Gislingham is situated around the area of Stowmarket, Eye and Diss and dates from at least the 9th century.

The village and the surrounding area, like much of East Anglia, was not immune to the Puritan sentiment that ran its course through the 17th century.

As such it had connections to conformists and non-conformists alike who departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the wave of emigration that occurred during the Great Migration.

One notable emigrant who had family ties to the village was Governor Simon Bradstreet.

[2] The Puritan supporters of Oliver Cromwell destroyed the highly decorative stained glass windows of St. Mary's in the 1640s.