Eye, Suffolk
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2008-07-14T10:51:31Z
Dancarney
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{{Cleanup|date=April 2008}}
{{infobox UK place|
|country = England
|latitude= 52.321
|longitude= 1.147
|official_name= Eye
|population = 1,716 ([[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]]s)
|shire_district= [[Mid Suffolk]]
|region= East of England
|shire_county = [[Suffolk]]
|constituency_westminster= [[Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (UK Parliament constituency)|Central Suffolk and North Ipswich]]
|post_town= EYE
|postcode_district = IP23
|postcode_area= IP
|dial_code= 01379
|os_grid_reference= TM144739
}}
'''Eye''' is a small [[market town]] in the [[county]] of [[Suffolk]], [[East Anglia]], [[England]], south of [[Diss]], and on the [[River Dove, Suffolk|River Dove]].
Eye is twinned with the town of Pouzauges in the [[Vendee]] [[Departement]] of [[France]]
==History==
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;An Island
The town of Eye derives its name from the [[Old English]] word for 'island' and it is believed that the first settlement on the site would have been almost entirely surrounded by water and marshland formed by the River Dove to the East and South East; its tributary to the North; and by the low land, part of which now forms the Town Moor, to the South and West. Even today, the area is still prone to flooding in areas close to the River Dove, a tributary of the [[River Waveney]] which forms the boundary between [[Suffolk]] and [[Norfolk]].
;Earliest Habitation
There have been [[Palaeolithic]], [[Mesolithic]], [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]] finds in and around Eye but the earliest evidence of settlement in the town dates from the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] period and includes buildings and coins dated circa [[365]]. A large Anglo-Saxon cemetery including many urned cremations and some furnished inhumations, in use during the sixth century AD, was excavated near the Waterloo Plantation, Eye, in 1818.
;Norman Eye
In [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] [[Great Britain|Britain]], before the [[Norman Conquest]], Eye was one of the numerous holdings of Edric of Laxfield, a wealthy and influential Saxon and the third largest land holder in [[Suffolk]]. After the [[Norman Conquest]], the importance of the town was firmly established in the region when the [[Honour]] of Eye was granted to [[William Malet (Norman conquest)|William Malet]], a Norman Lord, and continued to be held by royal or noble families until [[1823]]. Between [[1066]] and [[1071]], Malet constructed a castle, to establish his military and administrative headquarters, and started a highly successful market thus initiating the [[urbanisation]] of the [[town|settlement]]. Later in 1086-7, [[Robert Malet]], William’s son, founded the [[Benedictine]] Priory of [[St Peter]], a cell of the Abbey of [[Bernay]] in [[Normandy]].
;The Castle
Eye began to lose its strategic importance after [[1173]] when the castle was attacked by [[Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk]], during the rebellion against [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], and later during the [[Second Barons' War]] of [[1265]] after which it never regained its former status. Its prison continued in use up until the early 17th century despite a programme of demolition of most of the castle buildings during the 14th century. A [[windmill]], built in [[1561]]-2, stood on the [[motte]] until the circular mock keep was built in [[1844]]. The ruins of the keep are still in place today, and Castle Street and Church Street trace the elliptical shape of the former outer [[Motte-and-bailey|bailey]].
;The Church
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There has been a church in Eye at least since [[1066]] but the present building, the Church of St Peter and St Paul, dates from the fourteenth century, it is considered one of the finest churches in the county. A thirteenth century [[Early English Period|Early English]] doorway, from a former building, was retained in the construction of the church. In the fifteenth, and again the sixteenth centuries, there were periods of new work and of renovation. The church was restored in [[1868]] by [[James Colling]], a London architect. A particular feature of the church is the magnificent late-fifteenth century [[rood screen]] which has a loft and rood designed by [[Ninian Comper]] in [[1925]]. The screen is reputed to originate from [[Great Massingham]] [[Priory]] in [[Norfolk]].
;Commerce
The earliest mention of industry in Eye records that in [[1673]] 'the women's employ in this town is making of bone [[lace]]' and in [[1830]], 'the humbler class of industrious females employ themselves in lace making'. It would appear that Eye was at the centre of a localised lace making industry for many years; the last lacemaker in the town died in 1914. Lace was not the only industry, however, and the County Directories list the many trades and occupations of the people of Eye over the 18th and 19th centuries. They included blacksmiths, wheelwrights, coopers, clockmakers, tailors, milliners and printers.
There were several slaughterhouses, two breweries, and two retteries for the processing of flax. Iron and brass founders, agricultural implement makers, and church bell frame makers and hangers remained in operation into the 20th century. Businesses recorded in Eye in [[1937]] included auctioneers, booksellers & printers, boot & shoe makers, corn chandlers, drapers, surgeons and watchmakers as well as banks, bakers, butchers and grocers.
;The Borough
Eye was once the smallest borough in the country, its claim based on the [[1205]] [[Charter]] of [[John of England|King John]]. The Charter was renewed in [[1408]] then many more times by successive monarchs. However, in [[1885]] the Town Clerk of [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]] proved that the original Charter belonged only to [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]] in [[Kent]], the error having arisen from the similarity of the early English names. The error was confirmed by archivists in the 1950s but borough status was not discontinued until [[1974]] after government reorganization when Eye became a [[civil parish]] but retained a Town Council, a Mayor and the insignia. From [[1571]] to [[1832]] Eye returned two [[Member of Parliament|MP]]s, then, following the [[Reform Act 1832]], a single MP until [[1983]] after which the [[Eye (UK Parliament constituency)|Eye Constituency]] became the [[Suffolk Central (UK Parliament constituency)|
Suffolk Central constituency]].
;The Railway
In [[1846]] Eye Borough Council failed in its attempt to route the new [[London]]-[[Norwich]] [[railway]] line through Eye. The line, completed in [[1849]], went instead through [[Diss]] ensuring its growth in prosperity and population while the importance of Eye waned. An [[Eye railway station]] on a branch line from [[Mellis]] closed in [[1964]]. Today Eye retains its character as a small [[market town]], with a population of around 2,000. Diss is more than three times the size.
===Services and Amenities===
;Historical
Through the years Eye has had a Deer Park, a [[Leper]] Hospital, a Gaol, a Workhouse, a David Fisher Theatre, a [[Coaching inn]] with Posting Establishment, a Working Men’s Hall and Reading Room, a [[Guildhall]], a Grammar School, twenty pubs (including beer houses) and an [[Airfield]] which was occupied by the [[Bomber Command#VIII Bomber Command|480th and 490th]] [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] Bomb Groups during [[World War II]].
;Present
Eye today has a hospital, a health centre, three schools including [[Hartismere High School]], three churches, a library, a police station, a fire station, an industrial estate on the former airfield, a [[British Women's Institute|WI market]], and a picnic site (The Pennings) beside the River Dove. The Town Moors recreation site has play areas including a skateboard park, football pitches and a large area of woodland walks. Eye also boasted one of the smallest professional theatres in the country which inhabited the Assembly Room of the former White Lion Coaching Inn. The Somershey Theatre (1988-1990) became Eye Theatre (1991-2005).
==Listed Buildings==
Eye has three Grade One [[listed buildings]]: the [[Guildhall]] (now a private house); the castle and the Church of St Peter and St Paul. There are seven Grade Two* and 152 Grade Two buildings in the town. Eye Town Hall, an imaginative and unorthodox building dating from [[1856]] and listed Grade Two*, was designed by [[Edward Buckton Lamb]], one of the 'Rogue Architects' of the mid-[[Victorian period]]. Behind the Town Hall is The Queens Head, the sole survivor of the 20 pubs which once existed in Eye.
===Notable Residents===
Sir [[Edward Clarence Kerrison]] [1821-1886] 2nd Baronet. M.P. Resided at Oakley Park in Hoxne.
Sir [[Frederick Ashton]] [September 17, 1904 - October 18, 1988] was born at Guayaquil in Equador and at an early age became interested in ballet. He became the resident choreographer with The Royal Ballet and was knighted in 1962, for his services to ballet and resided at Chandos Lodge in Eye and at Yaxley, where he is buried alongside his sister.
[[James Govier]] [1910-1974] British painter, etcher and engraver, born at Oakley in Buckinghamshire came to Eye as the artmaster of Eye Grammar School in 1947 remained until 1965. Govier lived at Hoxne and became the artmaster at Diss Grammar School from 1965-1972. James Govier was originally trained at The Swansea School from 1930-1935, then at The Royal College of Art from 1935-1939. Examples of his work can be found in various National and Regional museums.
==See also==
* [[Eye, Suffolk (UK Parliamentary constituency)]]
==References==
* ''The History of Eye'', Clive Paine ISBN 0-9522509-0-X
* S.E. West, 1998, A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon material from Suffolk, ''East Anglian Archaeology'' 84, 35-6.
* The Illustrated History & Antiquities of Hoxne. by Stephen Govier published in 2006.
==External links==
* [http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/EyeTC/ Town Web Site]
* [http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/ Diss Express Eye's local newspaper website]
* [http://www.midsuffolk.gov.uk/ Mid-Suffolk District Council]
* [http://www.hartismere.co.uk/ Hartismere High School]
* [http://usaaf.com/8thaf/bomber/490bg.HTM 490th Bomb Group]
* [http://www.455th.ukpc.net/tomfeise/tomeye.htm Map - Eye and its airfield]
* [http://www.triggerimage.co.uk/ Digital Image Creators]
[[Category:Palindromic place names]]
[[Category:Towns in Suffolk]]
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