Ellough

Ellough

All Saints Church, Ellough
Ellough
Ellough shown within Suffolk
Population 40 (2005 estimate)
OS grid reference TM443871
Civil parish
  • Ellough
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Beccles
Postcode district NR34 7
Dialling code 01502
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament

Ellough is a village and civil parish in the Waveney district, in the English county of Suffolk, located approximately 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Beccles. The area is sparsely populated with a mid-2005 population estimate of 40.[1] Neighbouring villages include North Cove, Weston, Sotterley and Henstead. The parish council operates to administer jointly the parishes of Shadingfield, Willingham St Mary, Sotterley and Ellough.[2]

The village was the site of a Second World War airfield built in 1943 and operated today as Beccles Airport. Part of the former airfield is used as a kart racetrack and as an industrial estate, including the main production site of local printing firm William Clowes Ltd. The village itself is dispersed and has few services.

History

At the time of the Domesday survey, Ellough, known then as Elga, was a small settlement of 4 or 5 households.[3][4] It formed part of the lands of Roger Bigot and was held by Robert of Vaux, having been confiscated from Ralph Guader, former Earl of Norfolk, following a failed rebellion.[4][5] It is recorded as El'gh prior to 1400 and as Ellowe on a map of 1610.[5][6]

The manor passed through a number of owners, including the Playters of Sotterley, before being owned by the Earl of Gosford in the 1840s.[5][7] The church held some of the glebe land of St Mary's church in Willingham.[5] The population of the parish was 155 in 1848,[7] falling to 125 in 1871, at which time the parish was worth £1,687 and consisted of 1,097 acres of land.[8] The population declined dramatically following the second world war and now stands at less than 50.[9][10]

All Saints Church

Ellough church is dedicated to All Saints and stands in an exposed position on a ridge overlooking the parish.[8][11] It is medieval in origin, was heavily restored in the late 19th century, and is now a Grade I listed building.[12] It stands to the south of the valley of the Hundred River which has its mouth at Kessingland.

RAF Beccles

Ellough Airfield was completed in 1943 and served as a RAF Bomber Command and RAF Coastal Command airfield during the Second World War as RAF Beccles.[13] The airfield was decommissioned after the war and the land is now used as an industrial estate, a farmers market[14] and for Ellough Park Raceway, a kart racing circuit. William Clowes Ltd. printers moved to the industrial park in 2004[15] and the park has the UK's largest solar roof installation sited on the roof of a Promens warehouse and with a generating capacity of 1.65MW.[16] For a time a heliport operated to service oil and gas rigs in the North Sea.[13]

A basic airstrip, known as Beccles Airport, remains at the site, used as a training base and private airfield.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk Archived 19 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine., Suffolk County Council, 2007-05-01. Retrieved 2009-04-19
  2. ↑ Shadingfield, Sotterley, Willingham and Ellough Parish Council Website Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine., 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  3. ↑ Ellough, Domesday Map. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  4. 1 2 Ellough, Domesday Book online. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Suckling. A. (1846) 'Ellough, or Willingham All Saints', The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: volume 1, pp. 53–57 (available online). Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  6. ↑ Ellough, The Suffolk Real Ale Guide, Suffolk CAMRA. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  7. 1 2 Lewis.S (ed) (1848) 'Ellough, or Willingham (All Saints)', A Topographical Dictionary of England, pp. 158–161 (available online). Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  8. 1 2 Wilson.J.M (1872) 'Ellough', Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, quoted at Ellough, Suffolk, Vision of Britain. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  9. ↑ Ellough AP/CP: Historical statistics – population, Vision of Britain. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  10. ↑ A profile of Waveney, Waveney District Council, February 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  11. ↑ The Suffolk Churches site. Retrieved 2009-04-19
  12. ↑ Church of All Saints, Ellough, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  13. 1 2 Shaw.F History of Beccles (Ellough) Airfield Archived 29 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Rainair website. Retrieved 2009-04-19
  14. ↑ Beccles Farmers Market. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  15. ↑ Staff call for safe route to work, BBC news website, 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  16. ↑ The UK’s largest solar roof installation launched at Promens in Beccles, Eastern Daily Press, 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
  17. ↑ Rainair website. Retrieved 2009-04-19

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