Proceeds of Village History presented to Church

Andy Sheppard from Little Waldingfield writes:

Following the very successful launch of their updated history of Little Waldingfield, proud History Society trustees presented the first tranche of book sale proceeds to St Lawrence Church at the carol service just before Christmas.

The total raised so far amounted to £5,178.00, an incredible sum for such a small village, with monies donated specifically allocated to the future preservation of the fabric of the church. As Rev’d Judith Sweetman said at the time 'We are thrilled and delighted to receive this cheque and congratulate everyone who has been involved with the book. We have just had some essential repairs to the church costed at about £10,000.00, and to have half of it paid for already is a real Christmas present'. 

As for the History Society itself, trustees observed that sales of the book had far exceeded expectations and had generated considerable ongoing interest in the history of the village and its people ‘which was a credit to this small community’. As their chairman Susan Moore said ‘Writing the book has been an amazing life changing experience for us all, and to know that proceeds will really benefit our beautiful church whilst stimulating further interest in our shared history is a truly wonderful thing’. Book sales continue apace, and whilst the society achieves sales without going through any external agency, 100% of sale proceeds will go to the church.

By general agreement the book, which has been widely touted as the model for future local histories, is a delight to read; as trustees wryly commented, the book does make for a very nice Christmas present for anyone with even the slightest connection with Little Waldingfield.

Copies of ‘Little Waldingfield Suffolk, Our Village History From 1840 to 2014’ are priced at £18.00 for 352 sumptuous pages with over 500 glorious colour photos, and may be purchased from the following:

·       Andy and Sue Sheppard, School House, Church Road, LW on 01787 247980 or

·       Di Langford, Pitt Cottage, The Street, LW on 01787 248298

Jenny Writes:

Although now a little late for Christmas, the book, which was very favourably reviewed on this site a little while ago, has been described as 'a model for future local histories'.  It is a delight to read and would make a fine gift at any time of the year for anyone remotely connected with the village, or indeed, for anyone interested in our rural past. 

With Andy's help I hope to continue to cover the History Society's events in the coming year.