Monument record EYE 091 - Eye

Medieval town of Eye. A market (& 2 mills) were recorded in 1086 (Domesday Book) (S1)(S3). Third (or forth) most heavily populated town in Suffolk at time of Domesday (S2). Robert Malet's honour of Eye was one of the two largest (along with Clare) feudal honours in Suffolk in 1086 and was based on the pre-conquest estates of Edric of Laxfield (S5).
Eye is situated on a low promontory surrounded by the floodplaines of the River Dove and its tributaries. Town Moor (see EYE 029) defines the SW edge, the River Dove the SE & E.
Presumably earlier settlement centre but only occasional artefacts of Mid/Late Saxon date recorded up to now.
Probably underwent significant change with layout of castle (EYE 016, also EYE 018, 023 & 027) between 1066-1071, church (EYE 045) and market place in 11th century. The Leper Hospital of St Mary Magdalen (EYE 025) lies on the West side of the medieval town. The Priory of St Peter, founded by Robert Malet circa 1080, lies about 500m to the E of the town. A fair was recorded in 1135 (S1). Also not a possible Med tile kiln to the N (EYE 024).
For Med bridges (& causeways?) across the Dove see EYE 092 (King's Bridge, to the S) and EYE 048 (Abbey Bridge, to the E). It is not clear whether bridges and causeways existed to the N (Lambseth Street) and the W (Magdalen Street) - both show a ford is on Hodskinson's map of 1783, but it is likely both were originally causewayed at least.
HER mapping loosely follows Wade and Dymond (S2), Hodskinson (S4, showing housing within the promontory and extending N along Lambseth Street), and the position of surviving listed buildings (see listed building data for details) and also includes areas down to drains on edge of floodplains as these are likely to be areas of contemporary industrial use.