The Old Rectory; Land Girls

The Old Rectory; Land Girls. . , The Old Rectory , Walk left down Rectory Street, with our modern Library opposite you, and you come to Rectory Lane. Hidden behind a wall is one of Halesworth's most complete ancient houses. The Old Rectory has at its core a 16th century building standing, quite probably, on the site of even older rectory buildings., You might catch a glimpse of its pond, likely the last remaining part of an original moat, which for centuries has provided a beautiful water feature on which generations of rectors have looked out., In any Victorian town, the opportunity for a 'good get-together' was always welcome, and the Rectory grounds provided the space. Whether skating and sliding on the frozen pond or, in warmer weather, attending the many afternoon teas, fetes and entertainments held there, a visit to the Rectory grounds was always popular. The house is now a private residence., Land Girls , Wartime saw the Old Rectory taken over by the government to assist in the war effort. It became home to the women of the Women's Land Army. When war broke out and many agricultural workers went to join the armed forces, there was a problem. Who was going to grow the food? The question grew more urgent as the war dragged on and German U-boats attacked British ships carrying food across the Atlantic. The Land Girls, as they became known, were volunteers and conscripts. Their efforts helped save the nation from starvation., A 20 year old Suffolk girl, Irene Gibbs (later Grimwood), volunteered and later wrote a book about her time living in Halesworth. “Land Girls at the Old Rectory” tells of her swapping her cigarette factory job in Ipswich to work on the land. Billeted with 30 other "town gals" at the Old Rectory, many of whom could not even distinguish between a bull and a cow, she tells of the back-breaking weeks of hoeing, the dusty work of threshing and the more relaxed days of harvest, in the fields around town. Besides farm work they took in their stride the army on manoeuvres and the US air force stationed up at Holton, not to mention hitch-hiking, wall-climbing and some long-suffering hostel wardens.