Earl Soham

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Earl Soham
Earl Soham, Church of St Mary
Earl Soham Location within Suffolk
Population	455 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	TM2363
District	East Suffolk
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Woodbridge
Postcode district	IP13
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
List of places UK England Suffolk 52°13′N 1°16′E / 52.22°N 01.26°E / 52.22; 01.26

Earl Soham is a small settlement in Suffolk, England. It is on the A1120 road and is 4 kilometres (2 mi) west of the town of Framlingham.

Earl Soham once belonged to the Earls of Norfolk, the Bigod family (sometimes spelt "Bigot" in old texts), who also owned nearby Framlingham Castle. Edward I granted Roger Bigod permission to hold a market and a lamb and stock fair in the village. The parish was in the hundred of Loes well before 1086.^[2] The church dates from about 1320 (chancel) with the nave dated to about 1470 (Kelly's Suffolk Directory 1900) and a perpendicular west tower c. 1475.^[3] The Baptist Chapel was built around 1863. The school was first built in 1850. Earl Soham Lodge was originally a hunting lodge, built in the 13th century but rebuilt in 1789. For many years it was the seat of the Cornwallis family. The population of the village peaked in the 19th century with over 750 inhabitants.

Sir Auckland Colvin, colonial administrator in India and Egypt, is buried in the village churchyard.