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Post Office Directory of 1865.
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CLARE is a small, neat market town, parish, and polling place for the
western division of Suffolk, in Risbridge hundred and union, West Suffolk. It
gives name to its rural deanery, is in the archdeaconry of Sudbury, diocese of
Ely, and county court district of Haverhill. It is 56 miles north-east-by-north
from London, 16 south-west-by-south from Bury St. Edmund's, 9 north-west from
Sudbury, and 8 west from Haverhill, and is situated on the river Stour, which
separates the county from Essex on the south, and is not navigable here. Clare
was formerly a place of considerable importance and extent, having a collegiate
church, a monastery of regular canons, and a strong castle. The remains of an
encampment, supposed to be Roman, may be distinctly traced on the common to the
north of the town. Clare Castle, said to have been rebuilt by one of the ancient
earls of Clare, stood on the south side of the town, and occupied an angle
formed by the junction of a rivulet with the Stour, which site, when improved by
art, rendered it a military position of considerable importance; a narrow path,
winding round a hill about 65 feet high, leads to the remains of the Keep, a
circular building of flints, strongly cemented, and strengthened with
buttresses, which, from its situation near the frontier, is supposed to have
been erected when the kingdom of the East Angles was independent. The foundation
of the priory of Austin Friars is ascribed to Richard de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester and Hereford, who introduced this order of friars into England in
1248, and established them here in a priory and conventual church. Clare Priory
has been occupied as a residence, and undergone considerable alterations and
repairs. Near it the remains of a bridge show the former communication of the
priory with the castle. The title of Duke of Clarence (in 1362) was derived from
this place. Lionel, Duke of Clarence, is supposed to be buried in the church or
in the priory chapel. The title was forfeited in 1477, by the attainder of
George Plantagenet, and was not revived till 1789, when George III. created his
third son, William Henry, Duke of Clarence, who succeeded to the crown as
William IV. The old market cross was taken down in 1838, and a new Corn Exchange
was erected by Mr. James Fenner, on the eastern side of the Market-place, 64
feet long and 36 broad, at a cost of £400, as a private speculation. The market
is on Monday, for grain and cattle. A literary institute was established in
1850. The town was lighted with gas in 1853, the works are the property of James
and Samuel Wright, of Sudbury. Very handsome schools in connection with the
Church have been erected for boys, girls, and infants. The fairs are held on
Easter Tuesday and July 26th. Petty sessions are held at the police station
every fourth Monday. Courts baron and customary are held yearly for the manors
of Erbury and Stoke-with-Chilton. The honour of Clare belongs to the Crown, as
part of the Duchy of Lancaster. A branch line of the Great Eastern Railway from
Sudbury to Cambridge passes through here. The church of St. Peter and St. Paul,
an ancient and beautiful structure, in the Perpendicular style of architecture,
with a square tower containing 8 bells, is a great ornament to the town: it has
nave, aisles, chancel, transept, porch and organ: from 1834 to 1836 it was
repaired and beautified: a new gallery was then added, affording, in the whole,
1,190 sittings, of which 774 are free: there is an octagonal font, in the
Perpendicular style: the lectern is a brass eagle, with expanded wings: in order
to enlarge the churchyard three cottages were pulled down in 1851: this measure
had the additional advantage of disclosing a finer view of the building than
could previously be obtained. The living is a discharged vicarage, annual value
£245, with residence and 25 acres of glebe land, in the patronage of the Duchy
of Lancaster, and held by the Rev. John Charles Coleman, B.A., of Trinity
College, Dublin. The manufacture of straw plait is much followed here and in the
adjoining parishes. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents.
Here are almshouses, consisting of four cottages, occupied by poor families.
There are several charities, and an extensive common for the use of the poor.
The area is 2,228 acres, and the population in 1861 was 1,657.
CHILTON STREET is a hamlet, a mile and a quarter from the church. Parish Clerk,
John Linton.
POST & MONEY ORDER OFFICE & POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK.—Josiah Crow, postmaster.
Letters arrive from Sudbury at 7 a.m.; dispatched at 6.10 p.m.; box closes at 6
p.m
SCHOOLS :— Grammar, Alfred Glazin, master
National, Miss Ellen Woolley, mistress
INSURANCE AGENTS:—
General Hailstorm, James S. Ray
Law Union Fire & Life, E. T. Fisher
Nortoieh Union, James S. Ray
Reliance Mutual Life, W. 8. Watling
Royal Exchange Fire & Life, John Isaacson
Royal Farmers' & General Fire, Life & Hail, James Fenner
Suffolk Alliance, H S. Pratt, Oakcs' bank, Sudbury
Sun Fire & Life, John Steed
Literary Institute, John Isaacson, president; J. S. Ray & W. H. Sams,
vice-president; William Ray, treasurer; H. S. Watling, hon. sec.; Alfred Glazin,
librarian
Stamp Office, J. B. Andrews
PUBLIC OFFICERS:—
Clerk to the Magistrates of Potty Sessions, John H.
Jardine, solicitor, Stoke
Commissioner for Taking Affidavits in all the Courts & Acknowledgments of
Married Women, Wm.Hy. Sams, esq
Vestry Clerk, John Smoothy
Relieving Officer & Registrar of Births & Deaths, R. T. Gallafent
POSTING HOUSE—Half Moon commercial inn
CARRIERS BY RAILWAY :—
William Byford; residence, Cavendish
William Elmer, to Bury, wed.; to Sudbury, tues. & sat.
to Haverhill, mon. & thurs.; returning same days
William Ager, to Sudbury, daily
Ambrose Miss
Barnes Edward, esq
Brown Mrs
Durant Miss
Fuller Henry W. esq
Jenner Rev. Stephen, Clare hall
Price Rev. Lewis [curate of Pentlow]
Rockett Mr. Thomas
Sams William Henry, esq
Silverston Mrs
Smith Richnrd T. esq
Stevens Saville W. esq
Walford William B. esq
Wilson Rev. Bavid (Baptist]
COMMERCIAL.