evidence gleaned from remains which have been dug up, proving that the place was inhabited all those years ago – depending on what was found! Amongst other things Cockfield had a Bronze Age sword which takes us back to the 1st – 2nd century BC, and there is evidence of Roman settlements in the area.
Moving forward to written evidence, it is known that King Alfgar gave land in Cockfield to his daughter Ethelfled who willed it to the great Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds in 1002. The Domesday book of 1086 refers to the Abbot holding 4 carucates (about 500 acres) of land and early feudal charters of the Abbey refer to known inhabitants of Cockfield indicating that it was always an important village, hence the unusually large church. The de Vere family (earls of Oxford) also held land in Cockfield, namely the Manor of Earls Hall. The oldest building today is obviously the church but there are also several ancient cottages: one at Stows Hill has an exposed crownpost holding up the roof and the church cottage is said to have been an early Gildhall, to mention but two.
The village was always primarily agricultural and would have been self-sufficient. There was a (water) mill ‘for winter use only’ recorded in the Domesday book and this – or more likely its successor – was finally taken down in 1677 by the then occupier of Cockfield Hall who reported that there was not enough water to grind his corn.
In 1582 a ‘secret’ meeting was held by the then Rector, John Knewstub, a prominent Puritan, for some threescore ministers out of East Anglia to discuss what might be tolerated and what refused in the Common Book. One always wonders how ‘secret’ a meeting could be when some 60 horses must have come galloping into Cockfield at dead of night! Knewstub went on to speak at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 and was well loved in the village, where he lived for the rest of his life. During the next hundred years the altar rails were torn down – and replaced – several rectors came and went, and the church had its share of damage done by Dowsing and his minions.
By the beginning of the 19th century there were several small schools none of which survived after the Church of England Voluntary School was built in 1856. This still exists as a primary school and in 1976, after a lot of hard work and fund raising, a new village hall was built onto the end of it, which is jointly owned by school and village, thus ensuring maximum usage.
At the time of the Tithe Award (1843) Cockfield had several large non-resident landowners, 22 farmers, 5 professionals, 6 pubs or beerhouses, 4 grocers, 3 shoemakers, 2 blacksmiths and 2 wheelwrights, a saddler, a cattledealer and a carrier. There were also 2 working cornmills and at one time there were no less than five windmills along the village section of the Bury to Lavenham road. Nowadays this road has an hourly bus service (during the day only), the railway has been and gone, and most of the residents no longer work in the village although the population remains much as it always was.