FRAMLINGHAM, a market-town and parish in
the hundred of LOES, county of SUFFOLK, 18 miles
(N.E.byN.) from Ipswich, and 87 (N.E.) from London,
containing 2327 inhabitants. This place is of
very remote antiquity, having been one of the chief
towns of the Iceni, a British tribe in alliance with the
Romans, to whom their king, Prasatagus, bequeathed a
part of his dominions, in the hope of securing to his
queen, Boadicea, the undisturbed possession of the remainder.
On the death of Prasatagus, the Roman procurator
took possession of the whole, and on Boadicea's
remonstrating, ordered her to be scourged like a slave,
and violated the chastity of her daughters. Boadicea, in
revenge for this outrage, excited the Trinobantes and
other tribes to revolt, and heading her own forces
with masculine intrepidity, obtained a victory over
the Romans, of whom seventy thousand were slain
in battle, though she was subsequently defeated and
lost her life, or, as some say, took poison. At what
time the castle was originally built is uncertain, but
it is a very ancient structure, and it is known that
a fortress existed here in the time of Redwald, third
king of the East Angles, who occasionally retired to it
from his court at Rendlesham. The castle was also the
retreat of King Edmund the Martyr, who, when pursued
by the Danes, fled from Dunwich, and took refuge within
its walls, whence endeavouring to escape, when closely
besieged, he was overtaken, and beheaded at Hoxne. In
1173, it became the temporary asylum of Prince Henry,
whom Queen Eleanor, his mother, had incited to rebel
against his father, Henry II. And upon the death of
Edward VI., in 1553, Mary retired to this castle, where
she was joined by the inhabitants of Suffolk and the
neighbouring counties, who, to the number of thirteen
thousand, accompanied her to London, to take possession
of the crown. The castle was a spacious and noble
structure, the surrounding walls including an irregular
quadrilateral area of nearly an acre and a half; they were
forty-four feet in height, and eight feet in thickness, defended
by thirteen square towers of considerably greater
elevation, of which, one towards the east, and one
towards the west, were watch-towers: the whole was
surrounded by a double moat, over the inner of which
was a draw-bridge. The walls are in a tolerably perfect
state, and in front of the gateway-tower are the arms
of the Howards, Mowbrays, Brothertons, &c., all quartered
in one shield, having lions for supporters, and for
the crest, a lion passant. In the interior, the buildings
ofawhich were demolished about the year 1670, an
almshouse for aged men, who are supported by an endowment
by Sir Robert Hitcham, and a workhouse for
the poor, have been built with the materials of the
castle. The town is pleasantly situated on a hill, near
the source of the river Ore, which rises to the north of
the castle, and falls into the sea at Orford; it contains
many respectable and well built houses, is lighted with
oil by subscription, and amply supplied with water; the
air is salubrious, the approaches good, and the town
generally improving. The trade is principally in malt:
the market is on Saturday, for corn, and occasionally
for cattle; the fairs are on Whit-Monday, and October
llth, for toys.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Suffolk,
and diocese of Norwich, rated in the king's books
at £43. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Master and
Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. The church,
dedicated to St. Michael, is a stately structure, partly
in the decorated, and partly in the later, style of
English architecture, with a lofty square embattled
tower, strengthened with buttresses; over the west entrance,
a representation of St. Michael encountering
the dragon is finely sculptured in relievo; the chancel,
which, both in style and workmanship, is superior
to the rest of the church, is supposed to have been
added in the reign of Edward VI.: the roof of the
nave, which is of oak curiously carved, is supported by
octangular pillars, and that of the chancel by clustered
columns of very graceful proportion. The church contains
several fine monuments, and the ashes of many
illustrious personages; among the former are the monuments
of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; Henry Fitzroy,
Duke of Richmond, natural son of Henry VIII.;
the two wives of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, who was
beheaded in the reign of Elizabeth; and the wife of Sir
Robert Hitcham. There is a chapel of ease at Saxtead,
in this parish. Here are places of worship for Inde-
pendents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. The
free school was founded in 1636, by Sir Robert Hitcham,
Knt., who endowed it with lands producing an ample
revenue for the instruction in writing, reading, and
arithmetic, of forty boys, to each of whom he allowed an
apprentice fee of £10; the number of scholars has been
recently increased to fifty. There are four Sunday schools,
in which five hundred children are instructed, partly supported
by subscription, and partly by the charitable bequests
of Sir Robert Hitcham, who also founded an almshouse
for twelve aged widows, or widowers, who receive
each a weekly allowance in money, and an annual supply
of coal and a gown, on which they wear a badge with the
arms of the founder: the alms-people are required to
attend morning prayer at the parish church daily, for
which purpose Sir Robert Hitcham bequeathed £20,
now increased to £ 30 per annum, to the minister, and
£ 5 per annum to the clerk and sexton; the school and
almshouse are under the management of the Master and
Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Thomas Mills,
in 1708, bequeathed estates producing at present nearly
£700 per annum, for the foundation of almshouses for
eight aged persons; and also for the education of
children, and the relief of the poor: there are likewise
several other bequests for charitable purposes.
In 1823, some remains of elephants tusks were dug up
at the depth of ten feet from the surface, in a field to
the north of the town. Robert Hawes, who compiled
a history of the hundred of Loes, still in manuscript,
and to whom, as a zealous investigator of antiquities,
the Master and Fellows of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge,
presented a silver cup and cover, was buried here in
1731.