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Playford 1865 Post Office Directory
PLAYFORD is a small village and parish, in Carlford hundred and rural deanery,
Woodbridge union nnd county court district, archdeaconry of Suffolk, and diocese
of Norwich., East Suffolk, pleasantly situated, 5 miles north-east
from Ipswich station, and 4 south-west from Woodbridge. The church of St. Mary
is a flint building, with nave, chancel, and tower containing 2 bells. The
register dates from 1660, In the churchyard stands a plain granite obelisk,
erected to the memory of the great contemporary of Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson,
who was interred here; it bears the following inscriptions on its four sides:
Thomas Clarkson, the friend of slaves.
During 30 years a resident of this parish.
Dies at Playford Hall, 26th September, 1846, aged 85 years.
Erected, 1857, by a few surviving friends.
The living is a perpetual curacy, annual value £73, with residence, in the gift
of the Marquis of Bristol, and held by the Rev Christopher Hodgson. Playford
Hall, the residence of Thomas Clarkson, Esq, is a fine old brick mansion, in the
Elizabethan style, surrounded by a moat. The Marquis of Bristol is lord of the
manor and principal proprietor. The soil is very fertile, producing good crops
of wheat and barley. The population in 1861 was 275, and the area is 1,219
acres.
Parish Clerk, David Mann.
Letters through Ipswich. The nearest money order office is at Woodbridge.
Airy George Biddell, esq
Clarkson Thomas esq, Playford Hall
Hodgson Rev Christopher [incumbent]
Amos Elijah, shopkeeper
Biddell Herman, farmer
Biddell Manfred, farmer
Clarkson Thomas, farmer
Coates Frances, shopkeeper & carrier
Howell William, miller
Robinson James, market gardener
Steel John, farmer