G.F. Millin describes a serious outbreak of virulent
diptheria at nearby Great Yeldham occasioned by the
‘scandously filthy’ condition of the village, ‘suggestive of the
London slums’.

existed and this acted as an attractive incentive for men to
stay in the village. All around them workers were becoming
more migratory; the old stability of surrounding villages
and the life in nearby market towns such as Sudbury and
Long Melford, was beginning to be undermined.

In  contrast to  official apathy from the Board of
Guardians  who  often  acted  slowly,  grudgingly  and
ineffectually, the crisis brought out the best in the village
notables, as this from the Suffolk Free Press on July 26
1903 makes out:

 The extraordinary loyalty and devotion David Ward
inspired among his staff explains how he was able to
achieve so much within a relatively short space of time. He
comes over as a considerate, sensitive and humane man
who though known as a martinet trusted and respected his
employees, treating them generously, if not as equals,
certainly as fellow human beings - an attitude unknown to
agricultural workers.

In  September  1903, Mr Ward made  the  parish of  Foxearth a
handsome gift by making public the supply of pure clean water

from  his  brewery.  Mr  Ward  has  now  carried  his  generosity
further, for some  time now  the  dipping  places  in  the village
have been deficient in supply and quality and last month that

Now men found consolation in the polished irony of
being sought after. Hours of work were trimmed largely to
suit better standards of employment. Consequently there
was a mass migration of people to the towns and cities,
primarily due to the insecurity of rural employment, low
wages and workers being subject to summary dismissal.
Without a doubt the loosening of the community ties, and
the new sense of impermanence - change which informed
village life - were not to be regretted.

supply stopped  altogether. The rector suggested  to Mr Ward
that  perhaps  he  could  send  his  waste  clean  water  from  the
brewery across the road down through the village. To this Mr

Ward agreed to  do  at some  considerable  expense  to  himself,
within  a  fortnight  the  pipes  were  laid  and  water  is  again
flowing through the village. There is a reminder that the water

is  not  fit  for  drinking  inasmuch  as  it  is  liable  to  surface
contamination.  We would  ask  all whom it  concerns,  to show
appreciation of this gift, by doing all in their power to keep the

dipping  places   clean,  and  the   channel  through  which   the
water passes, free from rubbish.25

beyond - or simply move away from - the ‘stagnation of
narrowness of mind’ which Richard Jeffries saw as souring
village life. He wrote:

This sort of devoted work made a real difference to a
village but his benevolence, although no means necessary,
proved that an alternative to the usual creed of culture

Backbiting is the curse of village life, and seems to keep
people by its effects on the mind far more effectually in the
grip of poverty than the lowness of ways. They become so
saturated in littleness that they cannot attempt anything,
and have no enterprise.

meeting of the Belchamp Rural District Council on June 1st 1933
when David Ward told them that he had supplied the village for

A modern brewery in a rural setting may sound out of
place but the industrialised village was no new thing. As it
was, Foxearth was typical of many villages in which
agriculture was beginning to be more of a peripheral
activity; it marked the beginning of the end for squire-led

over 40 years and felt the time had come to have a public water
supply. The village lacked a main sewer up until the 1950s and

before flush toilets, sanitation meant human waste was buried in
the garden or used on allotments as a cheap and plentiful manure.