| Eye | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Eye Location withinSuffolk | |
| Population | 2,210 (2021)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TM144739 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | EYE |
| Postcode district | IP23 |
| Dialling code | 01379 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| 52°19′16″N1°08′49″E / 52.321°N 1.147°E /52.321; 1.147 | |
Eye (/ˈaɪ/) is amarket town and civil parish in theMid Suffolk district, in the north of theEnglish county ofSuffolk, about 4 miles (6 km) south ofDiss, 17.5 miles (28 km) north ofIpswich and 23 miles (37 km) south-west ofNorwich. The population in the 2011 census of 2,154 was estimated to be 2,361 in 2019 and updated to 2,210 following the2021 census.[2] It lies close to theRiver Waveney, which forms the border withNorfolk, and on theRiver Dove. Eye is twinned with the town ofPouzauges in theVendéedepartment of France.
The town of Eye derives its name from theOld English word for "island, land by water".[3] It is thought that the first settlement on the site was almost surrounded by water and marshland formed by the Dove and its tributaries. The area remains prone to flooding close to the river.[4]
There have beenPalaeolithic,Mesolithic,Neolithic andBronze Age finds in and around Eye, but the earliest evidence of settlement dates from theRoman period. It includes buildings and coins from about 365 CE.[5] A largeAnglo-Saxon cemetery with many urned cremations and some furnished inhumations, in use in the 6th century, was excavated near the Waterloo Plantation in 1818.[6]
In 1781 labourers unearthed a lead box by the river at Clint Farm in Eye, 3 miles (4.8 km) south ofScole and 2 miles (3.2 km) south–west ofHoxne. It contained some 600 Roman gold coins from the reigns ofValens andValentinian I (reigned 364–375),Gratian (375–383),Theodosius I (378–395),Arcadius (395–408) andHonorius (393–423).[5]
Eye before theNorman Conquest was one of numerous holdings of Edric of Laxfield, a wealthy, influential Saxon, who was the third largest landholder inSuffolk.[7] After the Norman Conquest, the town's regional importance was confirmed when theHonour of Eye was granted toWilliam Malet, a Norman lord.[8]
In 1066–1071, Malet built a castle as his military and administrative headquarters and started a market that initiated the urbanisation of Eye. In 1086–1087, William's sonRobert Malet, tenant-in-chief of the Honour of Eye in the hundred ofHartismere,[7] foundedEye Priory.[9]
Eye began to lose its strategic importance after 1173 when thecastle was attacked byHugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk during a rebellion againstHenry II, and later during theSecond Barons' War of 1265, after which it never regained its former status. Its prison continued in use up until the early 17th century, despite a programme of demolishing most of the castle buildings in the 14th century. Awindmill built in 1561–1562 stood on themotte until a circular mock keep was built there in 1844.[8]
Eye was once the smallest borough in the country, its claim based on the 1205Charter ofKing John. The charter was renewed in 1408, then byElizabeth I in 1558 and 1574, byJames I in 1604, and byWilliam III in 1697.[10] However, in 1885 thetown clerk ofHythe proved that the original charter belonged only toHythe in Kent, the error having arisen from the similarity of the early English names, the error was confirmed by archivists in the 1950s but borough status was not discontinued until 1974. In 1835 Eye became amunicipal borough which became part of the administrative county ofEast Suffolk in 1889, the district contained the parish of Eye.[11] On 1 April 1974 the district was abolished and became part of Mid Suffolk in thenon-metropolitan county of Suffolk.[12] Asuccessor parish was formed covering the same area as the former district and its parish.[13] Eye retained a Town Council, a Mayor and its insignia. From 1571 to 1832 Eye returned twoMembers of Parliament (MPs), then after theReform Act 1832, a single MP until 1983, when theEye Constituency became theSuffolk Central constituency.[14]
The notable Cornwallis family was established at nearby Brome Hall in the 14th century. Individuals from the family, such asCharles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, representedSuffolk county[clarification needed] in theHouse of Commons over the next three hundred years.[citation needed]
The Lordship of the Manor of Eye (Sokemere) and Constableship of the Castle is held by the Palmer family ofHaughley in Suffolk. The current Lord is Kieron Palmer of Haughley, succeeding his father Kenneth Palmer. The Manor was held by the Malet family in Norman times, Henry Earl of Brabant, the De Ufford, De la Pole, Cornwallis and Kerrison families as well as King Stephen, Edward I, Mary I and Thomas Beckett in previous years. Known as the Honour of Eye, it consisted of 129 manors and had the right to a court ofpie poudre at its Whit Monday market fairs and those of Thrandeston and Finningham.[15]
The earliest mention of industry in Eye records that in 1673 "the women's employ in this town is making of bonelace" and in 1830, "the humbler class of industrious females employ themselves in lace making." It would appear that Eye was at the centre of a localised lace-making industry for many years. In 1846 Eye Borough Council failed in its attempt to route the new London-Norwich railway line through Eye. The line, completed in 1849, went instead throughDiss, which was ensured growth in prosperity and population, while the importance of Eye waned.Eye railway station, at the end of a branch line fromMellis, closed to passengers in 1931 and to freight in 1964.[16]
Eye Airfield, to the north-east of the town, began asRAF Eye, occupied by the490th Bomb Group of theUSAAF's VIII Bomber Command during theSecond World War.[17]
Eye today has a population of just over 2000.[1]Hartismere School provides secondary education and St Peter and St Paul CE Primary School primary education. It has a health centre, a library, a police station and a retained fire station. A community hospital opened in 2012, after a previous one closed in 2005.[18]
The town's Guildhall is a Grade Ilisted building now converted into a private residence.[19]Eye Town Hall, an imaginative and unorthodox building dating from 1856 and listed Grade II*, was designed byEdward Buckton Lamb.[20]
The Grade 1 listed Church of St Peter and St Paul from the 14th century is seen as one of the finest in the county.[21][22]
A 13th-centuryEarly English doorway was retained from an earlier building. The 15th and again the 16th century brought new work and renovation. This included installing analtar tomb toWilliam Honnyng in the South or Lady Chapel and one to Nicholas Cutler to the north-west of the nave. The church was restored in 1868 by James Colling, a London architect. A notable added feature is a remarkable late 15th-centuryrood screen, with a loft and rood designed byNinian Comper in 1925.[21]
The tower of the church is 107 feet (33 metres) high to the tip of the pinnacles.[23]
In birth order:
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