St James South Elmham: Village Notes

Welcome to St James South Elmham which is set in a quiet corner of North Suffolk. It is one of the six South Elmham parishes (villages where elms grew) each named after its church’s patron saint, which – together with the four adjacent Ilketshalls - are known locally as “The Saints”.

The South Elmham parishes, together with nearby Flixton and Homersfield, made up the deanery and township given to the Bishops of Dunwich who evangelised this part of Suffolk; subsequent Bishops of East Anglia held all the South Elmham deanery manors. An area known as St James’ Park in the south of the parish was the deer park which was still used by the Bishops of Norwich in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Anglo-Saxon parts of St James church are evidence of much earlier roots.

St James sits out on a limb, a deeply rural village, away from the other Saints parishes with houses ancient and modern tucked in among the trees that help protect it from the winds. The climb up to it is gentle and steady but it is the highest parish above sea level in East Suffolk. Agriculture is at the core of village life and still comes right up to its main road.

Its life and history are reflected in St James South Elmham, unusually, having two different village signs. The one shown on the right above, and at the east end of the village, shows a large scallop shell, the emblem of St James, at the top of a tall wooden post with the village name set in the brick base. The second sign shown on the left above, and at the west end of the village, frames village life surmounted by three scallop shells. The cow and pig give an indication of the farming livestock and dairy farms, with the tractor at the bottom representing arable farming. The badminton racquet and theatre mask relate to the village hall and recreation ground. In the centre is the church and the old school behind a fence; the fence represents the local legend of the cuckoo. The saw and hammer represent all the trades in the parish, past and present.