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From our entries in the Domesday book...... Through: The Suffolk Traveller 1761.... Kelly’s 1875 Post Office Directory.... The Suffolk Village Year Book 1991..... To: Land of Ranulf Peverel Ketel, a thane of King Edward's, held Onehouse for 11/2 carucates and 20 acres, with the jurisdiction. Always 8 smallholders: 4 slaves. Then and later 3 ploughs in lordship, now 2; always I men's plough. Meadow 12 acres; woodland at 6 pigs. I cob, 6 cattle; then 16 pigs, now 30; then 40 sheep, now 87; 22 goats. A church with 3 acres of free land. Value then and later 40s; now 50[s]. It has 5 furlongs in length and 3 in width; 6-1/2d in tax. 26 acres in Onehouse belonged there before 1066: Now Osbert Male holds (them) in the lands of the Church of Stow(market); he held (them) before Ranulf had the manor of Onehouse. Land of Humphey, Son of Aubrey (Part) of an exchange in Normandy: in Onehouse 10 free men under the patronage only of Ketel; 80 acres of land. I smallholder Then 2 ploughs, later and now I. Meadow 3 acres. The King and Earl (have) the jurisdiction. Land of St Edmund’s In ONEHOUSE I free man of St Edmund's; 1/2 carucate of land. 3 smallholders. Always I plough. Meadow 4 acres. Value always 20s. Before 1066 full jurisdiction and patronage over them all belonged to St Edmund's, by King Edward's gift, as the writs and seal which the Abbot has show. Later King William granted 1; but the King's reeve has 4s from one of them, for suit, be it justly or unjustly, without the knowledge of the Abbot or his officers; the Hundred testifies that it did not know that St Edmund's had later been dispossessed after King Edward gave it. Land of Robert, Count of Mortain, in Suffolk Wihtmer held ONEHOUSE under King Edward, for I carucate of land. Then 3 smallholders, later and now 6; then and later 2 slaves, now 1 . Always I plough in lordship. Meadow 4 acres. 2 freemen with 3 acres of land, but they could sell without permission. In the same [Oneohuse] I freeman; 9 acres. Nigel [held] it under Count Robert, but Frodo was formerly in possession, and request a deliverer; but the Hundred does not know. Value of the whole, always 20s; it was in the King's jurisdiction. After (Count) Brian had it, it paid its customary due in the Hundred. Extract from ‘The Suffolk Traveller’ John Kirby 1764
‘Onehouse, probably belonged formerly to the Weylands] it was certainly the Estate of Bartholomew Burghersh, for he died seised of it 43 Edward III.’
EXTRACT FROM KELLY’S 1875 POST OFFICE DIRECTORY OF SUFFOLK ONEHOUSE is a parish of scattered houses, 2 miles west from Stowmarket station, in the Western division of the county, Stow hundred, union and county court district, rural deanery of Stow, Suffolk archdeaconry, and Norwich diocese. The church of St John is a small plain building of flint and brick: it consists of chancel, nave and circular tower in which is two bells: the chancel windows are stained: there is an ancient stone font. The register dates from the year 1552. The living is as rectory, yearly value two hundred pounds, with 34!4 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Robert John Pettiward, esq., and held by the Rev. Thomas Massingberd Pyke, M.A., of Corpus Christie College, Cambridge. There is a small village school. Stowmarket Union Workhouse is in this parish: it is a commodious building of red brick, occupying an elevated position between this village and Stowmarket. The principal land owners are Robert John Pettiward, esq., of Finborough Hall, who is lord of the manor, and the trustees of the late Capt. John Garnham. The soil is of the mixed kind, clay and loam; subsoil, heavy. The chief cops are wheat, barley and pasture. The area is 808 acres; rateable value £1,471; and the population in 1871 was 336, including the inmates of the Union. Parish Clerk, Henry Welham Pyke Rev. Thomas Massingberd, M.A. Rectory Letters through Stowmarket, the nearest money order office, School, Mrs Holland, mistress. Extracts from ‘The Suffolk Village Year Book’ 1991 The villages of Onehouse and Harleston lie to the west of Stowmarket. Over 100 years ago the benefices of Onehouse and Harleston were united, with any social events taking place in the church room at Onehouse. The school was closed and purchased as a community centre. The two villages are served by one public house, the Shepherd and Dog.
One of the most distinctive buildings on the eastern border of Onehouse is Stow Lodge, originally the workhouse, plans for which were drawn up and approved in 1779. It was erected in 1781 for the 14 parishes of the Stow Hundred. The cost was more than £12,000 and described in 1810 as having 'more the appearance of a gentleman's seat than a receptacle for paupers'. The external appearance is basically as it was then. The inmates had a humble Christian burial in shallow graves in the grounds now known as the 'Paupers Graveyard'. It is reputed that in 1578 Elizabeth I visited Onehouse Hall, the home of Master James Rivett, a successful landowner. Through the village there is a grove of lime trees said to have been planted in her honour. On the death of Charles Pettiward in 1936 the estate, which covered six villages and most of Onehouse and Harleston, was sold in separate lots. The first rector of Onehouse is recorded in 1312 but the origins of the church of St John the Baptist predate the Norman Conquest. The round tower of Anglo-Saxon origin - a rare sight in Suffolk - is original and may have been used as a watch tower. The nave is also original and the two bells are dated 1604. In 1673 the church served the old Saxon Hall nearby. The porch is reputed to have been added for the visit of Elizabeth I. Today the congregation uses the Prayer Books of both Elizabeth's in their worship. [some of this is now believed to be inaccurate]
Onehouse 1967-1999 Thirty-five years ago the OHS area had remained almost unchanged over the centuries. Then, in the 'Sixties' new houses were built, a row of eleven chalet houses in Harleston, and the bungalows of Stearn Drive in Onehouse, where the purchasers expected to look out over tall green hedges and green fields for evermore, but more fields were sold to a developer. Phase 1 of Northfield Wood Estate (in Ash Road to No. 13 and across to No. 20) had been completed in 1966 and a start made on Phase 2 before the builder went bankrupt in 1967, which is when I arrived on the 4th July. There was no 37-105 Northfield Road and no Phase 3 being the addition further along Ash Road. Sewage from the estate houses was dealt with by an Oxygest system, roughly where 41 Northfield Road now is; it regularly went wrong and overflowed and was a blessing when mains sewerage was finally installed. Most of the new houses were bought by parents with young children. Many of the newcomers had the luxury of one car! They tended to be members of HM Forces who did not want to live on the Station at Wattisham, schoolteachers who did not wish to live in Stowmarket and a liberal sprinkling of reps. However, once the head of the household had gone to work the only transport was on Thursdays and Saturdays when there was a bus in the morning and one in the afternoon so that people could get into town on market days. Otherwise we walked or cycled. We were quite healthy! On three occasions about every fourth year the snow was very heavy and the road between Chilton Leys and Starhouse Farm became totally blocked. Even in other snowy spells it has been necessary for everyone to walk - so cheery and hail-fellow-well-met in the beautiful white silence. Stowmarket itself was much smaller, there were no buildings on the Thirlmere estate on the right-hand side of Onehouse Road, just fields all the way down to Lancaster's Corner (junction with Finborough Road), no Chilton Hall estate with Chilton Way and Woodley School or the Leisure Centre and only half the High School buildings, no Lavenham Park estate, only part of Lockington Road, and none of the side roads off Danes Court and Finborough Road. The Museum consisted of the two black wooden huts, and the Misses Longe still lived at Abbots Hall. There was no Abbots Hall School. There were livestock markets (cattle, sheep and pigs) at R C Knights in Crowe Street and at Woodwards premises (now Haymills) in Station Road. Three doctors had their surgery in upstairs cramped accommodation in Marriotts Walk, and three more in their own homes in Ipswich Street or Temple Road. Independent shops abounded. There were three farms; Onehouse Hall farmed by Joe Stearn, Chilton Leys by Billy Rose, and Star House by Tom Stiff. There were cattle at Onehouse Hall and Chilton Leys, and pigs at Star House; one night fire broke out at Star House and men from all over the Estate raced across the fields to help round up the pigs that had escaped. Onehouse Hall cattle were kept in the meadow between the church and the Hall buildings, and had to be moved on the Sundays when services were held as the old route for the few who came by car used to be along the main drive from Lower Road, through the farm buildings and into the meadow. There was a picket fence and wide gate at the bottom of the south entrance to the church; the gate incorporated a heavy concrete weight to keep it closed, preventing livestock getting into the churchyard. There was a 'kissing gate' on the west pathway. A little footpath meandered its way down to the church from Forest Road, winding in and out of the trees, with a deep ditch on the east side; it turned towards the church about 30 feet from the present route, and skirted a pond at the entrance to the churchyard. In spite of the housing being built the School closed in 1966 and children were transferred to Stowmarket, first two years at Kingsmead next door to Middle School, and then on to Chilton before either the Modern School with two years at the present Middle School site before the final two years across the road at the Old Grammar School site, or, for those with a more academic bent, the new Grammar School in Onehouse Road. Locally the parishioners of Onehouse, Harleston and Shelland, met together to try and buy the school building and turn it into a Community Centre. The Community Council was formed to provide "social and educational" needs and to raise funds to buy the building and the playing field. Five men met together to create a newsletter for the three parishes - the OHSmag was born. Stencils were typed up and the men met together each month to roll them off by hand on a Roneo duplicator. Jack Barnard played an important role throughout, wearing many hats - Parish Councillor and Chairman, Church Warden, Chairman of the Community Council and the separate body of Trustees, and also District Councillor for Onehouse, Harleston and Shelland. Onehouse, being the only parish with a Parish Council, had to raise the loans required to buy the school and playing field, and to act as guarantor should the Community Council default in raising the loan repayments. The shop opened in the latter half of 1967, spreading across the whole ground floor of the building. It flourished, the owners claiming they did more trade in two hours on a Sunday morning than they did all day Wednesday. Sadly this was eventually lost and became commercial premises before being sold again and converted into flats. The church congregation benefited from additions to the parish. After a while twelve ladies met together to form the Guild of St John the Baptist which later changed its name to the OHS Women's Guild. Sunday School was strong for a while and then petered out. Several attempts have been made to run a Youth Club, but leaders are always hard to find andthe Club had to close down on several occasions when no-one. could come forward to take the reins. There is hope for the newly formed Skylarks since this is being run on a team-leader basis. In 1977 the three parishes joined together to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. An amazing day with a Battle of Crecy being fought at Stow Lodge Hospital and later on the playing field; a silver crown (5-shillings) was presented to every child. There was a balloon race from the playing field, followed by afternoon tea for over 400 and later the Evening of Local Talent entertainment in the Community Centre. Everyone then made their way to a grand bonfire and disco on Harleston Green. So many people were unable to cram into the Community Centre to see the show and by popular request this was put on again in October. Thus the OHS Jubilee Players was formed, its first pantomime in February 1978 being 'Aladdin'. In the early Sixties several people had met together and successfully created the Over Sixties. Before the playing field was bought the Annual Fetes used to be held in the gardens of The Lodge; smaller Club events have been held in the grounds of The Grange and Elder Cottage. Stow Lodge had changed from the Workhouse to a Community Hospital and people were no longer buried in the Paupers' Graveyard. The 'Shepherd & Dog; is the only pub in the three parishes and had an off-licence where we were able to buy lemonade on one scorching day in 1975. For a number of years Father Christmas came round in his sleigh on Christmas morning with a present for every child, usually receiving a drink for himself so that, Ho Ho Ho, there was no way he could face a turkey j dinner by the time he returned home! In July such wonderful floats were made for the Stowmarket Carnival that OHS Community Council often won prizes, twice being First and if it had been won for the third year would have retained the Cup permanently. And that was just the first few years of being here ..... Today, all the societies mentioned by Pauline are still going strong - Onehouse has a thriving social community. Thanks to Audrey and John we now have an active and vibrant Youth Club providing a centre for activities for young people in the village, and the Skylarks Club continues to attract children for their early evening activities. The Jubilee Players, like all such groups, has its ups and downs but has put on some splendid productions. The young people of the village have also been doing us proud in the Annual Sponsored Bike Ride for the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust. The OHS Womens Guild still meets, with a membership drawn from people within the village and externally (a number being former Onehouse residents), as does the Over Sixties.
After years of waiting and some concern, the re-routing of the A14 to smooth out the Haughley Bends is now completed. The Community Centre Committee seem to find ever more interesting fundraising activities for us, starting what they hope will be an annual Dogathon in 2004. Their hard work has now resulted in the installation of disabled toilets in the centre as well as a thorough refurbishment of the interior. 2004 also saw, with the support of the Parish Council, the installation of new play equipment on the playing fields - a very welcome addition for those of us with young children. The Community Centre is also supported by the Shepherd and Dog who have installed glass recycling bins, the proceeds from which go to the Centre. In recent years residents of Onehouse opened their gardens for St Nicholas Hospice, and plan to do so again in 2009 in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance (a chance to see bits of Onehouse that you usually can’t!).
For information about the history of Stowmarket and other local villages see www.stowmarket-history.co.uk
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In recent years we have had the issue of the drafting of the new Local Plan and Wimpey’s bid to develop around Onehouse - the main area being the land between Onehouse and Stowmarket, almost absorbing us into the Town. An open meeting was held with our MP David Ruffley to allow residents to air their views - both for and against future development. As a result of the meeting, a decision was made to develop a Parish Plan to identify the ways in which residents of the village would like to move forward, the facilities we would like to see - as well as those we wouldn’t! Formulating a Parish Plan took considerable time and effort, but after the full process of consultation, (meetings and questionnaires), a formal plan was produced and published. The Onehouse Parish Plan continues to be a working document, providing clear priorities for the Parish Council and residents.
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