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Culford, Blackbourn Hundred
CULFORD in 1844, is a small scattered village, on a pleasant acclivity, on
the north side of the vale of the Lark, 4 miles N.N.W. of Bury St. Edmund's, has
in its parish 352 souls, and about 2,500 acres of land, including a great
portion of the large open Heath, extending more than four miles northward. It
was formerly the lordship of Bury Abbey, by gift of Thurketel Tyreing. The Rev.
Edward Richard Benyon, M.A., of Culford Hall, is lord of the manor, and owns and
occupies the chief part of the soil. The Hall is a large and handsome mansion,
in a beautiful park of 500 acres, on the west side of the village, extending to
the river Lark, and having a fine sheet of water, and extensive gardens. It was
built in 1591, by Sir Nicholas Bacon, the first baronet of England, eldest son
of the lord-keeper, and half brother of the lord-chancellor; and was given by
him with an estate of �1,000 per annum, to his seventh son, Nathaniel, who
married Jane Meautys, widow of Sir William Cornwallis, to whose family the
estate afterwards passed. Culford Hall was the principal seat of the late
Marquis Cornwallis, who sold nearly all his estates in this county, before his
death in 1823. The Rev. E. R. Benyon owns above 10,680 acres in this and the
parishes of Ingham, West Stow, Wordwell, and Timworth, most of which formed part
of the estates of the Cornwallis family. Culford Church, (St. Mary) is a small
neat structure, which was built by Sir Stephen Fox, whose daughter was wife of
the third Lord Cornwallis. It contains a handsome monument and bust of Sir
Nathaniel Bacon, with a long inscription in memory of his wife, giving her a
high character as having saved from ruin, two ancient families, into which she
had married. The benefice is a discharged rectory, valued in K.B. at �8, and
united with Ingham and Timworth, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. E.
R. Benyon, M.A., who erected a small chapel-of-ease in 1841, on the Heath, in
the northern part of the parish. The value of the joint benefices was estimated
at �549 per annum, in 1835, but as the rector is lord of the manors, and owner
of nearly all the three parishes, the tithes are compounded in the rent.
Benyon Rev. Edward Richard, M.A., Culford Hall
Gifford George, farm steward
Isley James, carpenter
McDonald Hugh, gardener
Mitchell Joseph, farmer, Heath
Petch James, shoemaker
Solly Thomas, land agent