WICKHAM-MARKET, a parish (formerly a market
town) in the hundred of WILFORD, county of
SUFFOLK, 12 miles (N. E.) from Ipswich, containing
1015 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage,
in the archdeaconry of Suffolk, and diocese of Norwich,
rated in the king's books at £6. 16. 8., endowed
with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty,
and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated
to All Saints, is situated on an eminence commanding
a most extensive prospect, including no less
than fifty churches; the spire is a conspicuous landmark.
There is a place of worship for Independents.
The village occupies an elevated and pleasant site, rising
from the river Deben, and, as its name implies, was
formerly a market-town; it had also a shire-hall, where
the general quarter sessions were usually held, but the
building was, a few years since, taken down by the lord
of the manor; the archdeacon still holds his spiritual
courts here. Ann Barker, in 1730, bequeathed
one-third of the produce of £300, which, with the rents
arising from certain lands given by an unknown individual,
is applied for teaching poor children; the annual
income is about £46.