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"Wherstead village lies three miles south of Ipswich.
It is an ancient settlement, and from its soil the plow
has brought to light many evidences of occupation by Romans
and by early Britons. In Doomsday Book the place
is described under the names Querstede and Wervesteda.
The name of the village and parish is in our day generally
pronounced Wersted or Warsted by the residents, the a
in the latter case having the sound of a in father.
A short ride by electric railway through Ipswich streets
carries one to Bourne bridge, which marks the boundary
of Wherstead parish. Near the bridge, on the Wherstead
side, stands the Ostrich Inn, as it stood at the time
of the New England migration. In those days, however,
oysters were still found in Orwell waters, and the name
"Oyster Ridge" had not been corrupted to the
name of the exotic bird whose effigy now adorns the swinging
signboard of the roadside tavern.
The fields, when in view -- as I saw them shaded by the
threatening clouds of a gloomy day in June, 1910 -- showed
deep shades of green, brightened sometimes in the foreground
by the hectic flush of wild poppies. The soil is
light loam: the chief crops wheat, barley and roots.
Wherstead village is a scattered array of cottages lining
a crooked lane which branches of from the high road on
the east. The village is devoid of stores or public
house, and the only industry, aside from agriculture,
is carried on in a modest smithy."
A
Merrill Memorial,
Samuel Merrill, 1928 (1983 reprint), p 48-49
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