Wortham church - a brief history
The church of St Mary the Virgin, which is built mainly in the Perpendicular style, stands adjacent to Hall Farm, a mile north of the A143. It is the only Grade I listed building in Wortham. At the time of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) there were two parishes in Wortham, Eastgate and Southmore (also called “Southmoor”); each with their own church and parsonage. In 1769 the two parishes combined under the Rector of Eastgate, and the Saxon church of Southmore fell into ruin and disappeared. Excavations by Basil Brown (excavator of Sutton Hoo) in the 1950’s, located the probable site of Southmore church on the Bury Road towards Diss.
Wortham Manor was the seat of the Betts family from 1480-1905 and their life in the village is described in the book "The Betts of Wortham in Suffolk 1480-1905" by Katharine Doughty, published in 1912. The Betts are commemorated in the church by floor slabs in the chancel and south aisle, the Betts window and a hatchment in the south aisle.
Richard Cobbold is the most well-known Rector of Wortham. He was born in 1797, the son of John Cobbold, a successful brewer in Ipswich. He was the Rector of Wortham from 1824 until his death in 1877. Cobbold wrote poetry and prose and in 1845 his first and most successful novel, The History of Margaret Catchpole, was published. Cobbold recorded many of the places and people in Wortham together with sketches of them and their homes. He wrote delightful notes about the villagers’ characters, their ailments and their circumstances. Cobbold's Wortham, a 150 page book containing over 100 colour reproductions of Cobbold's paintings of Wortham as well as transcriptions of his lively writing was published in 2019. Details are here: Cobbold's Wortham
For more detailed information about Richard Cobbold, see the Cobbold Family History Trust Website.
THE TITHE WAR
In the 1930’s the novelist, Doreen Wallace, who was the wife of the farmer Roland Rash at Wortham Manor, agitated against the high tithes tax that farmers had to pay to the church and in 1934 her husband refused to pay them. When bailiffs tried to remove livestock from his farm there was a large demonstration and a tractor was used to barricade the entrance to the manor. However the animals were eventually seized and this is recorded on a stone monument a quarter of a mile west of the church.
Wortham Manor was the seat of the Betts family from 1480-1905 and their life in the village is described in the book "The Betts of Wortham in Suffolk 1480-1905" by Katharine Doughty, published in 1912. The Betts are commemorated in the church by floor slabs in the chancel and south aisle, the Betts window and a hatchment in the south aisle.
Richard Cobbold is the most well-known Rector of Wortham. He was born in 1797, the son of John Cobbold, a successful brewer in Ipswich. He was the Rector of Wortham from 1824 until his death in 1877. Cobbold wrote poetry and prose and in 1845 his first and most successful novel, The History of Margaret Catchpole, was published. Cobbold recorded many of the places and people in Wortham together with sketches of them and their homes. He wrote delightful notes about the villagers’ characters, their ailments and their circumstances. Cobbold's Wortham, a 150 page book containing over 100 colour reproductions of Cobbold's paintings of Wortham as well as transcriptions of his lively writing was published in 2019. Details are here: Cobbold's Wortham
For more detailed information about Richard Cobbold, see the Cobbold Family History Trust Website.
THE TITHE WAR
In the 1930’s the novelist, Doreen Wallace, who was the wife of the farmer Roland Rash at Wortham Manor, agitated against the high tithes tax that farmers had to pay to the church and in 1934 her husband refused to pay them. When bailiffs tried to remove livestock from his farm there was a large demonstration and a tractor was used to barricade the entrance to the manor. However the animals were eventually seized and this is recorded on a stone monument a quarter of a mile west of the church.