David Butcher
Though of Bungay origins, my whole working-life - as a teacher of English - was spent in Lowestoft, at the Harris Secondary School for Girls (1965-9) and at Alderman Woodrow/Kirkley High School (1969-2002). My BA degree from Durham University was in English, Modern History & Latin (1964) and I also hold an MPhil in History, from the University of East Anglia (1989), for a study of Lowestoft’s social and economic development 1560-1730. I taught that university’s Certificate Course in English Local History for its Continuing Studies Dept., at Lowestoft College of Further Education, from 1990-2004 - this being via a two-year, weekly, evening class for adults. My interest in the town’s history, specifically, began when my wife and I moved to Corton in August 1971 - beginning with its maritime activity connected to fishing, before moving on to other aspects of its fascinating past.
My main focus in the study of Local History generally (beginning, perhaps, in boyhood with an interest in the countryside around me) has always been rooted in what a particular environment enables its inhabitants to make of it. For me, starting with surface geology and major topographical features is the basic building-block (including a maritime setting, in the case of Lowestoft) on which to base study of a community. Added to this, wherever possible, is full family reconstitution of parish registers, in cases where the documentation allows this to be done, with manorial and probate records acting as valuable supplementary back-up. Other contemporary sources - such as parish tithe records, account rolls and land rentals, poor law accounts, settlement certificates, legal indictments and decisions, and old maps - can all help to create some sense of the past which goes beyond the merely superficial and creates an idea of “life at the time”, in so far as we are able to represent it.
In specialising mainly on the Early Modern period of English history (loosely, that stretching from the early 16th century to the end of the 18th), one of my main concerns has always been to show Lowestoft within the context of its own local area - as well as within a national one also, wherever possible. Too much “Local History” begins and ends with the first word: local. Events referred to are often merely a statement of what happened, without any attempt at either analysis or placing them within a wider framework. Context is everything, in the study of history, and every effort must be made to reflect this - something which is made easier today by the amount of national government documentation (e.g. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Calendar of State Papers Domestic etc., etc.) and other material which is now available online via the process of digitisation.
The pioneering work of W.G. Hoskins, during the 1950s and 60s, in establishing English Local History as a legitimate field of academic study, was a most important development within the world of university teaching and learning. It is to be regretted that it hasn’t managed to find its way as yet, in some form or other, into secondary-level education in England at either GCSE Ordinary or Advanced levels.
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| The Muster Roll of 1584 | 
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The national Muster Roll of 16 January 1584 (1583, by Julian Calendar reckoning) was a head-count of all adult males in England between the ages of sixteen and sixty, taking into account their mili / 26 January, 2026 |
| The Muster Roll of 1535 | 
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The national Muster Roll of 23 May 1535 was ordered by Henry VIII to take stock of England’s military capability, in terms of the country’s able-bodied adult males and the weaponry they possessed ( / 11 January, 2026 |
| Relocation of the Township (c. 1300-1350) | 
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Reasons for the moveIt is perhaps unwise to single out any one particular event in the life of a community over a period of about 1,500 years as being the crucial or formative one (other t / 5 January, 2026 |
| Misdemeanour and Mishap in Kirkley Roads | 
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IntroductionGreat Yarmouth’s attempted dominance of Lowestoft and control of the latter’s trade only came to an end during the second half of the 17th century, when its legally backed domi / 2 January, 2026 |
| St. Margaret’s Parish Church | 
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IntroductionThe Church of England, as it stands today, is an organisation which originated in the need for a Tudor monarch (Henry VIII) to produce a male heir and secure his family’s tenur / 4 December, 2025 |
| A Notable Rescue at Sea | 
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Saved by the ArgusOne of the earliest balloon flights in England took place on Saturday, 23 July 1785, at 4.25 p.m. / 22 November, 2025 |
| Before There Were Banks | 
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The Provision of Credit 1585-1730Provision of credit in the communityThe importance of scriveners as community bankers in London during the second half of the 17th century has bee / 21 November, 2025 |
| Lowestoft’s “Famous Five” | 
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17th & 18th Century Naval CommandersIt is a claim – not made lightly by this writer – that no town of its size, in the whole of England, produced as many eminent top-rank Naval command / 21 November, 2025 |
| Worldly Goods of Elizabeth Pacy (1682) | 
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An Inventory of all and singular the goods and chattels, rights and credits, of Elizabeth Pacy late of Lowestoft in the county of Suffolk, widow, deceased, valued and apprized by John Wilde, Henry / 28 October, 2025 |
| An Unexpected Royal Visit | 
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On 15 January 1737 – the year being 1736, by use of the old Julian Calendar – King George II (1683-1760) made a sudden and unplanned landing at Lowestoft, on a return journey from the North-western / 20 October, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Inns and Shops (16th-18th Century) | 
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InnsThe configuration of roads and the importance of land transport have always been major influences on the development of towns and their inns. / 18 October, 2025 |
| Three Dwelling Case Studies (17th & 18th Century) | 
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A small house (early 18th century) John Cousens (carter) lived with his wife Mary in a three-roomed house somewhere in the side-street area to the west side of the High Street. / 6 October, 2025 |
| House Design and Interior Arrangements | 
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(16th-18th Century) Construction detailsIn May 1545, the Duke of Norfolk was carrying out a review of coastal defences between Great Yarmouth and Orford because of a perceived in / 6 October, 2025 |
| Three Key Buildings Domestic, Religious and Industrial | 
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In some ways, buildings are every bit as much historical documents as written sources and can inform the observer of many aspects of human activity in days gone by. / 19 September, 2025 |
| Early Modern Lowestoft | 
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Mid-Late 18th Century Urban Status and IdentityThe field of study constituting urban history is both complex and wide-ranging, combining a variety of sources and a number of disciplines. / 15 September, 2025 |
| The Good Cross Chapel | 
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The foundation called the Good Cross Chapel is a lesser-known part of Lowestoft’s religious history, which once stood in the extreme south-eastern corner of the parish near the junction of / 15 September, 2025 |
| The Nature of Farming in Lowestoft – 17th & 18th Century | 
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The type of agriculture practised in Lowestoft during the Early Modern era was of mixed variety, as was the case with most other communities in lowland England. / 6 September, 2025 |
| The Hundred Roll of 1274-5 | 
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When Henry III died in November 1272, his son and successor Edward (thirty-three years old) was in Sicily, on the way home from fighting in the Seventh – and last – Crusade. / 5 September, 2025 |
| The Domesday Survey (1086) | 
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Domesday Lowestoft (1) Domesday Lowestoft (2) - Original/Latin Domesday Lowestoft (3) - Akethorp / 5 September, 2025 |
| The Lay Subsidy of 1327 | 
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The national tax levied in 1327 to raise revenue for the Crown came at a troubled time for the country, for this was the year in which Edward II was deposed by his wife, Isabella, and her lover, Ro / 5 September, 2025 |
| Land-use in Lowestoft Parish – 17th & 18th Century | 
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It is unarguable that maritime influences were the major factor in shaping Lowestoft during the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. / 5 September, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Agriculture – 17th & 18th Century | 
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GrainThe potential value of Tithe Accounts books as a source of information regarding historical agricultural practice has long been recognised. / 5 September, 2025 |
| Animal husbandry in Lowestoft – 17th & 18th Century | 
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CattleThe amount of grassland of one kind or another revealed in the 1618 Manor Roll (about 170 acres), when compared with that discernible in the 18thcentury Tithe Accounts (about sixty-f / 5 September, 2025 |
| The Freshwater Fishery | 
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The large expanse of water on Lowestoft parish’s southern boundary provided a freshwater fishery for coarse fish, which had nothing to do with the town’s commercial sea-fishing activities. The mere / 21 August, 2025 |
| Brewing in Lowestoft 1560-1760 | 
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The Town of Lowestoft c. / 20 August, 2025 |
| The Scores | 
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A good deal has been written about the scores over the years - not all of it accurate. / 18 August, 2025 |
| The Lowestoft Lighthouses | 
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Lowestoft’s “High Lighthouse” (as it was once known) had its origins back in the first half of the 17th century / 17 August, 2025 |
| Fishing Seasons, Catching Methods and Curing Processes | 
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The Cod VoyagesThe spring and early summer sailing to Faeroe and Iceland from East Coast ports (line-fishing for cod and ling) may have begun as early as the beginning of the 15th century / 1 August, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Rental (1545) | 
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Lowestoft Rental (1545) – Suffolk Archives, Ipswich 194/A10/71(Formerly North Suffolk Record Office, Lowestoft) / 28 July, 2025 |
| 16th Century Merchant Fleet Details | 1. Vessels returning from the 1533 Iceland cod fishery voyage: 22 Dunwich, 7 Lowestoft, 7 Orwell Haven [Ipswich] and 1 Orford – making 37 in all. / 15 July, 2025 | |
| Fishing and Maritime Trade | 
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IntroductionFirst of all, reference has to be made to the geographical advantages of Lowestoft’s position on the East Coast. / 13 July, 2025 |
| Maritime Trade and the Granting of Port Status | 
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Formal recognition of Lowestoft’s status as a trading port might never have been given in 1679, had the town not managed to free itself from Great Yarmouth’s claim to control all maritime traffic i / 1 June, 2025 |
| A Short-lived Parish Workhouse | 
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Robert Reeve (local lawyer), who lived at what is now No. 49 High Street and who had his office next door at No. 48, was steward of the Lowestoft manor during the late 18th and early 19th century. / 15 May, 2025 |
| Let This Be a Warning to You! | Quarter Sessions Punishment (Lowestoft)With so much material being available for study of misdemeanour and nuisance (as shown elsewhere in these LO&N pages, in / 7 May, 2025 | |
| Relief of Distress in Other Communities | 
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Late 17th Century Public Collections Taken in Lowestoft / 7 May, 2025 |
| Regulation of the Lowestoft Community | 
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The Governors and Governed in Early Modern TimesIn the absence of research relating to felony, and with ecclesiastical court records left largely unexplored, the leet court business in Low / 7 May, 2025 |
| Sorting Out the Sinners in the17th Century | Ecclesiastical Visitation Material (1606, 1629 & 1633)Before the Diocese of St. / 12 April, 2025 | |
| Lowestoft Manorial Governance (c. 1580-1730) | 
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Serious crime, or felony (consisting of treason, murder, assault resulting in serious injury, witchcraft, highway robbery, arson, burglary, rape, grand arceny, forgery, counterfeiting and smuggling / 3 April, 2025 |
| The Manorial Courts of Lothingland Half-hundred | 
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Mid-16th to Mid-18th CenturyThe Manorial System served both as the foundation of land ownership and management and of maintaining the peace and good order of each local community. / 24 March, 2025 |
| Recorded Illegitimacy in Lowestoft (1561-1730) | 
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The one thing missing from F.A. Crisp’s printed versions of the Lowestoft Parish Registers (1902) is any reference to the baptisms or burials of any infants born out of wedlock. / 18 March, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Religious Affiliation, 1560-1790 | 
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When Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne in November 1558, she had a number of problems facing her – not the least of which was the matter of what the country’s official brand of the Christia / 2 March, 2025 |
| Literacy Rates in Lowestoft (1560-1730) | 
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Among the many interesting features to emerge from close study of the 507 wills and 100 probate inventories which have survived for the period indicated in the title are the rates of literacy able / 2 March, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Schools 1570-1730 | 
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Annot’s Free Grammar SchoolThe single most important event in the process of public education in Lowestoft during the early modern period came in June 1570, when Thomas Annot (merchant) fo / 21 February, 2025 |
| The Apprenticing of Poor Children (1699-1730) | 
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The details which follow are presented as closely as possible to how they appear in the Lowestoft Settlement and Apprenticeship Book: Suffolk Archives, Ipswich - 01/13/1/3 / 14 February, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Overseers of the Poor Accounts (1656-1712) | 
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The largest administrative task by far to demand both the attention and the time of the parochial authorities in Lowestoft during the Early Modern period was relief of the poor – a weighty responsi / 14 February, 2025 |
| Dickens, Lowestoft and David Copperfield | 
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The Novel David Copperfield is well known for its central figure’s connection with Blundeston, Great Yarmouth and the Peggotty family – but, scarcely known at all for David’s brief acquain / 13 February, 2025 |
| High Street Buildings - Surviving Internal Timber-framing | 26 January, 2025 | |
| Samuel Morton Peto and the Wider European World | 
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Centuries of Ongoing ChangeDenmark Road, Flensburgh Street and Tonning Street: three closely connected roads near the shopping-centre and railway station of the Suffolk coastal town of Low / 25 January, 2025 |
| Lowestoft Almshouses | 
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The first almshouses in Lowestoft were provided by John Manyngham, the parish vicar from 1457-78. / 19 January, 2025 |
| Bequests for the Relief of Poverty, 1560-1730 | 
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For centuries, the use of alms boxes in parish churches throughout the whole of England was a means of collecting sums of money for charitable purposes – particularly the relief of poverty where it / 13 January, 2025 |
| Outsider Presence in Lowestoft 1561-1730 | 
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(Parish Register Entries)The register entries below are presented in as close a way as possible to the original handwritten ones / 7 January, 2025 |
| Occupied Ground space 1600s | 
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Nos. 5 -25 High StreetNos. / 17 December, 2024 |
| Properties on West Side of High Street in 1618 | 
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(North of Mariners Street) / 17 December, 2024 |
| Ship Money Levy (1636) | 
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So-called “Ship Money” had its roots in Late Medieval times, when coastal towns and counties in England were periodically called upon to supply vessels to the Crown for use in naval warfare during / 21 November, 2024 |
| Human Migration into Lowestoft – 1696-1735 | 
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In 1662, an Act of Settlement for the Better Relief of the Poor was passed by Parliament – a measure soon to become known as the Act of Settlement and Removal, as it aimed at rest / 5 November, 2024 |
| The Hearth Tax of 1674 | 
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Hearth Tax, as a means of raising money for The Crown, was introduced into England following the Restoration of the Monarchy under Charles II in 1660. / 25 October, 2024 |
| The Lay Subsidy of 1568 | 
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Authorisation for this Elizabethan taxation was granted by Parliament on 18 December 1566 and the official date of collection was 24 February 1568. / 28 September, 2024 |
| The Lay Subsidy of 1524-5 (2) | 
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Comparisons of Lowestoft with other Suffolk communities / 24 September, 2024 |
| The Old Town of Lowestoft | 
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A paper written in advance of the creation of the High Street HAZ in 2019 / 31 August, 2024 |
| “Old Lowestoft” – A Case for Heritage Status and Funding | 
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The High Street area of the modern town is a fine, surviving example of late medieval urban planning, resulting from relocation of the community (between c. / 20 August, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Town Hall | 
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Produced to assist with the building’s regeneration and future uses / 20 August, 2024 |
| North Denes Liver Trench | 
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A large, filled-in trench is visible on the North Denes, a little to the east of the net-drying spars. / 20 August, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Listed Buildings (Historic England) | 
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The Historic England schedule of Listed buildings for Lowestoft (inc. Kirkley, Pakefield. Oulton Broad, Oulton Village & Gunton) All Grade II unless otherwise indicated / 7 August, 2024 |
| The Great Plague of Lowestoft (1603) | 
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Many readers will know know something of London’s so-called “Great Plague”, which began in May 1665 and stretched into January 1666, and in which an estimated 100,000 people may have died out of a / 26 July, 2024 |
| An Inventory of the Worldly Goods of James Wilde | 
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(14 March 1684) An Inventory Indented of all and singular the goods and Chattels of James Wilde late of Lowestoft in the County of Suff[olk], merchant, valued and appraise / 26 June, 2024 |
| An Inventory of the Worldly Goods and Assets of Roger Hill | 
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Roger Hill was a Lowestoft merchant of the second half of the sixteenth century, whose burial was recorded in the parish registers on 13 September 1588. / 11 June, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Occupations 1561-1750 | 
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One of the many interesting features to emerge from the study of Lowestoft’s history over the years, and the attempts to reconstruct aspects of its past arising from the evidence discovered, is the / 1 June, 2024 |
| Recorded Immigration Into Lowestoft 1436-1544 | 
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Much is heard today regarding illegal immigration into the UK from across the English Channel and occasionally the North Sea - most of it driven by difficult and dangerous conditions in the particu / 30 May, 2024 |
| Lothingland Invasion Scare (1584) | 
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A constant matter of concern during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-47) was that of foreign invasion - particularly by France with the aid of its ally, Scotland. / 26 May, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Timeline - 1535 to 1974 | 
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May 1535 - Muster Roll of Lothingland Half-hundred, dated 23rd of the month, listed and named 292 able-bodied men for its defence. / 28 April, 2024 |
| Battle of Lowestoft Medallion (1665) | 
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On Tuesday 23 April, 2024, a silver medallion commemorating the naval victory of the English fleet over that of the United Provinces of the Netherlands during the Second Dutch War (1665-67) was off / 28 April, 2024 |
| The Missing Brasses of St. Margaret’s Church | 
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During the period of the two English Civil Wars (1642-46 and 1648) - and both earlier and later on - parish churches up and down the length of the land were visited by authorised (and, in some case / 27 April, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Population Statistics 1561-1750 | 
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TOP TIP: best viewed in LANDSCAPE / 21 April, 2024 |
| Pre-Medieval & Medieval Timeline | 
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700,000 years ago - Early humans (hominids) present, using flint tools in what is now Pakefield. These anthropoids long pre-dated Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapien / 21 April, 2024 |
| The Lothingland-Lowestoft-Great Yarmouth Disputes (Part 2) | 
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“All Because of the Herring”The first part of this extended article (Suffolk Review, Spring 2020) dealt primarily with the commercial and civic contention between Great Yarmouth a / 15 April, 2024 |
| Founding of Lowestoft as Hluda’s toft | 
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Mid-late 6th century? - Founding of Lowestoft as Hluda’s toft, meaning “the homestead of Hluda” - with Hluda itself translatable as “the loud one”. / 15 April, 2024 |
| Name change Hloðver’s toft (Danish) | 
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869-70 - Township’s name possibly changed to the Scandinavian form of Hloðver’s toft, following the great Danish invasion of these years. / 15 April, 2024 |
| A Seaside Excursion (1797) | 
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IntroductionAn account of this trip, taken by two young men, from Saffron Walden to Lowestoft and back, took place between Saturday 26 August and Sunday 3 September 1797. / 14 April, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Market and Fairs | 
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When the Lowestoft township relocated itself onto the cliff-top during the first half of the 14th century, it had considerations to take account of other than the demands crea / 14 April, 2024 |
| Lowestoft Mortality Rates 1561-1750 | This reconstitution of the Lowestoft parish registers was carried out during the mid-1980s and took eighteen months to complete. / 14 April, 2024 | |
| The Lothingland-Lowestoft-Great Yarmouth Disputes (Part 1) | 
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“All Because of the Herring”Great Yarmouth’s disputes with its near-neighbours in Suffolk, during the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods, are generally well known in outline – if not i / 13 April, 2024 |
| Superstition and the Fisherman | 
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The collection of superstitions which follows is not seen, in any way, as definitive. It simply records a number of the more commonly held beliefs once current in East Anglian fishing communities. / 9 April, 2024 |
| An Historical Account of the Lowestoft Denes | 
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The term denes is an earlier version of dunes. / 9 April, 2024 |
| Markets and Fairs in Lothingland and Lowestoft | LothinglandThe original grant of a market in Lothingland Half-hundred was made by King John in the year 1211 – three years after Great Yarmouth had received its charter of incorporation (M / 9 April, 2024 | |
| Lowestoft and Akethorp | 
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Lowestoft The Domesday Survey details (1086) relating to these two communities have been presented and examined in another article, so there is nothing to be gained from repeating what was / 9 April, 2024 |
| A Lowestoft Deer Park | 
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Recorded on Suffolk Heritage Explorer (Internet) as Monument record LWT 368. / 9 April, 2024 |
| Death on the Denes | 
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Some idea of the vulnerability of the Lothingland coastline during times of trouble may be had from an incident which occurred during the Second Dutch War (1665-67). / 9 April, 2024 |
| Artillery Drill Hall Arnold Street | 
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This building, which stands in Arnold Street, is in need of some restorative tlc and is an important remnant of Lowestoft’s military past. Both Artillery and Rifle Volunteer Companies were formed in the town during 1860, as part of a national scheme to bolster the country’s regular forces, and the structure seen here was built and opened in 1872, having cost £800 to erect. / This building, which stands in Arnold Street, is in need of some restorative tlc and is an important remnant of Lowestoft’s military past. / 9 April, 2024 |
| Kirkley Cemetery | 
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A fine view of part of Kirkley Cemetery, with mature Scots Pine trees showing to good advantage and also indicating that the underlying soil is of a light, acidic nature rather than a heavier loam. Also to be noted as a feature are the matching pair of chapels created (along with the entry lych-gate) by local architect J.L. / Kirkley Cemetery is a burial ground in the Kirkley area of Lowestoft in Suffolk. / 9 April, 2024 |
| Beacon Stones | 
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Much has been speculated and written about this flint-and-mortar conglomerate over the years, and I will leave its alternative title of “The Witches Stones” for my friend Ivan Bunn to make comment. What you see is the remains of the base of a beacon, one of a pair erected in 1550 (on the orders of the Marquis of Northampton), to warn of attack from the sea. / What you see is the remains of the base of a beacon, one of a pair erected in 1550 (on the orders of the Marquis of Northampton), to warn of attack from the sea. / 9 April, 2024 |
| No. 67 High Street | 
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The site of Nos. 64-69 HIGH STREET - occupied by two sets of mid-late 19th century, terraced, triple shop-builds of differing style - was originally one of the largest burgage-plots on the eastern side of the highway (stretching down to Whapload Road) and once occupied by an inn called “The Angel”. / 9 April, 2024 |
| Historic Lowestoft Fires | 
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One of the things most dreaded during the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods, in townships of any size with a concentrated nucleus of houses and other buildings, was fire. / 9 April, 2024 |
| The Day That Cromwell Came To Town | 
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The top end of Rant Score – with the road still bearing the name of a family which held all the land between what is now 80 High Street and the score itself, from the end of the 16th century until / 9 April, 2024 |
| Compass Street | 
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Compass Street originally formed one track with Dove Street - known as Bier Lane during the 14th century, because it was the track by which corpses (placed on a hand-bier) were taken from town for / 9 April, 2024 |