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Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ENGLAND: LONDON
AND THE COTSWOLDS EAST ANGLIA
Sunday, May 22.
Today my tenth
cousin, Robert Peck, was picking
us up at 0615 for a trip to the
Peck ancestral homes in East
Anglia (Norfolk & Suffolk). Robert
and I had met through DNA testing.
He lives in England, but he had stayed with us in
Virginia for about three days
several years ago. When we
contacted him about our current
trip, he had generously offered to
take Andy, Liz, Jane and me to
East Anglia in his car.
Hingham Robert picked us up a little late due to unexpected traffic, but we still got to Hingham (Norfolk) about 9:30 as planned. This small, backwater town (pop. c.2,000) outside Norwich is the last place my ancestor Joseph Peck (1614-1638) lived before sailing for America. We went directly to St. Andrew's Church, where Rev. Robert Peck, Joseph's brother, had been Rector. We arrived in the middle of the 9:00 service. When it ended, we were greeted by the present Rector and many of the parishioners. Jane and I (and Robert separately) had been here before and had been greeted similarly then. I was so busy talking to people that I barely had time to have the tea and cookies they offered, or to search out pamphlets for Robert. (I had copies from our 2005 visit.) As the crowd dispersed, we finally had time to look around and take photos. It was noon before we could get away.
Beccles
Our next
stop was Beccles (Suffolk), a
larger and much livelier town
(pop. c.10,000). Three generations
of my Peck ancestors lived here
between 1525 and 1614. Theirs was
a very prominent
family. Robert Peck
the Younger held
various public
offices, including
the equivalent of
Mayor.
We arrived about 13:30 and had lunch at the Bear and Bells pub, where a friendly dog joined us. The Saltgate House B&B, where Jane and I stayed in 2005, was right around the corner. Then we walked up Saltgate to St. Michael's Church. The choir was practicing an oratorio. None of us chose to climb to the top of the Church tower as I had done in 2005.
After looking around the town center, we walked a couple blocks to 43-45-47 Blybergate. This was the site of my ancestors' family home, now long gone. We walked back to the car and left Beccles about 15:00.
Halesworth
We drove to Halesworth
(Suffolk), another quiet small
town (pop.,<5,000) and spent half
an hour there. My Peck family's
connection here is less certain,
but at least two Pecks were
living here in 1524. Both were my
relatives, and one of them may
have been an ancestor.We walked through the center of town, visiting St. Mary's Church and Market Square, both of which would have been there in the Pecks' time. The "oldest house" in the Square dates to about 1350. A large house across from St. Mary's churchyard dates at least to 1500; the first wing was added about 1550. The Angel, on the Thoroughfare (the main street leading out of the Square), was an early 16th century "coaching inn." And there probably were other houses that were there in 1524 as well, but time was pressing. We had one more stop to make.
St. James
It was only a 15 minute drive to St. James South Elmham, seven miles from Halesworth. The earliest mentioned of any of my Peck ancestors was Robert Peck, the Elder, who was living here in 1524. This tiny village (pop. c.200) is primarily agricultural. Its little church, St. James, has elements that date back at least to Norman times, and probably has some from Saxon times (pre-1066). It is the church my Robert Peck would have attended five centuries ago. Jane and I had also visited here in 2005. Little had changed inside the church, but the churchyard now looked untended and overgrown. Andy seemed moved to be at the site of his earliest known origins. We only spent half an hour in the church. We had now visited all the known Peck sites in England, but we still had a three hour drive ahead of us (four for Robert).
This area was so desolate that we drove for 25 minutes before we came to a place for a rest stop, the Horseshoes Inn at Stows Hill, allegedly dating back to 1350. We got back to Andy’s about 19:30, so our excursion had taken almost 13 hours. |
