Hintlesham

Hintlesham is a small village in Suffolk, England, situated roughly halfway between Ipswich and Hadleigh.The village is notable for Hintlesham Hall, a 16th-century Grade I listed country house that was restored and turned into a hotel by the famous chef, restaurateur and food writer Robert Carrier. The business was owned later by the hotelier and broadcaster Ruth Watson.The churchThe parish church of St Nicolas is a typical Decorated church, and therefore not typical for Suffolk. It has many memorials to the Tymperley family and the squint in the north wall shows that the vestry was once a chapel, possibly a chantry to the family, converted to secular use in the 1540s. The stairway to the roodloft in the south wall is one of the best preserved in the county. For about 350 years Hintlesham has been a joint parish with Chattisham whose church, St Margaret's, stands about a mile away, separated by a valley of meadows and woods.Hintlesham HallFor six years from 1448, Hintlesham Manor, a single storey Tudor Hall, was owned by Sir John Fortescue who used one of the rooms as a local court. In 1454 the manor was purchased by John Timperley.In August 1720 the hall was bought by Richard Powys a Principal Clerk to The Treasury and the Powys family lived there for nearly 30 years.