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Possibly few other Town Council offices in the country have a more interesting history to tell than those in Stowmarket. The complex of offices now called “Milton House” house a number of local organisations including the Mid Suffolk Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Talking Newspaper for the Blind, an Over 60’s Lunch Club, Stowmarket Counselling Practice and New Life Church. The oldest part of the building (grade II listed) with part dating back to the 16th century now accommodates the Council Chamber, used for meetings and marriages.

Starting life as the Vicarage the old building has not even today lost that affinity locally and “Milton’s tree” a large mulberry sitting in the front lawn is a constant reminder of the association of John Milton the famous poet and writer with Stowmarket. John Milton’s visits to the Vicarage in Stowmarket began following the appointment of Dr Thomas Young to the living of the Parish in March 1628. Thomas Young had been one of John Milton’s tutors at Cambridge and John Milton continued to visit Dr Young in Stowmarket over a period of some 27 years. John Milton also had a brother Sir Christopher, a barrister who lived and died in Ipswich only 12 miles from Stowmarket.

Infamous characters have also lurked around the building mainly at the invitation of Dr Thomas Young who supported the Puritan cause. Between the lamentable period from 1641-1660 the Long Parliament perpetrated many follies as well as crimes. The Parliament was superstitious and tyrannical and many of the people became slaves of ignorant religious terrors. Witches were suppose to exist in great numbers and a roving commission for their discovery was given to Matthew Hopkins of Manningtree in Essex “to find them out in these eastern counties and execute the law upon them”. He dubbed himself Witchfinder General. In his campaign of terror Matthew Hopkins was welcomed to Stowmarket by the Reverend Dr Thomas Young and a witch rate was levied on the inhabitants of Stowmarket and Hopkins was paid £28-0-3d for his services. It is recorded that two old women named Mills and Lower were “swum” in the local river to ascertain their guilt of associations with witchcraft.

William Dowsing, the notorious Parliamentary Visitor to Suffolk churches, who liked to destroy things, also stayed in the Vicarage in 1644 when he proceeded to have 70 superstitious pictures destroyed in the Parish Church and many of these being stained glass windows.

For something a little bit different in October 1756 the Reverend Chauvet, following the loss of his wife a few years before which apparently affected his mind, hanged himself in one of the rooms at the Vicarage. As a strange result his coachman hanged himself the next day in the stable (now demolished). Since this depressing event the Vicarage enjoys the reputation of being haunted “by a low sized gentleman in a clerical habit”. It was without any prompting or prior knowledge that one of our cleaners said that she always felt extremely uneasy in the attic room and was glad to finish her chores in this particular area. I, too, (about midnight) have witnessed the obvious sound of footsteps traversing the floor in the room above my “old office” but upon investigation found the room was securely locked.

Maurice Cansdale
Town Clerk 1986-2002