Kedington
Kedington is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England, located between the towns of Clare and Haverhill in the south-west of Suffolk.
| Kedington | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Peter and St Paul, Kedington | |
  Kedington Location within Suffolk | |
| Population | 1,849 (2011) |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Haverhill |
| Postcode district | CB9 |
| Dialling code | 01440 |
Known as Doomtown in the Domesday Book (1086), there were 280 people living there at that time. Part of it was formerly in Essex.
Kedington's church, St Peter and St Paul, is one of the historical treasures of East Anglia, dating from the late 13th century. However, the church is built on top of a Roman villa, the remains of which can be viewed under small trap doors located in the pews towards the back of the nave. There is an Anglo-Saxon stone cross located above the altar on the east wall of the church. This was found near to the church and is believed to be from a church dating from Saxon times. Kedington comes in the top rank of small English churches and is renowned for its unmodernised interior and Barnardiston tombs. John Betjeman understandably christened Kedington ' a village Westminster Abbey'. The 17th century Archbishop of Canterbury John Tillotson was rector of Kedington prior to his elevation.
Notable residents
- Peter Wildy (1920-1987), Virologist and Chair of Pathology at the University of Cambridge.
- Philip Skippon (1641-1691), traveller, writer, diarist, landowner and Member of Parliament for Dunwich.
- John Tillotson (1630-1694), Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694 and Rector of Kedington 1663-1664.
- Samuel Fairclough (1594-1677), nonconformist divine and Rector of Kedington 1629-1662
References
- Niklaus Mikaelson, Suffolk, in The Buildings of England series
