Walsham-le-Willows (Suffolk) is situated 13 miles north east of Bury St Edmunds, and in the fourteenth century it was split into three separate manors. The main manor was medium-sized, with an arable demesne of 350 acres, just over 200 acres of free land, and a sizeable but indeterminate area of customary land. It was held by a succession of lay lords from the upper ranks of the gentry, although its exact descent is obscure and for periods it was held in trust. The other two manors were small. High Hall was held by lesser gentry until its absorption into the main manor in 1379, and Church House was held by Ixworth priory. The court roll series for Walsham and Walsham High Hall are full, exceptionally so for gentry-held manors, and they have already formed the basis of two excellent studies of the community during the passage of the Black Death. The fourteenth-century records have also been translated, edited and published. The unpublished run of court rolls from the fifteenth century is just as good, and it is supplemented by a run of manorial accounts. Furthermore, a set of fifteenth-century court rolls has survived from Church House manor.

Walsham ofers an excellent case study for two reasons. First, manors held by lords of gentry status, where villeinage tended to be less prominent, were the most common type of manor, but they seldom leave an archive as complete as this.