Do you know the origin of Sally Woods Lane?

The following article appeared in the EADT on 25 September.  It tells the story of Sally Woods, a dwarf who lived in the chimney of her crumbling cottage in what is now Sally Woods Lane.  See the original article here A singular Suffolk character

A Singular Suffolk Character

ELIZABETH Woods, of Creeting Hills, Suffolk, born of respectable parents in 1714 & now living (May 1800) possessed on the death of her husband John in 1780 a life estate in 12 acres of land, with the house in which they had lived, and of which she could never be induced to quit possession, the buildings however falling into decay were gradually demolish'd till nothing remain'd but the oven & two chimneys, in the larger of which this Singular Character and two daughters persisted to reside 16 years, with no further defence from the weather than a screen of bushes, which they shifted according to the direction of the wind.

A few boards composed their bed, the mother's head resting on a large flat stone, which was her seat by day, and her feet affording pillows to her daughters, whilst the oven served them for wardrobe and storeroom.

In this decorous manner, either the artist Sir George Beaumont 7th Bt or his favourite mezzotinter Samuel William Reynolds, titled the sepia print of the striking scene.

The burial register of Creeting St Olave with All Saints (in the Ipswich Record Office) reveals the information added in red above and calls a spade a spade.

First, John Roberts, the rector of the Creeting parishes, wrote an unusually long entry at the time of her burial less than a year after the print was published:

Elizabeth Woods of Creeting St Olave's was buried the 20th eve of February 1801.

Ye length of her coffin was 3 feet 4 inches, its width 1 foot 1½ inches and depth 1 foot 9 inches.

This singular creature lived some years in the chimney of her house on Creeting Hills.

The Revd Edmund Farrer, rector of Hinderclay until he retired in 1914 to spend 24 more years on Suffolk history, wrote on a small envelope lightly tipped into the register:

This Dwarf known as Sally Woods lived in the lane on Creeting Hills still known as Sally Woods Lane.

Now Creeting people will know the meaning of the name of the lane they still use.

Sir George, who lived at Dunmow, had been privately tutored by the Revd Charles Davy, who was rector of Onehouse until his death in 1797.

It is likely that Davy told the painter of Sally Woods and her eccentric way of living.

Two other Creeting views are shown as well as modern photograph of the lane.

St Mary's church, an eyecatcher from the A14, looked very different in Sally Woods' day before the Victorian restorers got to work on it, and Samuel Read, himself a Needham Market lad, drew this altogether cosier looking cottage in 1857.