Heading north from Sudbury on the A134 to Bury St Edmunds you will find Long Melford on your left about ten minutes into your journey the last resting place of Edmund Blunden the first world war poet and author of Undertones of War.
“Cricket to us was more than play, It was a worship in the summer sun.” Edmund Blunden
Around the same time as you travel on your journey you could be forgiven for not noticing the direction on the right to the village of Acton, it has much of interest the Murder of John Foster by his wife Catherine by dumpling poisoning, ghostly horses, hidden treasure and the connection to Charles Dickens and Bleak House.
Deep in the vaults of All Saints Church, Acton, Suffolk is laid to rest beside his Mother and Father The Miser of Acton, William Jennens, when he died at the age of 96 on the 19 June 1798 he was known as the richest commoner in England., what happened next in his story some believe was one of Charles Dickens inspirations for the Jarndyce v Jarndyce case in his novel Bleak House.
The case of Jennens v Jennens went on for over 100 years and if you would like to find out more about William Jennens, his family and connection to Charles Dickens and Bleak House, Charles Dickens and the Great Jennens Case by Laurence Ince is a good place to start.
“I will die here where I have walked. And I will walk here, though I am in my grave. I will walk here until the pride of this house is humbled.”Bleak House
Interesting Links:
Suffolk Churches All Saints Church Acton
Charles Dickens and the Great Jennens Case by Laurence Ince
WEIRD SUFFOLK: Could the Acton Miser have returned from the grave to protect his riches?
Photographic Ramblings 