Glemsford is an ancient village, dating back to Domesday, and before. Although it may have acquired its nickname only last century, it is possible to trace the history of the village across many more centuries through the huge variety of buildings and fieldnames.
Park Farm for instance is thus called because its land was once the deer park for the Abbot of Ely, in whose gift the village was. Park Farm itself stands close to the village church which is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The church is a fine structure and, although not on the scale of Long Melford or Lavenham, is a good example of one of those churches which benefited from the successful East Anglian wool trade of the late middle ages.
Elsewhere in the village are to be found many examples of English domestic architecture across the ages. There are several fine hall houses as well as a wide range of more modest weavers cottages which bear witness to several stages of the village's development over the centuries.
On Bells Lane there is the structure of the horsehair weaving factory which prospered in the 19th Century. On Chequers Lane, a silk weaving operation still continues, having first arrived in Glemsford in the 1820's, from Spitalfields.
Over the years, we have acquired a number of photographs of Glemsford, past and present. Some of these images are included in the collection of Old Postcards.
Early 20th Century
Here we have included some first hand accounts of Glemsford in the Early 20th Century. Each document is saved in pdf format for you to click and view or download.
Glemsford Surroundings
Over time we hope to create a collection of information regarding the surroundings of Glemsford.
For now we have this interesting article about Stoke College.
Walks through Glemsford
Links to documentation of walks around the village organised by the GLHS.