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GREAT BEALINGS, a
parish in the hundred of Carlford, in the county of Suffolk. It is located
approximately 2 miles to the W. of Woodbridge, which is its post town, and
approximately 6 N.E. from Ipswich. The Great Eastern Railway has a station
at Little Bealings serving Little and Great Bealings. The living is a
rectory in the diocese of Norwich, its value is in the region of £250, and
it is in the patronage of E. Moor, Esq. The church, a brick and stone
building in the perpendicular style is dedicated to St. Mary. Close to the
village is Bealings Hall. The parish has an area of about 1,029 acres,
mainly arable land, the property of Lord Henniker, who is lord of the
manor.
Edited from the entry
in the National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
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Bealings Staion on the former
Great Eastern railway line between Ipswich and Lowestoft in Suffolk. The
station was opened on the 1st June 1859 and closed to passengers on the
17th September 1956 although the line itself still remains open today.
The station served the villages
of Little Bealings and Great Bealings and was used by Winifred Fortescue
on her journeys to London and trips home to visit her parents at the
rectory. |
The former Bealings railway
station |
The Old Rectory at Gt. Bealings
(photo -
Angela Marshall) |
Winifred Fortescue, was born on the 7th
February 1888 at The Rectory,
Great Bealings,
Suffolk. Her father, The Rev. Howard Beech M.A. was rector of St. Mary's Church,
Great Bealings. She was the third child of Howard & Henrietta Mildred Beech. She
spent most of her very happy childhood in and around the Suffolk village and often returned to
visit her parents, after she had moved to London to take up an acting career at
the age of 17 yrs. (Click on the
picture of the The Old Rectory to see a bigger version with more
information) |
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St. Mary's Church has not changed a great deal
since Winifred's time and is in fine condition. It is in one of the
most beautiful locations in Suffolk. In
There's Rosemary There's Rue Winifred describes how, as a small
girl, she hid at her fathers feet under the reading desk while he
was conducting a service. Her life and the church and it's
congregation are described in much detail in the first chapters of
this book. Her favourite time of year was always Easter when the
altar of the little church was dressed by her godmother, (the wife
of the Squire), with fragrant lilies. She was baptised, confirmed
and married at Easter. Winifred's mother was a fine musician - her
great instrument was the organ and she would be perched up on the
organ seat at the west end of the church during services. |
Village War Memorial |
Memorial to Mervyn Howard Beech |
The memorial to Mervyn Howard Beech M.A. which
can be found inside Great Bealings church on the south wall, close
to the altar. Mervyn was one of Winifred's two brothers. He was born
in 1881 at Sandown on the Isle of Wight. He died in East Africa in
1923. |
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GREAT BEALINGS,ST
MARY. W tower with some flushwork decoration on buttresses and
battlements. The chancel mostly c 19. N porch of brick with polygonal
buttresses. On the base flushwork of brick and flint. The inscription
above the entrance refers to Thomas Seckford, i.e. c. 1520 (cf. Seckford
Hall and Woodbridge). FONT.Octagonal, of Purbeck marble, with two shallow
blank pointed arches to each side.
PULPIT. Jacobean, with back panel and tester. BENCHES. With poppy-heads
and animals, birds and human figures both facing E and facing the
gangways. NORTH DOOR. With tracery and three small figures (a rarity).
STAINED GLASS. Window by
Mayer
of Munich,
c.1886;
one chancel N window by
Ward &
Hughes,
I882. PLATE. Elizabethan Cup; Flagon and two Patens 1799. MONUMENTS. Sir
Thomas Seckford
1575
and
wife, put up in 1583. No effigies. Coat of Arms with florid surround,
flanked by coupled Roman Done pilasters and surmounted by a pediment. John
Clenche 1628. Two frontal busts, praying. The kneeling children in
profile in the ‘predella’. BEALINGS HOUSE. Red brick, mid-Georgian. Of
seven bays and two storey. Parapet and pitched roof. Doorway with Ionic
columns and pediment.
Edited entry
from The Buildings of England (Suffolk) by Nikolaus Pevsner (1961) |
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1891 UK Census
The 1891 census of the UK shows Winifred Beech, aged 3, living with her family at The Rectory, Great Bealings in Suffolk.
Shows, along with her mother and father, The Rev. Howard Beech and H
(Henrietta) Mildred
Beech, her brother, Guy, aged 4. The census also records a cook,
housemaid, nurse and a visitor staying the night of the census.
To
see the census in detail in Adobe format use the link below.
Winifred's is the 15th entry from the top. |
1901 UK Census
The 1901 census of the UK shows
Winifred Beech, aged 13, living with her family at The Rectory, Great Bealings in Suffolk.
Shows, along with her mother and father, The Rev. Howard Beech and H
(Henrietta) Mildred
Beech, her brother Mervyn W H Beech, aged 19, her sister Margery Beech,
aged 9, a cook domestic and a
housemaid
domestic.
To
see the census in detail in Adobe format use
the link below.
Winifred's is the 4th entry from the top. |
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For more information
visit www.greatbealings.co.uk
and
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk
(If you do not have Adobe
on your PC, download the latest version free at the link below)
   
Pictures - P.Riley,
Angela Marshall of Bonhams, Ipswich, Suffolk, & Martin King
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