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SUDBOROUGH

VILLAGE HISTORY
The oldest memorial found in All Saints Church in Sudborough, dates back to around 975AD and there was certainly a settlement on the site of the present village long before that.

It is thought that the name of Sudborough Village is derived from 'Suth Burh' which meant South Fort - referring more to a protective outpost in relation to the larger settlement that is now Brigstock Village, rather than a fortress building. In the 11th Century it has been referred to as Suthburhc and Sutburg.

The village was originally deep within Rockingham Forest and was once renowned as a hide out for local poachers, giving rise to a 'Sudborough Poachers Song'. The poachers no doubt found plent of deer and the like within the Royal Forest of Rockingham. An event recorded in 1837 tells of 25 poachers from Sudborough, with their 'bag' of 180 rabbits apprehended by men from the Cardigan Estate at Deenethorpe estate. There was also a medieval monastery close to the village, referred to as 'Money Holes' and legend suggests that treasure is buried there.

The village was originally part of land owned by the Abbey of Westminster, named as the owner of the village in the Doomsday Book of 1086. It stayed in the ownership of the Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII after which it passed into the hands of various well known local families, such as De Vere, De Tichmershe, Mordaunt and Barnard. These names can be seen on memorials within All Saints Church.

ALL SAINTS CHURCH
The church was founded in the 900's when a Saxon Church stood on the site of the present building, which is largely based on a 12th century structure. It is likely that various combinations of wood, stone and thatch would have been used in buildings on the site around and before 900AD and many of the stones in the present building are probably recycled from that period.

The church has been kept in a good state of repair, largely due to two major endowments, firstly by saunders Tebbutt Snr. of the local brewery in the early 1800's and secondly as the result of fund raising by the church rector with support from several local benefactors at the start of the 20th century.

The church has five bells, with the earliest dating back to around 1580. The bell tower clock was a gift from Lady Elizabeth Germain of Drayton in 1740 and is still regularly wound and keeps good time today. The church itself contains several interesting brass memorials as well as a number of stained glass windows.

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