Kettlebaston, (OS map ref. TL 965 502 - Landranger 155 / Pathfinder 1006), is a tiny hamlet with just over 30 inhabitants in the heart of rural Suffolk. It is located around 3 miles east of Lavenham, just off the A1 cycle route, and on the 109 mile Suffolk Way footpath (which runs between Flatford to Lowestoft - featured in the book of the same name by Ian St. John, ISBN 0 9520880 1 0).

The Village derives its name from Kitelbeornastuna, (Ketel's son's farmstead - O.Scand. pers. name + O.E. Tun), later evolving to Ketelbern's Tun, Chethelberneston, Kettlebarston, (which is how the name is still pronounced), and finally to the current spelling. It was first recorded in 1086 in the Domesday Book.

Once in an area of great wealth, the demise of the wool trade was indirectly the saving of the village (as we know it today), since the locals were unable to afford the expense of upgrading their houses with the latest architectural fashions. The number of timber framed houses slowly declined over the years, (as did the population - from 203 in 1841), to the point when the village was on the brink of extinction. By the 1960's, with the road no more than an unmade track, and no electricity or mains water supplies (it still has no gas or main drains), Kettlebaston was barely standing. In the "Spotlight On The Suffolk Scene" article of  June 1949's edition of the Chronicle & Mercury it was noted that a great many houses were category five - derelict, and ready for demolition.

Fortunately the village's fate turned. As the agricultural workers left the land in search of other jobs, (due to the increased mechanisation of farm work), other "outsiders" discovered the secluded beauty of the rural Suffolk countryside, and a new age dawned. The tiny workmen's cottages, (which once housed huge families - and some stock and chickens according to local accounts), were lovingly renovated and converted, and the village was reborn, (and went on to proudly win Babergh Best Kept Village, & runner up in the Suffolk Community Council Best Kept Village Competition, in 1989). It contains a very high proportion of listed properties, (over 40%, mostly from the 17th. century), and is now protected as a conservation area.

Also preserved, (as a County Wildlife Site), is the one hectare Kettlebaston Wood , which is unfortunately only half the required size to be included within English Nature's Inventory of Ancient Woodland.

The village sign, (bearing two crossed sceptres topped with doves), was erected to mark the coronation of George VI. It also commemorates that in 1445 Henry VI granted the Manor of Kettlebaston to William de la Pole, Marquess of Suffolk, when he married the widow of Sir John Phelep - the former Lord of the Manor. In return for this William was given  service of carrying a golden sceptre at the coronation of all the future Kings of England, and an ivory sceptre to carry at the coronation of Margaret of Anjou, and all future Queens. This amazing honour continued until Henry VIII resumed the manor, (and although it was later regranted, sadly it was without the royal service). Other notable Lords and Ladies of the Manor include Thomas de Ryden in the 13th. century, Lady Anne of Cleves in the 16th. century, and the Waldegraves in the 17th. century.

The village has no shop, (it did have in the mid nineteenth century - of sorts - run by Samuel Girt) , no school, (now the village hall - built in 1838), and no pub, (although many people mistakenly call at Church Farm believing it to be a hostelry, owing to the village sign immediately outside)!

In days of old, when the village pump was also located outside the farm, this amusing little verse was to be found across the road:

Our sign is the sign of the sceptre and dove,

A token of purity, mercy and love.

Should you chance to be thirsty, there's nothing to pay,

And our "public house" stands over the way.

Folklore still abounds in this quiet backwater. All the locals can tell you about one of our many witches, (Mumpshy Brett of Stone Cottage) , who, angered that her husband and son were going to Bildeston against her wishes, transfixed them in their donkey and chaise for the entire day! Ghosts, the Black Death graveyard, The Rectory shooting, Kettlebaston is a village that oozes history. This is probably one of the reasons that the producers of the B.B.C. television series "Lovejoy" chose The Old Convent as a location for its 1993 episode "Never Judge A Book By It's Cover", which ironically revolved around the possession of a rare bible, (actually several series were based in the next village - Preston St. Mary). This fascinating building, (now open as a B&B), was once the home of an order of Anglican nuns, (the Sisters of the Holy Childhood), who ran it as an orphanage for 12 London boys. Unusual for these parts possibly, but stranger still was that the fact that the children were housed in an old railway carriage in the front garden, (and within living memory)!

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