Shimpling

Shimpling is a village and civil parish in south Suffolk, England. Located around 7 miles from Bury St Edmunds, it is part of Babergh district. The village is essentially split into two halves, the newer Shimpling Street and around 2 miles away the actual village of Shimpling. The village has a small parish church, famous as being the site where supermodel Claudia Schiffer and film producer Matthew Vaughn were married on 25 May 2002.

Background
Shimpling is a quiet, pretty village set in the Suffolk countryside surrounded by arable farmland. The settlement lies between Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds and historically its residents have made their living from farming although other occupations included those of blacksmith, miller, carpenter, shopkeeper, beer seller, teacher and so on. Now there is no shop nor smithy, the school was closed along with the post office and police station. However the parish retains the three staples of life in their thriving community - the church, the pub and the village hall.

The Hallifax family
Thomas Hallifax, a London banker, and his family were great benefactors of Shimpling and the surrounding area. They arrived in the early 19th century and purchased many Shimpling properties and farms and lived in Chadacre Hall (built in 1835). Over time they built houses, the school, the schoolhouse, the coal house and made extensive renovations to the church.

The Chadacre Hall estate of 2,300 acres, including 22 farms and 54 houses, was finally sold in 1918. The hall later became an agricultural institute which closed in 1989 and was eventually purchased by David Hart.

The Village School
Thomas Hallifax built this as a girls school in 1841 and thirty years later in 1871 his daughter added the boys section. The school was in use for almost 150 years until it was finally closed in 1989 when the remaining 29 pupils were moved to Lawshall.

The Old Post Office
The Shimpling sub post office was opened in 1852 and was eventually closed in the early 1970s. However, the service was at one time moved to a different house in The Street.

Governance
Shimpling lies in the Babergh district of the shire county of Suffolk. The three tiers of local government are administered by


 * Suffolk County Council
 * Babergh District Council
 * Shimpling Parish Council

Shimpling Parish Council has 7 elected members, the Chairman being Ken Durant. Matters that have been under recent consideration include:

(a) Affordable housing

(b) Village Hall insulation

(c) Children’s play area

In terms of community planning the parish does not currently have a Parish Plan or Village Design Statement.

Church

 * St George's Church - From the time of the Domesday book in 1086 a church has stood on this tranquil site. It is approached by an avenue of lime trees from Rectory Lane. Restoration in the 1860s has left its mark on a mainly 14th century church with a 13th century doorway. The church boasts a fine collection of stained glass. This includes the shield of St Edmundsbury, pieces of medieval glass and Henry Holliday's (1839–1927) colourful work of art depicting the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.

Public House

 * The Bush Public House - This is a 16th century timbered building which has been a public house since at least 1840 when the landlord was Frederick Vickers. It used to have a thatched roof until the first world war when it was replaced with tiles.

Village Hall

 * Shimpling Village Hall - The village hall is the centre of the community's social activities and hosts Parish Council and Women's Institute meetings, plus a range of other events which are managed by the Village Hall committee.

Recreation ground and play facilities
In October 2010 a children's play park was opened adjacent to Hallifax Place. The play equipment caters for all age ranges, from toddlers to teenagers. There is also a recreation ground at Shimpling Road, Lawshall, in fairly close proximity.

Planning
In the adopted Babergh Local Plan Alteration No. 2 (2006) the Built-up area boundary is defined for Shimpling Street with no sites allocated for new residential development. Areas of Visual and/or Recreational Amenity are also defined which protect important open space, visually important gaps in the street scene and recreational facilities.

Much of the parish south of Shimpling Street is within an area defined as Special Landscape Area. In addition parts of the Sites of Special Scientific Interest detailed below are defined within the parish.

Listed buildings
English Heritage lists the following listed buildings within the parish of Shimpling.

Grade I

 * Church of St George, Rectory Lane - Images of England

Grade II*
None

Grade II

 * 8 and 9 Gents Lane - Images of England
 * Almshouses and Primrose Cottage, The Street - Images of England
 * Ashton House, The Street - Images of England
 * Chadacre Agricultural Institute
 * Clock House Farmhouse, Rectory Lane - Images of England
 * Court Cottage, The Street - Images of England
 * Cromwell House, The Street - Images of England
 * Gifford's Hall - Images of England
 * Hall Cottages, Lower Street, Somerton - Images of England
 * Homeleigh, The Street - Images of England
 * Parish Coalhouse, The Street - Images of England


 * Principal's House Chadacre Agricultural Institute
 * Ramblers, The Street
 * Shimpling Hall
 * Shimpling House, The Street - Images of England
 * Shimpling Place, The Street - Images of England
 * Somerton Hall, Lower Street, Somerton
 * Thatch End and Cracketts, The Street - Images of England
 * The Cottage, Slough Hill - Images of England
 * The Hermitage, Bury Road
 * Thorne Lodge, Shimpling Road
 * Village School, The Street - Images of England

''NB: The above property details represent the names and addresses that were used at the time that the buildings were listed. In some instances the name of the building may have changed over the intervening years''

Biodiversity
The parish contains parts of two SSSIs which are defined as ancient woodlands.


 * Frithy and Chadacre Woods SSSI
 * Kentwell Woods SSSI

Landscape
Within the Suffolk Landscape Character Assessment the parish of Shimpling is within an area defined as


 * Undulating ancient farmlands - This is predominantly an area of ‘ancient enclosure’, with an irregular pattern of fields bounded by large, long-established hedges. The settlement pattern is one of dispersed farmsteads and hamlets, scattered between moderately sized green-edge settlements. The area is well stocked with ancient woods of moderate size, usually situated on the tops of the more poorly drained clay hills. In general there are long open views across this undulating landscape in which trees, either in hedges or in woods, are always a prominent feature. The historic pattern of field boundaries has been degraded through 20th century agricultural rationalisation that has resulted in a large number of hedges being removed.


 * Ancient rolling farmlands - This is a rolling arable landscape of chalky clays and loams. The enclosure over a lot of the landscape retains much of the organic pattern of ancient and species-rich hedgerows and associated ditches. There are however some areas of field amalgamation and boundary loss, especially on the interfluves between the small valleys. The settlement pattern is dispersed farmsteads of mediaeval origin interspersed with some larger hamlets and occasional villages. The farms are large but are mainly owner-occupied rather than estate owned. The hedgerow trees are of typical clayland composition: oak, ash and field maple, with suckering elm. Although there are some areas of extensive field amalgamation, overall the landscape is largely intact, and accessible thorough a dense network of winding roads with wide verges.


 * Rolling valley farmlands - This landscape has small and medium sized fields on the valley sides with an organic form which was created by the piecemeal enclosure of common arable and pasture lands. As with the other valley side landscapes the field size tends to increase on the upper sides and plateaux edges of these valleys. Overall the growth and development of villages and small towns in this landscape has been driven by the quality of the land and the agricultural prosperity that it brought. Ancient woodland is mainly confined to the upper slopes of the valleys and is mostly in relatively small parcels.

Economy
Notable local businesses in the parish of Shimpling include.
 * Giffords Hall Vineyard & Wines - Giffords Hall is located in the parish of Shimpling near the village of Hartest between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury. They currently have 12 Acres of vines under cultivation with five grape varieties.  They also produce wine for retail.

Transport
Shimpling is served by one bus service operated by H.C. Chambers & Son:


 * 375: Glemsford / Long Melford - Alpheton - Shimpling - Lawshall - Hawstead - Bury St Edmunds (sponsored by Suffolk County Council)

Education
The village is served by All Saint's CEVCP School, Lawshall, a primary school currently catering for pupils aged 5–9.

Older children attend Hardwick Middle School and King Edward VI CEVC Upper School in Bury St Edmunds.

Demography
According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Shimpling had a population of 395 with 162 households.

Notable former residents

 * Sir Robert Gardiner (Chief Justice) who was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland from 1586 to 1604 was born in Shimpling in 1540.
 * David Hart (4 February 1944 — 5 January 2011) - was an adviser to Margaret Thatcher, a British writer and businessman who lived at Chadacre Hall.