Elveden is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. In 2005 it had a population of 270.[ The village is bypassed by the A11 between Cambridge and Norwich, which ran through the centre of the village prior to 2014.
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Etymology
The name Elveden seems to come from Old English * ælfa-dene 'elves' valley': the name appears, translated into Latin, as vallis nympharum 'valley of nymphs' in the mid-12th-century Miracula sancte Wihtburge.[Alaric Hall, "Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and Identity", Anglo-Saxon Studies; 8 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2007), pp. 64-65.] During the 17th and 18th centuries, the village was often referred to as Elden.[St Andrew and St Patrick parish registers - Suffolk Records Office, Bury St. Edmunds]
Tourism
Elveden Hall is the centrepiece of the Elveden Estate, a vast country estate that is now the family seat of the Anglo-Irish Guinness family, Earls of Iveagh. Formerly, it was the family home of Maharaja Duleep Singh, who is buried in the churchyard of St Andrew and St Patrick Church; his grave is visited by the Sikh community who pay homage to the last ruler of the Sikh Empire. A Center Parcs holiday complex straddles the northern limit of the parish at Elveden Forest.
Elveden War Memorial
The Elveden War Memorial is a war memorial initially erected to the First World War dead. It is situated at the meeting of the three parishes of Eriswell, Icklingham and Elveden to which the monument honours. The names of the dead of each parish are listed separately on three of the sides of the column's base. To the original First World War listings there are also Second World War additions. The fourth (NW) side has a locked door that is used to access the inside of the column and via a spiral staircase to get to the upper parts of the monument. Small slits in the column's sides are used to light its interior and can be easily seen from the outside.
It is a Corinthian order tall, made of Weldon Stone and surmounted by an urn of Portland Stone. Edward Cecil Guinness family, owner of Elveden, commissioned the architect Clyde Francis Young to design and build the column, which took 2 years to erect and was completed in 1921. It was listed in 1954 and is now a Grade II* listed structure.
War monuments of this type and height are rare, and it is thought that the design was inspired by the Coke Column or Leicester Monument which is located at the Holkham Hall in north Norfolk.
It is close to the A11, where there is a lay-by which can be used to visit the site.
Name appropriation
Operations "Elveden" and (coincidentally nearby) "Weeting" were investigations surrounding the News of the World-implicated phone hacking allegations in July 2011.[ Statement from Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police] It was specifically that arising from the allegations of bribes or offers of bribes to the police, for third parties' private conversation details.
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