Nacton, Suffolk

Description
Nacton, a village and a parish in Suffolk. The village stands on the river Orwell, 4 miles SE of Ipswich, and has a station, of the name of Orwell, on the Felixstowe branch of the G.E.R., and a post and telegraph office under Ipswich; money order office, Alan Road, Ipswich. The parish now includes the parishes of Alnesbourn Priory and Purdis Farm, formerly extra-parochial tracts. Area of the civil parish, 1919 acres; population, 518 ; of the ecclesiastical, with Levington, 693. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. The manor belonged to the Fastolfs and passed to the Brokes, and now belongs to the De Saumarez family. Broke Hall, a very fine mansion, is a seat of the De Sanmarez family, and Orwell Park, a fine brick building standing in a park of 200 acres, and having an observatory attached, is a seat of the Pretyman family. An Augustinian friary was at Ainesbourn. There are several crag pits, and several tumuli which, according to a local tradition, mark the site of a battle with the Danes. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Levington, in the diocese of Norwich; net value, £363 with residence. The church is a rubble building in the Decorated style, consists of nave and chancel, with porch and tower; and has a fine heraldic window recording the intermarriages of the Broke family. The Woodbridge Workhouse is here.