Barsham

Barsham is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is about 2 miles west of Beccles south of the River Waveney on the edge of the Broads. It is dispersed along the B1062 Beccles to Bungay road, 1 mile north-west of Ringsfield.

Barsham Holy Trinity is one of 38 existing round-tower churches in Suffolk and a Grade I listed building. The manor and advowson were of old in the de Tye family, but during the early 15th century they passed into the Echyngham family, whose principal seat was at Etchingham in Sussex. This arose through the marriages of Margaret Knyvet of Mendlesham , who married first Robert de Tye , secondly Sir Thomas Marney of Layer Marney in Essex , and lastly Sir Thomas Echyngham . Margaret outlived them all. Her great-grandson, Sir Edward Echyngham of Barsham, was a notable sea captain in the navy of King Henry VIII, and Sir Edward's son Osborne Echyngham became Marshal of Ireland, though remembering Barsham in his will. The east wall of Barsham church shows unusual flushwork and tracery of diaper or fret ornament, probably representing the Echyngham heraldic coat of azure fretty argent.

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