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Hidden East Anglia: Landscape Legends of Norfolk & Suffolk
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The ten noble knights
Planted around the churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul (TL705470) are ten tall elm trees, under which it is said ten noble knights are buried. When one of the trees fell many years ago, the skeleton of a man was found in its roots.
Source: Herbert W. Tompkins: 'Companion into Suffolk' (Methuen, 1949), p.12.
Once beside the road and traditionally used by pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St. Edmund at Bury, a 'holy well' can be found in the grounds of the rectory (TL709464). A road diversion in modern times put it into the grounds beyond the driveway. Once over 4½ feet deep, the spring with its rounded hood or cover of brick is said to have healing powers, and its supply has never been known to fail.
Dobbs' Grave
Where Kesgrave, Foxhall, Brightwell and Martlesham parishes meet is
Dobbs' Grave, now marked as Dobbs' Corner (TM238454). Dobbs' Lane leads to it from the main Ipswich road. According to legend, John Dobbs was a shepherd in 1750 who hanged himself in a barn on Kesgrave Hall Farm (later Grange Farm), and was buried at the
four crossways here with a stake through his heart. His grave was marked by concrete head
and footstones, with a cross cut on the former, and these are now surrounded by a decorative iron fence after several acts of vandalism.
Sources: Letter in 'The
East Anglian Magazine', Vol.2 (Oct.1936-Sept.1937), p.496. |
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