Our April 2011 Village of the month is Monks Eleigh, situated about 10 miles north east of Sudbury.

Monks Eleigh is a small yet pretty village in the beautiful county of Suffolk. Nestling as it does in the Brett valley, it lies between the towns of Lavenham, Hadleigh and Sudbury. Monks Eleigh has a wealth of interesting and attractive buildings including many picturesque thatched cottages.

Atop the hill is the ancient church of St Peter's which has formed the centrepiece of the village for many hundreds of years. The current building dates from around 1350. It also shows that the village enjoyed considerable wealth created by the wool trade in the 14th and 15th centurues. Also of note is that it has one of the oldest cast bells in the country hanging in its belfry, and it is still regularly rung even now.

There's lots to do and see in and around Monks Eleigh. For the weary traveller, we have The Swan Inn, which is the local pub and restaurant. There is the Bridge Farm Barn complex at the eastern end of the village, which houses a tea shop with gifts, craft shop and a plant and garden centre - including the well known Corncraft. Many visitors come to Monks Eleigh to walk and cycle around the area whilst enjoying the peace and beauty of the surrounding countryside.

The village is also rich in history, which spans many hundreds of years. In recent times, Monks Eleigh was in 1965 and again in 1981 winner of the best kept village in Cosford rural district. The Queen's Golden Jubilee was celebrated with three days of events in 2002.

In 2003 the village won third place in the Calor Suffolk village of the year, with special praise for Monks Eleigh's new Millenium Green project. In 2004 the village overcame closure of its post office and village shop with the opening of a community shop. The post office won the Best Post Office Branch award for the South East of England.

Today the village faces another challenge to replace its ageing village hall. The Coronation Hall was built in 1956 and the village is looking to build a school community hall adjoining the school building in Churchfields to be used both by the Primary School and the village community. Fund raising is under way and the village is confident that with the community spirit it has shown in the past this project too will soon become a reality; and so add another chapter to the village's long and interesting history.

Currently, the villagers are preparing for a street party to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April. Then in June, there will be the annual village church fete, again held in the grounds of The Hall near the church. This promises to be another excellent event, and another in long series of successful fetes.

Monks Eleigh have just recently launched their new website using the new onesuffolk CMS - Click here to visit the new Monks Eleigh Parish website

If you would like your village featured in our Village of the Month feature then email kerry.burn@onesuffolk.co.uk