Peasenhall is a quaint village located near to the Suffolk Coast. Neighboured by the picturesque villages of Sibton and Yoxford, Peasenhall has a number of shops and delicatessens of interest to visitors to the village. The popular Emmett’s of Peasenhall is a deli which uses traditional smoking methods and supplies a businesses and restaurants in the local area. Emmett’s was recently awarded Best Independently Owned Shop of the Year in the Gourmet Britain Awards. There is also a small café area in the courtyard of Emmett’s where you can enjoy a coffee and sandwich. Also in Peasenhall is JR Creasey, a family butchers supplying high quality and fresh meat.
Peasenhall as it was in 1910
The village of Peasenhall is considered a fine example of the ‘Suffolk Village’. With brightly coloured houses lining main the road through the village, it is a pretty and undisturbed example of Suffolk’s history.
But Peasenhall’s history was not always so calm and idyllic. The Peasenhall murder is an infamous unsolved crime from the early 20th century. The house where the murder was committed is still there today, on the corner opposite Emmett’s. The victim, a servant girl in the house, was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. Following her death it also emerged that the girl was pregnant and it was alleged that the father of the unborn child was local preacher, William Gardiner. Gardiner is arrested and tried twice at Ipswich court but never convicted or declared not guilty. Gardiner is one of the few people in English history to have been tried for murder and no verdict ever returned.
This most idyllic Suffolk village therefore has any exciting history of murder, suspicion and intrigue!
Photo credits from top to bottom: www.pope-genealogy.me.uk, www.kalimonster.co.uk