Tattingstone

Tattingstone is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England on the Shotley peninsula about 5 mi south of Ipswich. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 540.

The Domesday Book of 1086 records the toponym as Tatituna or Tatistuna. It the location of Tattingstone Place and the folly known as the Tattingstone Wonder.

The parish has three distinct settlements. The main settlement includes the church, Tattingstone Park and the former Stamford House of Industry, or Workhouse (1766–1930). This site was used as St Mary's hospital until it was redeveloped for housing in 1991. Tattingstone Heath is located on the A137, whilst a small hamlet close to the White Horse is connected to the rest of the parish by Lemons Hill bridge over the western end of Alton reservoir.

The Tattingstone Estate was bequeathed to Mr Western by his father's first cousin Thomas White in 1808. Tattingstone Church (OS grid TM1337) has a vault dedicated for Thomas Western (died 1814) and his wife Guilietta Roman (died 1850) and Thomas White (died 1808). The church was robbed on Thursday, 16 October 2008.

The village was split into two halves in the 1970s when the valley was flooded to make a 400 acre reservoir. Alton Mill which once stood in the way of the development was dismantled and re-erected at the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket.

However, Tattingstone Alton Hall was not preserved and disappeared into the water. Over twenty houses and two farms were flooded to make way for the reservoir.

The pavilion which resides on the playing field in the village was constructed using the doors and some of the structural timbers from the boat house that was situated on the lakes that were in the valley prior to the flooding. The pavilion was built by five local men who used to live in the village.

The reservoir is managed by Anglian Water and is known as Alton Water or Alton Reservoir. It is now a haven for wildlife and is used by cyclists, walkers and fishermen and for other watersports.

Tattingstone Wonder is a strange folly built in about 1790 for local Squire, Edward White, who then lived in the Hall. Originally a pair of cottages, a third was added together with a mock church tower and facade to give his neighbours "something to wonder at".

The village has two pubs, the Wheatsheaf and the White Horse but the Orange Box (formerly Waterloo House) closed some time ago. The village shop is also now closed.