KERSEY – THE VILLAGE: Kersey is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon will of about 990 A.D., and in the Domesday Book as a thriving community of some 150 souls. The village appears a century later in the tax records of Abbot Sampson of Bury St. Edmunds, and an Augustinian priory was founded to the north of the village about this time, on land provided by a local heiress. Prosperity was underlined by the Lord of the Manor being granted the right to hold a weekly Monday market in 1252. Despite local sheep-rearing featuring strongly in Domesday, there is no direct evidence that wool was the foundation of Kersey’s prosperity, nor that the “Kersey” coarse ribbed cloth mentioned in Skakespeare’s “Loves Labours Lost” came from the village. But clothmaking was well established in neighbouring towns by 1300 and Kersey would undoubtedly have been involved in weaving and fulling.

Despite the general prosperity of the area, based on wool, Kersey’s priory declined and was dissolved in 1444, and in the Peasant’s Revolt, on the feast of Corpus Christi in 1381, five rebels are recorded from Kersey. The market had fallen out of use by the seventeenth century, as the woollen industry moved to Yorkshire, but a fair is listed from 1759 to 1805. The registration for hearth tax in 1674 showed Kersey having upwards of 70 households, but nearly half of these were classified as poor. In the following century Kersey had an endowed school, paying the schoolmaster 40 shillings a year, and by 1776 a workhouse, soon to be superseded by the nearby Cosford workhouse and, after 1834, by a 10–Parish Union workhouse at Semer.

By 1884 agriculture–based prosperity supported a population of 787, with representatives of almost every trade and service. The population has fallen steadily since then to the present c350, influenced mainly by the agricultural depressions of the 1870’s/80’s and 1920’s/30’s. The village school, however, was opened in 1873 and thrives today, and the population – a mix of agricultural workers, commuters and retired people–appears to be benefiting from a welcome influx of newcomers.

KERSEY STUDY GROUP: All are welcome to join this group from Kersey and surrounding district. The programme of study is chosen by members, from a wide list sent by Cambridge Board of Extra-Mural Studies, who supply the tutors. Courses run for ten weeks each from September to December and January to March. Weekend day field trips may be included. Details of courses are advertised around the district and in the Newsletter. The venue for the meetings is the Kersey Village Hall on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm. Fees per term are currently £25 or £21 OAP’s and those on benefit.
Further details from:-
Mr Chris Briggs, Market House, Kersey (01473 827520)

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH: The Kersey Neighbourhood Watch group was instigated by the Parish Council in April 1992 with the objectives of:-
1. Increasing the security of parishioners’ homes and property.
2. Reporting on any suspicious incidents, vehicles, and suspected crime.
3. Making it obvious to potential criminals that the scheme’s presence makes detection more likely.

A co-ordinator and four parishioners collect any relevant information and circulate it within the village and to the police. Police warnings and information are circulated. The village co-ordinator and group are responsible to all Kersey electors through the Parish Council. Information, literature and window stickers of various types are available if required. The group is currently:-

Co-ordinator – John Robinson, Corner House, Kersey (01473 823247)
Member/Treasurer – John Maltby, PAX, Kersey (01473 828383)
Member (South) – Natalie Blyth, 9 Vale Lane, Kersey (01473 827805)
Member (West) – Albert Walls, Hollies Cottage Wickerstreet Green, Kersey (01787 210492)

BELLRINGERS
FRIENDS OF THE FABRIC AND BELLS OF ST MARY’S CHURCH: Kersey Church has 8 bells ranging in weight from 3cwt to 14cwt. Practice night is every Thursday between 7.30pm and 9.15pm with 30 minutes ringing before every Sunday Service. Beginners, learners and experienced ringers are most welcome. Ringing outings are arranged once a year to places where the ringers have not rung before. The object of the association of Friends is to promote support for the maintenance and repair of the Bells of St Mary’s Church, Kersey and the associated fabric of the bell tower. Membership is open to all including people from outside the village who are interested in bell ringing. The Association is run by a committee of which the incumbent is an ex officio member. Fund raising events are held from time to time to support the objects of the Association.

Further details from:-
Tower Captain – Mr Neville Whittell, 39 Anne Beaumont Way, Hadleigh (01473 822616)
Tower Correspondent – Mrs Kate Bellman, Elm Farm, Kersey
(01787 210366)

Next...