I have to confess that a main reason for going to Hoxne was so that I had an excuse to write a silly limerick – something like
It’s easy to travel to Hoxne
Just follow the route made by Oxne.
You won’t go far wrong
And it won’t take you long
As long as you have a good Coxne.
What? Has he gone completely mad? Well maybe, but the thing here is that Hoxne is spoken to rhyme with oxen and the steerer (of a boat) is a coxswain which also rhymes with oxen. Oh the joys of the English language!
And oh the joys of Hoxne. It’s a lovely little place and was well worth the visit.
There’s a nice broad street with some ancient houses and a good old red British phone box. In these days of mobiles they can’t really get any use, but it is good to see them maintained in good order.
There’s a good old fashioned village shop at Hoxne, but maybe once upon a time this was a small market town.
The road curved away and we found ourselves walking along a path with a view back to the broad street.
Hoxne has alms houses and, at the top of the path you cross a road and enter the churchyard.
Brick built tombs are, in my experience, unusual but you may recall we met many a Hoxne style brick wall in Eye. Bricks were made in this parish for centuries so maybe this grave has a brick making occupant.
Inside, the church had museum like aspects. Here were examples of Hoxne bricks, tiles and brick making gear. The other end of the cabinet had bottles, pipes, horseshoes and a lamp
And the cabinet rested on a medieval trunk.
Another trunk, several hundred years newer was still a real antiquity.
But Hoxne is more than just bricks. It has recent history which is truly astonishing and display boards tell of the finding of the Hoxne treasure.
I dare say Eric Lawes was quite pleased with his days work although the story does not tell us if he found his friend’s hammer. But what’s a hammer when you are awarded £1750000 for what you do find.
The church itself has medieval wall paintings.
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Outside there is an impressive Vicarage. Sorry about the skip! An impressive Suffolk home needs an impressive moat to prove the wealth and status of the occupants.
Let’s take a look at the explanation board.
We returned to the village and, unsurprisingly we found Hoxne walls.
Interesting ornaments, including a rather ghostly figure in a window display.
The bakery.
The Swan – a pub of some age was, appropriately for its name, right next to the bridge over the River
We headed North a little and for the second time that day we entered Norfolk.
