Freston, Suffolk
Freston is a small village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England, located on the Shotley Peninsula, 4 miles south-east of Ipswich. In 2001, the parish had a population of 122, reducing slightly to 120 at the 2011 Census.
History
Bubonic plague
Freston is notable as the location of the last outbreak of bubonic plague in England, in 1910. The centre of the outbreak was Latimer Cottages, where it is thought plague-bearing rats may have come ashore with smuggled goods. However, the diagnosis of plague has been disputed.A Neolithic causewayed enclosure lies just south of the village.
Amenities and places of interest
- St. Peter's Church
- The Freston Boot public house, which closed in 2010 and reopened in 2018
- Freston Wood
- Freston Tower, either a lookout tower or a folly
Transport
For transport there is the B1456 road nearby.Notable residents
- William Latymer, evangelical clergyman, Dean of Peterborough from 1560. He was chaplain to Anne Boleyn
- Isaac Eastey, husband of Mary Eastey, who was executed during the Salem Witch Trials
- Clara Reeve, novelist best known for the Gothic novel The Old English Baron
- Foster Barham Zincke, clergyman, a traveller, and an antiquary