Grundisburgh

The name "Grundisburgh" is an Old English formation, referring to a burh or fortified place. The Burh in this case is an Iron Age fort with the remains of a rectangular Roman fort enclosure surrounding the church of St Botolph at the adjacent village of Burgh, which stands on an acclivity (hill) overlooking the valley in which Grundisburgh lies. Eilert Ekwall considered that "Grund" was probably the former name of the place, derived from the Old English word grund meaning foundation, referring to the footings of the Roman walls. Grundisburgh would then mean "the Burgh at Grund". Alternatively grund might simply mean land, or the lower-lying ground, giving the sense of "Burgh-in-the-valley", i.e. "that part of (the settlement of) Burgh which is in the valley bottom". One further possibility, considered less likely, is that Grund was a personal name and appears in the possessive form, signifying ''Grund's Burgh''. A further useful description of the history of the area is recounted by the Suffolk historian Norman Scarfe. ==Governance==

An electoral ward of the same name stretches south to Kesgrave with a total population of 2,306. ==Notable natives and residents==

• Bartholomew Gosnold (1571–1607), explorer and colonist instrumental in the settlement of Virginia, and namer of Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod in Massachusetts, was born in Grundisburgh. • George William Lyttelton, teacher of classics and English literature at Eton • Alice Driver, one of the 16th-century Ipswich Martyrs who was burnt at the stake for her Protestant beliefs in 1558. • Sir Charles Blois, 1st Baronet, Tory Member of Parliament for Ipswich & Dunwich ==Notable buildings==

There are 27 listed buildings in Grundisburgh, including one Grade I and one Grade II* building. Basts, just to the east of the church, is a Tudor building, built around 1520 by salter Thomas Awall. The father of his wife, Alice, was the master cook to Edward IV and Henry VII. St Mary's Church is the largest place of worship in the village and is of the Church of England denomination. The existence of the church is recorded in 1254. The earliest parts of St Mary's Church, which is a Grade I listed building, date from approximately 1300 but it was enlarged in the 15th century with the addition of a clerestory. Within the church itself is a fine Suffolk hammerbeam roof and a mural of St Christopher dating from the 14th century, which is the largest of its type in the county. The second expansion of the church came in 1527 when Thomas Awall built – or renovated – the Lady Chapel. A distinctive feature of the church is the 18th-century brick tower built between 1731 and 1732 according to the bequest of Robert Thinge, who has a commemorative plaque within the tower. Another mill, a miniature smock mill, stood a short distance north-west of the post mill from c.1885 until its demolition in about 1957. ==References==