A Brief History of Eye

The town of Eye derives its name from the Saxon word for island being almost entirely surrounded by water and marshland formed by the River Dove and its tributaries. There have been Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age finds in and around Eye but the earliest evidence of settlement dates from the Roman period and includes buildings and coins circa 365. Before the Norman Conquest, Eye was one of the holdings of Edric of Laxfield, a wealthy and influential Saxon and the third largest land holder in Suffolk. After the Conquest, the importance of Eye was firmly established in the region when the Honour of Eye was granted to William Malet, a Norman Lord. Between 1066 and 1071, Malet constructed a castle occupying the higher ground to the East end of the Island with a large bailey (approximately 2 acres) stretching westward . Later in 1086-7, William's son Robert Malet founded the Benedictine Priory of St Peter, a cell of the Abbey of Bernay in Normandy. Eye Castle began to lose its strategic importance after 1173 when it was attacked by Hugh Bigod, during the rebellion against Henry II, and later during the Second Barons’ War after which it never regained its former status. A windmill, built in 1561–62, stood on the motte until the circular mock keep was built in 1844 by General Sir Edmund Kerrison. Through the centuries Eye remained a relatively small, although not insignificant settlement and prospered as a market town with an annual Whit Monday Fair and two MPs! Eye was once the smallest borough in the Country and borough status was not discontinued until 1974 after government reorganisation when Eye became a civil parish but retained a Town Council, a Mayor and its

Photo: Mid Suffolk District Council