Rosehill House, Farnham

TRANSAGT IONS ROSEHILL HOUSE, FARNHAM IT may be of interest to members to have a short account of the history of this house, formerly known as Plomesgate Mill.

T h e old name, that of the Hundred, is interesting and would seem to suggest that it is an old and important site. There were only five mills in Plomesgate Hundred at the time of the Domesday survey, Farnham, Glemham, Stratford St. Andrew, Sudbourne and Snape, but these must have been water-mills since windmills do not seem to have been in use until about 1300.

Rosehill stands on a small plateau some 40 ft. above the nearby river and must be ruled out as the site of the Domesday Mill.

There are however, traces of a divergence from the river by the Manor House Farm some 700 yards N.E. of Rosehill, which may be the remains of a moat or of a mill lade. It is of course pure guess work but it seems not unreasonable to suggest that when windmills were introduced the Manor mill was moved from the river side on to the conveniently adjacent plateau at Rosehill.

Coming down to facts, in 1766 Hannah Woolnough (herseif admitted tenant on the death of her husband in 1764) surrendered to James Cuthbert, milier of Bucklesham " one cottage with a certain parcel of land . . . upon which a windmill called Plomesgate Mill has long since been built." In 1784, Rev. George Dinsdale of Benhall (admitted tenant 1776) surrendered to William Wilkinson to hold by the rent of 4d. and a fine of 5 /-, " a certain parcel of land . . . upon part of which a windmill called Plomesgate Mill lately stood." In 1818 for a payment of £100 the cottage, land, etc., was surrendered to Thomas Füller, Esq., of Farningham, Kent, whose widow, Elizabeth left it in 1838 to her niece Elizabeth, wife of Anthony Porter, merchant of Saxmundham. Thomas Füller seems to have built the existing house whioh has the initials " T . E . F . , 1819 " over the front door. In 1886, Benjamin Howlett bought the house for £500 adding to it five acres of freehold land purchased from Mr. W. E. Long for £135. In 1903, Mrs. F. E. Rivis bought it for £900, later redeeming the copyhold and adding to it five and a half acres, now coniferous woodland, bought off Mr. E. R. Hollond in 1911 for £ 7 0 and in 1923 for £30 an Ilex plantation of two acres grown from acorns sowed by the same vendor in 1911.

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NOTES ON THE SUFFOLK FLORA

The above is extracted from some notes left by Mrs. Rivis, " to be given to the Suffolk Naturalists at my death " . She died 18th January, 1958, leaving Rosehill House and land to the Suffolk Naturalists " for the general purposes of the Society and in particular for a place of quiet enjoyment and a sanctuary for wild life."

C.

NOTES ON T H E SUFFOLK FLORA. by

F. W.

SIMPSON

RECORDERS for the Distribution Maps Scheme organised by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and for our own County Flora Scheme have so far discovered few new species for the County and they have not been able to re-find very many of the rare or local plants recorded by the excellent botanists of the 19th Century. T h i s is not really surprising as the majority of the more interesting habitats have undergone many changes or been completely destroyed. In checking the Suffolk cards I have noticed that a fair number of common or frequent plants, shrubs and trees have apparently been widely overlooked, and it is hoped that the gaps will be filled enabling us to plot accurately the distribution of the more important species. The results of this survey will be published in due course, chiefly in map form and in our Flora, so that it is very important that the recordings should be as complete and accurate as possible. Some of the larger groups have hardly been touched and there are very scanty records indeed for the Brambles, Roses and Hawkweeds and only limited finds among the Grasses and Sedges. These are, of course, difficult groups for the beginner, but there are specialists who are prepared to identify material.

This survey when completed will enable us to form a general picture of the mid-20th Century flora of the British Isles. Records must be properly checked and where some doubt may exist a specimen may be required even if the botanist feels confident and that such a check is quite unnecessary.