Little Thurlow 2000 - Part 1 The Thurlows and their History

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1. History

KATE ATHERTON

So what do we know about this small village tucked away in the south west corner of Suffolk within a few miles of both Cambridgeshire and Essex? The first and most obvious conclusion is, of course, that there are two villages, Great and Little Thurlow, or as they were once known, Thurlow Magna and Thurlow Parva. Interestingly, although their histories are inevitably closely linked, the villages have developed quite separate identities. The name Thurlow itself may have been spelt Tritlawe, and may refer to a mound or assembly hill or famous tumulus.

Soame's School, 1614

This is not beyond the imagination, for if one stands by the windmill in Great Thurlow on a clear day it is possible to see for miles in any direction a good place for a meeting perhaps.

More important for the early settlers, however, must have been the river, fast flowing and clear with easy crossing points an ideal place to settle. Neighbouring Little Bradley has been the subject of archaeological excavation and there is strong evidence of pre-historic settlement and two clearly defined Romano-British occupation areas. So it would not be unreasonable to suppose that this area too has been inhabited since then, although the only real evidence of early occupation in Thurlow is the discovery in 1890, recorded by the Antiquarian Society in Cambridge, by Mr Wootten in Great Thurlow, of a pit containing amongst other things pottery shards, a coin and a small figurine, all dating from the Roman period.

There is still strong evidence of moated sites, which were a feature of Saxon defence systems against marauding tribes. Several of the local farms have remnants of such moats (the Glebe, the Island, Wadgells and Sowley Green), providing us with further evidence of such continuous occupation.

Taken from page 9

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