In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Helmingham like this:
HELMINGHAM, a parish in Bosmere district, Suffolk; 4½ miles S by E of Debenham, and 7 NE of Claydon r. station. It has a post office under Stonham. Acres, 2, 438. Real property, £3, 781. Pop., 320. Houses, 62. Most of the property, with Helmingham Hall, belongs to John Tollemache, Esq. Helmingham Hall was built in the time of Henry VIII.; is a quadrangular edifice, encompassed by a moat; was visited, in 1561, by Queen Elizabeth; was recently very much improved; contains an interesting collection of manuscripts, paintings, and curiosities; and stands in a fine park of about 400 acres. ...
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £590.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church was built in the time of Henry VI., and restored in 1845; has a flint tower; and contains seats of carved oak, and numerous tombs of the Tollemaches. An upper school and a lower one, established and supported by J. Tollemache, Esq., are held in a handsome building, and attended by children from 6 or 8 parishes. A Romano-British cemetery, with indications of being from the first to the third century, was discovered by the rector, in 1864, in the rectory garden. Excavations made by him in different parts of the parish appear also to show that the Romans occupied the whole area, and must have had a station here.
Helmingham through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Helmingham has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Mid Suffolk. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Helmingham and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Helmingham in Mid Suffolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/7268
Date accessed: 24th May 2013
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