The Saints, Suffolk

The Saints are a group of villages in the north of the English county of Suffolk, between the rivers Blyth and Waveney near to the border with Norfolk. The villages are all named after a saint (that of their parish church), and either South Elmham or Ilketshall named after the 'hall of Alfkethill'. Known by locals as 'up the Parishes' the area is found between the market towns of Halesworth, Harleston, Bungay and Beccles. During World War II signposts were removed which resulted in many US Airman having difficulty finding the way back to RAF Bungay at Flixton and other local airfields including Metfield.

South Elmham comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hamlet where elms grew" and is first mentioned in Domesday Book as Almeham; North Elmham is in Norfolk, 30 miles (48 km) away.

The Saints are:

• All Saints' South Elmham
• St Cross South Elmham (also known as Sancroft St George, and Sancroft).
• St James South Elmham
• St Margaret South Elmham
• St Mary, South Elmham (also known as Homersfield)
• St Michael South Elmham
• St Nicholas South Elmham (church no longer present)
• St Peter South Elmham
• Ilketshall St Andrew
• Ilketshall St John
• Ilketshall St Lawrence
• Ilketshall St Margaret
• Flixton is generally grouped within the Saints

Each of the villages also constitutes a civil parish, apart from All Saints and St Nicholas, which are joined together in the All Saints and St Nicholas, South Elmham parish. St Michael is one of the Thankful Villages.

It is unclear whether North Elmham in Norfolk or South Elmham in Suffolk is the site of East Anglia's second See ("Helmham"), founded in the reign of King Ealdwulf (c.664-713) according to Bede.

The Saints is the setting for much of Michael Ondaatje's "Warlight," a mystery set in the 1950s in which the area is described as having a unique culture.

Governance

An electoral ward of Waveney District Council with the same name exists. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 2,242.

External links

• Where it all began — South Elmham Minster
• The Saints from suffolkchurches.co.uk
• The Mystery of the two Elmhams
• Warlight by Michael Ondaatje