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Westhall or Westhale
In the 13th of King Henry III., Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, obtained the
lordship of this parish, in exchange for that of Camel, in Somersetshire, which
he held of the grant of King John. In the 9th of King Edward I., it was in the
possession of Robt. de Aspale, as lord thereof.
In 1474, Thomas Crofts, of Westhall, in Suffolk, was buried in St. Mary's
chapel, in St. Andrew's church, in that parish; and devised his manor in
Windham, called Stalworthy's, to be sold. He had probably some interest here.
The Bohun family were possessed of this lordship from the time of King Henry
VIII.; of whom was Edmund Bohun, a native of Ringsfield, in Wangford hundred, a
political and miscellaneous writer, living at the end of the 17th century, in
this parish. He was owner of Dale Hall, in Whitton, near Ipswich, and of lands
in Brampton.
In 1657, Robert Brooke, Esq., only surviving son of Sir Robt. Brooke, of
Yoxford, Knt., was owner of Westhall Lodge; but the widow of John Brooke, Esq.,
his elder brother, held it for life. It was bought by Alderman Brooke, father of
Sir Robert, of the heir of Sir Owen Hopton, Knt. Jacon's Hall and Fitz John were
lately vested in George St. Vincent Wilson, Esq., of Redgrave Hall, in this
county.
The patronage of this church was formerly in the Prior and Convent of
Hulverstain, in Lincolnshire; of whom the Prior and Con-vent of Norwich
purchased the same; and it now belongs to the Dean and Chapter of that
Cathedral. Edward Hatton, A.M., rector of Brampton, and vicar of this parish,
held the second, or treasurer's Prebend, in the said Cathedral: installed
November 28, 1604. The south and west doors of Westhall church form good
specimens of the ornaments and moldings used during the period when the Norman
style of architecture prevailed.1
CHARITIES. In 1717, Ann the wife of the Rev. Gregory Clarke, desired by her
will, that £1 6s. a year should be paid,
after her husband's decease, by his heirs, executors, or assigns, to the vicar
of this parish; to be by him applied to the teaching poor children to read. Her
husband also bequeathed, in 1726, an annuity of £1
12s., for the same purpose. The two annuities are received, as a rent charge,
from an estate in Westhall, now the property of Mrs. Woodhall, and are paid to a
schoolmistress, for teaching five poor children, nominated by the vicar, to
read.
1. See Davy's etchings of the "Architectural
Antiquities of Suffolk.''
County
of Suffolk
Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page |
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