Polstead   page loading

A parish of many greens and tyes, scattered over a wide area. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon "place of pools", some of which can still be seen below the village today. Polestead was recorded in Domesday as "Polesteda". The area is well known for cherry trees and still has a large number of orchards; the Polstead Black is a special cultivar in the village. Author Ruth Rendell was a long-time Polstead resident, though she has since moved to nearby Groton.

Gospel Oak stood between the church and the hall. When it rotted and collapsed in 1953, it was claimed to have been 1300 years old, though this has never been proved.

Bower House Tye (Brewer's Arms) is a tiny hamlet which lies on the A1071 (one and a half miles north of village) whilst Polstead Heath (Shoulder of Mutton) is a very scattered hamlet., as is Whitestreet Green.

The village gained notoriety as the scene of the "red barn murder" in 1827, when Maria Marten (a 26 year old daughter of a local molecatcher) was killed by William Corder (24 year old son of a local farmer), who was later hanged at Bury. The barn burnt down in 1842, but a melodrama based on the unsavory incident and an account of the incident (which was bound with Corder's skin that had been tanned by surgeon George Creed) helps to keep the legend alive to this day. The book can still be seen in Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds together with various other associated artefacts.

The Community Shop was the first of its kind to be established in Suffolk.