CAMPSEA-ASH, a parish in the hundred of LOES,
county of SUFFOLK, 2 miles (E.) from Wickham-Market,
containing 342 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in
the archdeaconry of Suffolk, and diocese of Norwich,
rated in the king's books at £ 14. 5., and in the patronage
of Sir R. J. Woodford, Bart. The church is dedicated
to St. John the Baptist. In the reign of Richard I.,
Theobald de Valoins gave his estate in this place to
his two sisters, that they might build a nunnery in
honour of the Virgin Mary, which they accordingly
founded, and Joan, one of the sisters, was the first
prioress; it was .of the order of St. Clare, or the Minoresses,
and at the dissolution was endowed with
£182.9. 5. per annum - a portion of the buildings still
remains.