Sir John Wingfield

The county of Suffolk lies on the east coast of England and only has minor A and B roads but no motorway system, therefore the small village of Wingfield can only be found by ambling along the counties high hedged, long windy thoroughfares that cut between Halesworth and Eye, two of Suffolk's bigger villages.

Wingfield, in its prime, was the home of one of the most powerful families in late medieval England, the De La Poles, Earls and Dukes of Suffolk. It was the De La Poles, who in 1384 applied for a royal permit, to castellate Wingfield Castle. This 'castle' actually isn't a castle at all, its rather a cross between a 'feudal fortress and the ordinary moated manor house.' Wingfield owes its name to Sir John Wingfield who was responsible for the founding of two other building in the village, Wingfield College founded in 1362 and its church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew. It is within this church that the tomb of Sir John Wingfield can be found.
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In 1351 Sir John Wingfield was in the pay of Edward the Black Prince as his chief administrator, he was also directly responsible for the princes private affairs. He and his brothers had fought at Crecy, they also fought in Normandy between 1347 and 1348. At Poitiers Wingfield had captured a French knight name D'Aubigny who was the French kings body guard, Edward III quickly purchased him from Wingfield for over eight hundred pounds, using D'Aubigny it as political leverage. ​

Sir John Wingfield died of the black death in 1361. His only child was a daughter named Catherine, she had married Micheal de la Pole 1st Earl of Suffolk. It was Catherine's descendants who went on to become key players in the political life of the next two centuries.