Medieval Times to 19th Century

In the 16th Century, Great Bricett Parish was mainly pasture for the rearing of pigs, horses, and dairy cattle; however, barley, wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops, and occasionally hemp was also grown in the local fields. With the loss of the Priory, Great Bricett probably went into something of a decline; the market had ceased to operate by 1600 and around this time the 2 annual fairs were replaced by one on Midsummer Day. However, it still had some of the Priory buildings. The Prior's house was extended and became a farmhouse but most important of all perhaps, the fine stone Chapel became the Parish church. The nearby Parish of Little Bricett, on the Bildeston Road, was attached to Thetford Priory in the 15th century and thus escaped being classed as “alien”, but its church fell down a few years later and so Great Bricett's church, rededicated to St Mary (patron saint of King's College) and St Lawrence (Little Bricett's patron) served both parishes for many years. This continued even after Little Bricett was annexed to Offton in 1503 thus ceasing to be an independent Parish. Today, Little Bricett does not exist as a recognizable village.

For the next couple of hundred years, Great Bricett was a small community, living off the land, and grouped mainly round the church or on local farms. As agriculture prospered, so did the Parish. In 1674 it was recorded that 42 “households” inhabited 23 houses thus indicating a degree of over-crowding. Isaac Auston's map of 1725 was mainly drawn to show the lands of "Briset Hall" belonging to Kings College, Cambridge but also depicts a windmill south of the church indicating that cereals were grown, a hop field in the north, and the Calves Pitle already mentioned. By 1759 the annual Fair, for butter, sheep, and toys, had been moved back to 5 July and at the turn of the century it was recorded that the Parish had a population of 224 living in 35 houses.

The 19th Century Censuses show that the population fluctuated between 214 and 290. A Sunday School was established in 1827 which had 40 students by 1833. The first detailed Census, in 1841, shows 3 main farms; the Clarke family are running the Smock type windmill south of the Church which ground local corn. Apart from a Rake Maker, a Carpenter, and a Shoe Maker, the rest of the population were agricultural labourers. A Wheelwright and a Blacksmith were shown in the 1851 Census and part of a cottage occupied by James Bloomfield and his wife on The Green was in use as a Day School - well in advance of England's first Education Act.

As the century wore on, the village prospered and a National School was built in 1870 near to the Church. However, the Incumbent, who also held the Vicarage of Wattisham, had to wait another 5 years for his Rectory to be built. In 1871 Bricett Hall was the largest farm in the area at 438 acres, Three Releet came next with 200 acres, and finally Kiln Farm with 160 acres. Ten years later, John Proctor who ran the Red Lion Beer House was also listed as a farmer. The Mill, and the Clarke family, were still grinding corn but there was also a shepherd living at The Green in 1871 and 1891 indicating that agriculture at this time was, as might be expected, mixed. The village school had to be extended around 1880 to take a total of 45 children, including girls, as required by the 1870 Education Act; by 1891 student numbers had risen to 53 and the school had to be enlarged again in 1893. The nearest Post Office in 1881 was at Bildeston; another opened shortly after in a General Store on the Ringshall Road but was nearly 2 miles from the village.

From 1891 a Carrier Service to Ipswich operated from William Beaumont's store on The Street 3 days a week; the service operated daily from 1912. However, increasing industrialisation was now fuelling a national drift away from the countryside and into the cities and by the end of the century Great Bricett was already beginning to feel the cold draughts of change.