Welcome to Elmswell History Group
Welcome to our website – please make yourself at home and enjoy exploring our many pages.
Our village has plenty of history, the earliest part of which is described in our publication “Marker for the Millennium” (click onto this link to see it in full).
Our history group exists to make this information known more widely and also, with our monthly talks, to learn more about East Anglia’s history in general.
We hope you will consider coming to a meeting, as we are a very friendly group, and always offer a warm welcome to visitors and new members.
Our current programme of talks and events is shown below.
We would love to hear from you, whether you are interested in local history generally (particularly if you are a current or former Elmswell resident and/or have any connections to our village), helping us with our researches, thinking of joining our group, or have comments or suggestions about this website.
Please click this link to contact us.
2025-26 Programme
Unless otherwise stated, our meetings begin at 7.30pm and held at the Wesley Hall, School Road, Elmswell, IP30 9EE – where there is ample free on-site car parking.
11 September 2025:
£12 Annual Subs due for payment, plus £4 per attendance = £16 at first attendance to become a Member (or Visitors are always welcome at £6 per attendance).
Speaker Zoe Adlam, “Fool’s Gold – Should the Law of Treasure be Changed to Improve Protection of Portable Antiquities?“
9 October: Anne Hughes & Carol Cooper, “Mildenhall’s 1934 Air Race” – This impressive Centenary Air Race started at RAF Mildenhall and had 60,000(!) spectators descend on the town. Spanning about 11,300 miles, the event finished in Melbourne, Australia, and the talk will include many images of lovely vintage airplanes with their crews, and copies of the Museum’s book, Memories of the Great Air Race, on sale.
13 November: Barbara McElroy, “Suffolk Smugglers”
11 December: Bryan Thurlow, “Borley Rectory, England’s Most Haunted House”
8 January 2026: Members’ Evening – three short talks, being a selection of members’ own researches.
12 February: Bill Blackaby, “Where’s Wyverstone?”
12 March: Roy Clare, “Suffolk Connections with Charles Darwin’s Voyage on the Beagle”
9 April: Mark Lawrence, “Hadleigh Guildhall”
14 May: Helen Everett of Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company, “Project to Reconstruct a Replica Anglo-Saxon Longboat“
11 June: 7pm, AGM, then at 7.30pm, Terry O’Donoghue’s talk, “History of West Suffolk Hospital“.
SATURDAY, 11 July: 2-4.30pm – Steve Bolton: Talk & Exhibition on “History of English Women’s Football since WW1“
Latest Updates
- Elmswell Aerodrome in the First World War
- RAF Elmswell Digging For The Past
- CA Ridley – The Cost Of Bravery
- Officers Of 75(HD) Squadron RFC /RAF 1916 – 1919
- Personnel Of 75 (HD) Squadron RFC & RAF 1916-1919
World War 1 Book For Sale
Read the Synopsis here