Rushmere Common

It was used as a place of execution, with some one hundred recorded hangings between 1735 and 1797 – most frequently for house breaking and burglary, but also for highway robbery and murder.

Nathanial Abblit championed the commoners' rights and in 1861 he had a stone tablet erected on the outside of his cottage, which after the demolition of the cottage in 1961 was transferred to the wall of the Baptist Chapel and reads: This tablet sheweth every person's right to the heath who lives or occupies in the parish, by the decision of Lancelot Shadwell Counsellor in the House of Lords, being applied to when the 800l was paid by the government for the troops exercising there, he gave his opinion that every person must have equal share who cut whins and feed cattle there, so we had all 8l each them and ever since the parish receive 5l a year the troops being few, this 5l is always divided.

Although people have cycled across Rushmere Common for at least 70 years, the route cannot be shown on maps or signposted and the surface is not well maintained.

Sustrans wanted National Cycle Route 1 (NCR 1) to cross the common but were forced to make a detour to the south to avoid the area.

Suffolk County Council requested a strip of land to the south of the A1214 to create a segregated cycle-path, but this was refused by the Commoners Committee.

It is recognised that encouraging cycling on the common will have a detrimental effect on wildlife especially if cyclists are looking for more of a challenge and detour from the footpaths.