Rushmere is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is around south-west of Lowestoft and south-east of Beccles. Neighbouring parishes include Gisleham, Henstead with Hulver Street and Mutford. The Hundred River forms the southern boundary of the parish.Village profile: Rushmere, East Suffolk District Council, 2019, Retrieved 12 February 2021.
Settlement within the parish is dispersed without a village centre.Knott S (2009) St Michael, Rushmere, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 28 August 2016. The population was estimated at 60 in 2016. The majority of the land in the parish is agricultural with the name meaning a rushy enclosure or lake.
History The village was recorded in the Domesday Book with around 18 households as part of the holdings of King William.Rushmere, Open Domesday. Retrieved 28 August 2016. The population varied between around 100 and 150 between 1800 and 1950 before declining in the later 20th century. In 1846 the manor formed part of the land owned by Samuel Morton Peto. Rushmere Hall, which dates to the 16th century, is a Grade II* listed farmhouse.Rushmere Hall, Rushmere, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
The parish church is a round-tower church which dates to the Norman period and is a Grade I listed building.Church of St Michael and All Angels, Rushmere, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 28 August 2016. The church is dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels and is situated to the north of the parish, close to the parish boundary with Mutford. The majority of the building is medieval and the roof is thatched.Boggis M (2010) Tiny thatched Suffolk church stands proud again, Eastern Daily Press, 30 April 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016. The building was derelict in the 1930s but was restored by the local community and reopened in 2010.
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