THE OLD VICARAGE

THE OLD VICARAGE 
BY 
STEVE WILLIAMS

An aerial view looking north showing the various roof lines of the Old Vicarage

Parts of the building that now houses the Town’s Council Offices, Registration Office, Citizens’ Advice Bureau and Thorntree Day Centre etc. probably stand in the
‘footprint’ of an earlier 13th century building. The room with the comfortable chairs used by the public who meet at the Thorntree Day Centre to receive meals during the week are sitting in what was probably the original site of the first ‘hall-house’, originally built during the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) (see diagram ‘Phase One’).                                                                                                                                          Evidence for the crown post roof

The later cross-wing (this may not have been jettied as shown) was added during the reigns of Edward III (1327-1377) or Richard II (1377-1399). The architectural evidence for this last statement can be seen in the gable end of a part of the building used by the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. The only visible part of the original timber framing is a ‘T’ shaped joint in the roof space. This signifies that the part of the building once had a ‘crown-post roof’, a common feature of 14th century buildings, especially in East Anglia. Normally any extensions or cross-wings had some symmetry but for some reason, when it was decided the living space was getting too cramped, instead of adding a wing to the opposite end of the hall to balance the house, an over-lapping extension was added to the first cross-wing. This was a quite narrow two-bay addition which again had a crown-post roof. However, when a 16th century (marked yellow on plan) gable-end extension was added at the back of the last section (marked green on plan) on the ground floor where the original back wall had been, the timbers were removed, a new principal ceiling timber was inserted, which eliminated the mortises for the back wall studs this enlarged the room to almost double the size. A new inner wall was inserted and this created a narrow passage behind that. This had all occurred by the reign of Henry VIII (1509 - 1547) or his son Edward VI (1547 - 1553). The oldest section is now occupied by the C.A.B. offices and was up until recent years still known as Oak Cottage. The original cottage, which is aligned on an S.S.E to N.N.W axis, would have been a modest rural building surrounded by a small amount of arable land that stretched down to the river to the east, the church land to the north, properties being built on the developing Ipswich Street as the town began expanding along its main thoroughfare to the west and mostly open countryside to the south. It is not known exactly when it became the town’s vicarage, but its proximity to the church and the ease of access from one to the other made it very suitable.

It is recognised that the building was well established by the time that it became the residence of Dr. Thomas, who became vicar of Stowmarket in 1628. Many accounts have been written about Young’s association with John Milton, having taught the young poet in London and Cambridge and was visited at the vicarage by him during his occupancy. Young wrote ‘Dies Dominca’, which is about the sanctity of the Sabbath, (probably at Stowmarket) after his return from self-imposed exile in Hamburg, Germany. It is interesting to note that during this period leading up to the English Civil War, Young’s religious convictions caused to him to go readily onto the side of the Presbyterians. Young was listed as one of the Divines at Westminster in 1643 along with Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Matthew Newcomen and William Spurston who jointly wrote ‘Smectmnuus’ which according to Hollingsworth's "History Of Stowmarket" (page 189) ‘did much mischief to the Royal cause’. and was in reply to Bishop Hall’s outraged response to Young’s original Dies Dominca. Thomas Young died in 1655 and a memorial stone lies inside Stowmarket Parish Church close to steps from the nave to the altar. 

In an old Church Terrier dated 4th May 1706, held by the Suffolk Records Office at Ipswich, the Vicarage is described as containing:- “one hall, one parlour, one kitchen, one bakehouse with butler’s pantries and chambers and an outhouse, all in good repair. Four acres of meadow land and three acres of arable land lie between the vicarage house and church lands towards the west and lands of William Garrard towards the north upon the river toward the north in part. One head abuts upon the lands now the barons and the lands of William Colchester towards the east and upon the lands of Ed. Clough and Mark Wright towards the south, which lands are now in the occupation of William Langham and widow Reed. There is also a rent of £12:2s:0d paid to said vicar out of a house called and known by the name of the White Lion in Stowmarket. Samuel Farr vicar”. (Samuel Farr was vicar from 1687 - 1710).

Another Terrier dated 1727 lists Henry Johnson as incumbent and describes the vicarage as having its own brewhouse as well as stable, woodhouse with yards gardens all in good repair. (Henry Johnson was vicar from 1723 - 1743)

There were nine vicars of varying talents and proficiency followed through the intervening years from Thomas Young and nothing much seems to have happened in the evolution of the building during this time until Reverend Arthur George Harpur Hollingsworth become incumbent in 1837. Soon after taking office he must have began setting out plans for enlarging the building. An extension was first built northwards towards the church which appears to be a single-storey construction with a gabled roof as appears in Hollingsworth’s "History of Stowmarket" (facing page 186) (written 1844). This is now one of the rooms used by the Thorntree Day Centre. Hollingsworth then built another single storey extension towards the south. This part was built as a ballroom and designed for functions and social gatherings and had large ornate windows at one end (now the Council Chamber and used for Register Office marriages). He also had two houses in Ipswich Street knocked down so that his horse and carriage, as well as visiting dignitaries, could sweep down the subsequent drive to the front door. This in later years became known as Milton Road. A tithe map dated 1837 shows the original access had been from the passage between the Royal Oak public house and the building currently occupied by the Blockbuster Video store.

In 1844 the railway was extended from Ipswich through to Stowmarket and in the following years much industrialisation followed along the Gipping valley. By the time of Hollingsworth’s death in 1859, the vista from the vicarage grounds was drastically changed as factories and maltings sprang up, including the guncotton works and also an artificial manure works. There was also improvement to the town’s sanitary arrangements with the building of the sewage works, but the disagreeable sites and smells became intolerable for Rev. Henry Lewis (vicar form 1861 -1876) who decided enough was enough and so after at least three hundred years as the vicarage, it passed into being The Old Vicarage as Rev. Lewis moved to what is now Wellington House (ex Hillcroft School, formerly Childer House & Pawsey Hall).

The building was subsequently divided into three properties and when houses had to be numbered by an act passed in 1908, they became numbers one, three and five Milton Road. Numbers one and three were still known as the Old Vicarage but number five became known as Oak Cottage.

In the early 1900’s 1, Milton Road was occupied by Mr. Napier Prentice who was responsible for the introduction of electricity to the town. In 1913, Mr. Prentice had a gas-powered generator installed at a generating station that was on the site of the Library in Milton Road and area towards where Fox Mews now stand. The earliest known recipients of this new-fangled power source were Turner & Co in the Market Place (now Woolworth’s) and nearby Mr. Bishop’s butchery shop, so it would be reasonable to assume that Mr. Prentice would also make use of this new facility at his home, which would make it the first private house in the town to have electric light. At about this time much of the glebe lands (vicarage grounds) were parcelled up for sale for new houses and light industry. The town’s Library stands on the site of the old Eastern Electricity garage which prior to that had been the site of the generating station, but had originally been part of the vicarage grounds. The buildings that stand on the banks of the river awaiting demolition to make way for a new road to link up with the new Cedars Park development were also built at this time (see attached plan). A leather works that stood on the site now occupied by the Bosch Group Lawnmowers office also was on part of the vicarage grounds.

In the early 1970’s it was being proposed to build an inner-relief road to deal with the growing traffic problems in the town. Part of the plans included demolishing the Old Vicarage for the purpose of making way for a multi-storey car park which would be adjacent to the new road. This proposal caused a few people to get together and raise every conceivable objection to stop the destruction of another of Stowmarket’s historic buildings. (The previous decade had already seen the loss of several fine ancient buildings such as the King’s Head and Turner’s shop in Ipswich Street.) This act proved to be successful and The Old Vicarage was given a new lease of life. However, these conscientious few continued and became the Stowmarket Society which continues to monitor all planning proposals on our behalf and raise objections to those they consider to be not in the town’s best interest.

It was following this period of uncertainty in the early 1970’s concerning the building’s future that it was acquired by Stowmarket Town Council and the Register Office. These had both previously been situated at Red Gables in Ipswich Road. The Victorian rooms of the Old Vicarage were converted into office spaces for these new purposes and Oak Cottage became home to the Citizens Advice Bureau. The Thorntree Day Centre occupied the extension facing toward the church and provides meals for elderly and needy people of the town on many week-days. Stowmarket Art Club also uses two of the rooms for their weekly Tuesday evening meetings from September through to May. The Talking Book Library, a service which provides news and book readings for the blind and partially sighted people of the town, is also housed in one of the first floor rooms.

In the mid 1990’s a new office section was built on the site of the old stables and out-buildings and the Town Council and Registrars moved their offices to the new section. The grounds around the building are mostly laid to grass and gardens and provide an ideal backdrop for wedding photographs for newly married couples emerging from Hollingsworth’s old ballroom and many people still pose beneath the branches of the descendant of Milton’s original mulberry tree.

For the moment at least its future looks secure as we step into the new millennium. May many more interesting people enjoy the historic surroundings and many more noteworthy events take place beneath its jumble of roofs.

Postscript: There are supposed to be two ghosts who haunt the building, the first of The Reverend Mr. John Chauvet who hung himself here in 1756 and the second of one of the groundsmen or outdoor workers who also committed suicide in the grounds.

The Vicarage in Hollingsworth's time.

Sources:
Hollingsworth’s ‘History of Stowmarket’ (first printed 1844). 
Maps and papers donated by Tony Prentice.
Harry Double’s ‘A Book of Records’ (first printed 1983).
The Finborough Review (an Eastern Electricity internal magazine).
References from material compiled by R. W. L. Prentice on Young and Milton. Additional information by Leigh Alston, Architectural Historian (February 2007)

Steve Williams
2006

STOWMARKET HISTORY AND HERITAGE
2007
email neil@stowman.plus.com