Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LAKENHEATH

LAKENHEATH, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Mildenhall district, Suffolk. The village stands on a gentle eminence, amid a great extent of rabbit warren, 2 miles S of the Ely and Brandon railway, and of the Little Ouse river at the boundary with Norfolk, and 5½ SW of Brandon; commands an extensive view of the surrounding country; was formerly a market-town; and has a post-office,‡ under Brandon, a station on the railway, about 3 miles distant, a good inn, and a fair on the Thursday after Midsummer day.—The parish includes also the hamlet of Undley. Acres, 10,550. Real property, £10,514. Pop. in 1851,1,864; in 1861,1,797. Houses, 394. The chief landowners are the executors of W. G. Eagle, Esq. Nearly 3,000 acres, chiefly in the E, are open rabbit warren; and a large tract in the W is fen. There are sand pits and clay pits. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £136. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Ely. The church is ancient; has Norman features; was partly repaired in 1863; and comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with massive tower about 80 feet high. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans; two free schools for boys, with £40 and £16 a-year; and charities £95.—The sub-district contains also four other parishes, and considerable part of Mildenhall parish. Pop., 5,890. Houses, 1,248.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Lakenheath CP/AP       Lakenheath SubD       Mildenhall RegD/PLU       Suffolk AncC
Place: Lakenheath

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