Alphabetical Index of Elmswell Streets
| Ashfield Road – formerly Green Road – Gordon Goymer’s recollections |
| Basin Pond – in the hollow to the left along Warren Lane |
| Bunkers Hill (Hole, Vale, Bunkus Hill) – the old Norton Road drops away to the right below St John’s and up again to Bunkers Hill Farm; named after a battle in the American War of IndependenceChurch |
| Botany Bay (derived from Buttenhaugh?) – Grove Lane? |
| Buttenhaugh Green – see page 25 of Marker; in the 1901 census refers to Ashfield Road |
| Church Meadow – behind the Old Rectory, where fêtes etc used to be held; the football club played here at one time |
| Church Road |
| Claymeadow Drive – see Playmeadow below |
| Cooks Road – G Goymer; no.588 on the Tithe Map is ‘Parsonage (i.e. Grange) to Cock Street’. |
| Cross Street – G Goymer – not called this in 1930 land sale here |
| Farm Meadow – where the fire station now is, with a pond |
| Gardens Road (on the Tithe Map) – Hawk End Lane |
| Green Road – see Ashfield Road |
| Grove Lane |
| Hawk End Lane (sometimes called “the Hawk”, and the 1871 census has it as ‘Hall End’) – George Russell’s memories; Goymer |
| Hundred Lane – the continuation of Grove Lane round to the east of East Wood |
| Jubilee Ave/Terrace – J Ave. is the dead-end part off J Terrace. mid-1930s, 25years of George V? – Gordon Goymer’s recollections |
| Kings Lane – little more than a path, where Cresmeadow now is; kids went this way to the wartime dump on Warren Lane |
| Kirkwood’s Meadow – off School Road to the west (round the bend)(here?), north of the almshouses; since then the terrain has been adjusted to enable tractors to be used on that field (David Hawes)ref.1 |
| Lawton Lane (1901 census) – off Ashfield Road? |
| Low Meadow or Mann’s Meadow – east side of Cooks Road, up to the bend; same as Scouts Meadow |
| Mulleys Corner – the junction of Cooks Road, New Road and The Street (Mulleys the builders occupied The Willows until 1947) |
| Newsons Corner – the junction of New Road and Church Road (Newson the coal merchant used to live in The Cottage on the corner) |
| New Road – G Goymer |
| Norton Road – see Bunkers Hill |
| Oak Lane |
| Penny Lane, a.k.a. Parnell Lane – George Russell’s memories; article by Maureen Dow at the bottom of this page |
| Pightle Close – Built in the 1960s |
| Playmeadow Drive – a cart track between Nos. 8 and 9 Wetherden Road, through to what was open SCC land behind the houses |
| Pye’s Meadow – much used for social events, this was accessed from the footpath which runs from beside No.1 Victoria Terrace parallel to the railway, via a gate on the left. Beyond it was Pye’s Orchard, and then a field behind the Lion (Gordon Goymer).ref.1, ref.2 |
| Rices Road (on the Tithe Map) – the road to Eastwood Farm |
| Rose Lane – George Russell’s memories |
| School Avenue, off School Road almost opposite where the school used to be, built in 1947. |
| School Road – Gordon Goymer’s recollections; the village school used to be where “Old School Court” now is. |
| Scouts’ Meadow – ref.1, ref.2 – see Low Meadow |
| Shop Corner – as you might guess, where the Co-op is. |
| Spong Lane – see Tithe Map no.590 Spong Drift and no.43 Spong (nursery) |
| Station Road |
| Stebbings Road (1861 census) – apparently off Ashfield Road |
| Tavern Row – now known as Chapel Row, opposite the Methodist Chapel in School Road |
| Stony Hill – the sloping fields behind Prescott Close and Mill Gardens |
| Street, The – now only from Mulleys Corner to Shop Corner, but before the railway was built it would have gone as far as Street Farm. |
| Top Road – the old A45 by-passing Wetherden and Elmswell to the south |
| Walloaks Road (on the Tithe Map) – Oak Lane |
| Warren Lane |
| Wetherden Road – Gordon Goymer’s recollections |
| White City – part of Wetherden Road; according to Gordon Goymer, “White City was built for people coming back from WW1.” |
| Woolpit Road – former name of School Road |
| A few modern side-streets |
| Bakers Mill – named after the firm of R Baker & Son |
| Blacksmiths Way – Nathan Warren was a blacksmith here on Ashfield Road in the 19th c. |
| Borley Close – named after Frederick Borley, who lived for many years at the Police House in Ashfield Road and was a well-respected and well-known village resident |
| Bennett Avenue – named after Ernie Bennett |
| Crabtree Meadow – see Tithe Map no.214, ‘Crabtree Meadow’ |
| Cresmedow Way – there was a road of this name here hundreds of years ago – see page 19 of Marker |
| Little Green – see page 23 of Marker |
| Loch Rannoch Close – named after the firm Rannochs which once occupied the site |
| Lyle Close, up Ashfield Road opposite the end of Grove Lane, was where at one time Tate & Lyle had a depot. |
| Maltings Field – name of fields 189 and 190 alongside New Road on the Tithe Map |
| Miller Close – named after Jon and Bert Miller |
| Oxer Close – Oxer’s Pightle (1814 map), Oxers Field (1841 map) was out along School Road near Penny Lane, No.494 on the Tithe Map , and School Road itself is referred to as Oxers Field Road; a Henry Oxer was buried on 6th June 1744. |
| Pye’s Meadow – see below left |
| Ropers Garden |
| Rowan Green – see Tithe Map no.218, ‘Rowan Meadow’ |
| Whatley Close, off Cooks Road: on the site of the W W Hawes printing works; Eileen Whately lived on the other side of Cooks Road for about 50 years to 2004 when this close was built |
| William Armstrong Close – named after Bill Armstrong, who lived in The Willows, New Road for 37 years, and was very active in local affairs |
| Wyatt Close – named after Oswald Wyatt, who was a council sanitary inspector from before 1933 until 1967 |
| Some house names of historical significance |
| Coronation Bungalows, in Jubilee Terrace (w. side), 1952 |
| Victoria Terrace, opposite the Fox |
| Pound Cottage, behind the Fox: the pound was where stray animals from the Common were kept until claimed |
| Oliver House, in The Street, was named after Oliver C. Jewers who founded O.C.Jewers Ltd, Corn and Coal Merchants. |
The following article by Maureen Dow appeared in the Newsletter of February 1997
Parnell Lane
Last month George Russell conjured the image of a lost age – a time when Parnell Lane was a green and tranquil idyll.
If we trace the history of the lane further back to its origins in the Middle Ages we see yet another picture. In those days it was the link road between an important ecclesiastical manor house and the Abbey at Bury which, in those days was second in importance only to Canterbury.
At this time Elmswell Hall farm was a grand abbatial palace, a country seat for the Lord Abbot of St Edmunds Monastery. When he and his court were to reside in Elmswell his steward went ahead; ‘…8 horses and 13 men and received fodder for the horses, wine, ale and waxen candles and meat for his hounds and falcons.” The Abbot would follow on with more attendants, all passing along Parnell Lane.
When King Henry VI, at the age of 12, visited St Edmunds Abbey in 1433-34 he arrived on Christmas Eve with a retinue which extended for a mile. It is unlikely that so many would have been in attendance when the young King, as recorded on our village sign, rode along Parnell Lane to Elmswell Hall on 23rd, January 1434.
Having established the origin and the purpose of Parnell Lane we turn to the name – why ‘Parnell’? Parnell, in this case, probably derives from St. Petronilla. There may have been a wayside shrine dedicated to the Saint at some point along the Lane, inspired by the 12th Century hospital for ‘leprous maidens’ (later a hospital for the poor) dedicated to St Petronilla or St. Parnell and standing outside Bury’s South Gate. This would have been the route by which the Abbot would have left Bury for Elmswell – near to where the Wyevale garden centre now stands. A further point of local interest is that, next door to St. Parnell’s stood the hospital of St. John the Evangelist, founded in 1256 by Abbot Edmund; ‘for the refreshment of seven poor men, with provision for those who fell sick while receiving charity.’
A short section of the ancient way still remains as footpath 14, but successive diversions to modern field boundaries have removed much of the chance to walk in the footsteps of History.
| Maureen Dow (Recorder of Local History for Elmswell) |
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