History
At the Domesday Survey in 1086 Minsmere was known as Menesmara or Milsemere. It is recorded as having six households headed by freemen with one plough team. The manor, which was in the Hundred of Blythling, was held by Roger Bigot.
Ranulf de Glanvill, King Henry II's Lord Chief Justice, founded an abbey on the marshes at Minsmere in 1182, but, probably due to an increased risk of flooding, this was abandoned in favour of Leiston Abbey in 1363.
Peat cutting is recorded to have taken place at Minsmere dating back to at least the 12th century and a 1237 description of the coastline describes Minsmere as a port. Minsmere is recorded in the 14th century as being a small village with around 10 homesteads, but these had all been lost to the sea by the 16th century. A survey of 1587 records that the early Tudor period 'entrenchments' at Minsmere were in ruins and recommended that they be rebuilt. During the 18th century the Minsmere and Eastbridge area were renowned as a hotbed for smugglers.
The marshes along the Minsmere River were drained for agricultural use but reflooded during the Second World War to defend against invasion along the East Anglian coast. A number of military defences were built in the area, including pill boxes, anti-tank blocks and barbed wire defence lines. The Minsmere RSPB reserve was established in 1947, making use of the wetland habitats reintroduced by wartime flooding.
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—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“[Men say:] “Don’t you know that we are your natural protectors?” But what is a woman afraid of on a lonely road after dark? The bears and wolves are all gone; there is nothing to be afraid of now but our natural protectors.”
—Frances A. Griffin, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 19, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)