Below is a map of the Hoxne Heritage Walk.
Click on the numbers on the map, or the Information Board headings in the directions below, to see the Information Boards.
Introduction
Welcome to the historic village of Hoxne.
Numbered history information boards [1-8] around the village will tell you about the main places of interest.
Car parking areas and village facilities are located on the map above.
The main walk route is indicated in red on the map and an extension to this is in yellow.
There are a number of alternative footpaths and walks around the village.
Please abide by the country code, keep dogs on leads and dispose of litter carefully.
Enjoy your walk!
Directions
Start your walk at St. Edmund's Hall car park. There is a picnic bench, village notice board and recycling point.Here you will find:
Information Board 1 - The Village Hall
andInformation Board 2 -The Interglacial Lake
Leaving the hall turn left and cross Goldbrook Bridge. This is reputedly the scene of Edmund's capture after a marriage party reported spotting the glint of his golden spurs reflected in the water under the bridge. It is said that the King put a curse on newlyweds crossing the bridge and it is still a village custom for a bride and groom not to cross the bridge on their wedding day.
Turn right at the junction towards Low Street, crossing a second bridge [Swan Bridge]. The Swan serves local beers and home cooked food. The gardens are very pleasant, with tables overlooking the river. Various styles of architecture arc evident at the rear of this historic building.
Opposite The Swan is the old butcher's shop with its painted glass panels of a bull and ram.
Nearby is the old bakery and Village Post Office, which sells local produce, refreshments, local guides, books and village postcards. Look towards the village green, with its covered seat.
Information Board 3 - The Village Green
The village green, which was formerly the site of a weekly market, forms an inverted triangle with its base running in front of the church located uphill from here. The houses, cottages and shops are of various dates and styles.
Climb Church Hill, past the old infant school building, erected in Circa 1760 as an endowed School. The Victorian almshouses can be seen as you emerge onto Green Street at the top, near to the church.
Information Board 4 - The Church
Board 4 is in the Lych Gate of the church.
The church of St. Peter and St. Paul dates from the 14th century and its lofty tower, rising to 27m [90 feet], has commanding views across the valley of the River Waveney. Inside are memorials to the Kerrison. Thurston, Bateman, Bridge, Walker and Maynard families, in brass, wood, stone and glass. There are also memorials to soldiers of the village killed in the two World Wars and to Captain Burgoyne V.C. of H.M.S. Captain.
In the Lady Chapel is a carved screen depicting the martyrdom of St. Edmund and a bench end showing the discovery of the King's severed head protected by a wolf.
The painted murals above the nave arcade are worthy of inspection as is the marble memorial to Thomas Maynard by Charles Stanley. A church guide, leaflets and postcards are for sale by the font. In the churchyard, a variety of plants and wildlife can be seen including a Cedar of Lebanon tree and muntjac deer. The timber-framed Vicarage stands nearby within private grounds, planted with specimen trees, including a Mulberry and Sequoia.
Information Board 5 will be found in the church together with a full set of Heritage Walk Boards and map.
Information Board 5 - The Hoxne Hoard
The Hoxne Hoard is on display in the British Museum in London.
Leave the churchyard and turn left to walk along the road until you reach the start of Mill lane on your left hand side. Follow this downhill for two minutes and then bear right at the fork in the lane. Continue to the watermill, which is privately owned. Turn right before the watermill past Low Farm and along the footpath to the junction of Green Street, near to Dairy Farm. Please watch out for traffic at this point of the walk. Cross the road here to Wittons Lane.
Continue along Wittons Lane, turning right into the Brakey Wood carpark.
Alternatively, you can walk along Wittons Lane to Tudor Close and Information Board 7. This route is coloured in yellow. See below for directions.
Information Board 6 - Brakey Wood
This 15 acre millennium wood is planted with, Oak, Ash, Willow, Alder, Hazel, Hornbeam, Lime, Field Maple, Hawthorn, Blackthorn and the rarer Black Poplar and Sequoia.
Take the left hand path and walk through the wood, passing the Hoxne Man sculpture. Turn left as you approach the stream-side path and continue to the gate by the water treatment works. Head uphill and then turn right to cross a ditch and follow the footpath to Downbridge Farm. Take care along this path, which has a number of rabbit-holes! At Downbridge Farm take the track on your left, heading uphill to join the road [Oak Hill]. At this junction, if you look to your left you will see Information Board 8 by some steps at the field edge.
Alternative Route
Information Board 7 - Heckfield Green
Tudor Close is so named because of the discovery in 2009 of 11 silver coins dating from the Tudor period. Heckfield Green was an area used in processing flax for linen.
The old wheelwright's house can be seen in Cross Street along with the old smithy and Baptist Chapel. The village school can he found at Heckfield Green, near to Clink Hill, which leads to South Green. The village playing field can be found across Clink Hill from the school and has a children's play area.
Abbey Farm stands on the site of the Priory Cell and Chapel of St. Edmund, the first patron saint of England. Now a brick and timber framed farmhouse, it was once the home of the Gresham and Thurston families.
Walk down Oak Hill towards the Monument field and St. Edmund's Cross.
End of Alternative Route
Information Board 8 - St Edmund's Cross
This marks the former site of an ancient oak tree, to which King Edmund was reputedly tied and shot with arrows in 869 AD.
Follow the road downhill and back to your starting point at the Village Hall car park.
Additional Information.
The old brickworks is of great archaeological interest and was the site of the Hoxnian Interglacial Lake. John Frere was the first person to identify the flint tools found here and to realise that they had been made by early man. The Interglacial Lake site has been excavated by renowned archaeologist John Wymer and Chicago University. Ipswich Museum. Norwich Castle Museum and the British Museum have flint tools from the Hoxne site.
The clay found at the brickworks site was used to make the mellow red bricks to be found in the decorative walls and houses of the village.
Details about the Hoxne Hoard can be found at the parish church along with a history display relating to the village and St Edmund, Other information relates to Hugh Burgoyne VC of the ill-fated HMS Captain and the Wake-Walker family of The Depperhaugh.
A number of books about the village, St Edmund and the Hoxne Hoard can be purchased locally. The nearest libraries are at Stradbroke, Eye and Diss, which also has a tourist information centre.
Written and illustrated for Hoxne Parish Council by Stephen Govier [Copyright] in 2010.
Funded by Hoxne Parish Council and Mid Suffolk District Council.