Next services

 

Sunday 1st December

11.00 am

Holy Communion

 

Sunday 22nd December

6.30 pm

Candlelight Carols

 

 

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Information

Click on the image to find out more about the village defibrillator

Curates and Churchwardens

Who have been the curates and churchwardens over the centuries? Click here to see the list.

Campsea Ashe Village Voice

A new publication full of interest to local people. Click here.

1921 census

To view the 1921 census summary click here.

Parish Records

Details of transcripts of the Parish Records from 1606 to 1875 are available here.

Our Benefice

Orebeck Benefice website

Our Diocese

Want to know more about what is happening across the Diocese? Click on the image below.

Parish Magazine

A digital copy of the latest magazine, and those for previous months, is available here.

 

 

 

Campsea Ashe Manuscripts

 

The Abbey at Campsea Ashe was once a very important Augustinian Convent, the remains of which can still be seen at Loudham. It was built in 1204 and was eventually dissolved in 1536. There are a number of medieval manuscripts that survive from the Abbey, some in the British Library, and at least one at Cambridge University Library.

The Campsey collection of saints' lives is the only known medieval collection of rhymed saints' lives in French and is held at the British Library. It was written in England and the major part of the manuscript dates to the last quarter of the 13 century although some was added later in the early part of the 14th century. The manuscript was used for meal-time reading.

A Canadian University has made a study of the manuscript and details of it, including pictures of various pages, can be found here.

The Shipdam Manuscript.

A second medieval manuscript belonging to the Abbey was sold to Cambridge University Library in 1949. Prior to the sale it was in the Shipdam Rectorial Library and it was sold along with many other documents held at Shipdam. In 1928 it was described in The Times as follows:

One of the gems of the library is a 13th century English Psalter, with a miniature of the Crucifiction and many fine illuminated initial letters, written for the monastery of Campsea Ash, Suffolk.

Originally it was intended to auction the manuscript in 1928, but this was delayed and was eventually sold privately in 1949 before other books in the library were auctioned in 1951.