Boxford is a large village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Babergh district of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. Located around six miles east of Sudbury straddling the River Box and skirted by the Holbrook, in 2005 the parish had a population of 1,270. decreasing to 1,221 at the 2011 Census.

History

According to

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (born 8 January 1877 in Vallsjö (now in Sävsjö, Jönköpings län), Sweden, died 23 November 1964 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to ...

the meaning of the village name is "the ford where box trees grow". During the Middle Ages, Boxford was a wool town.

Historical writings

In 1870–72,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–72), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was a c ...

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

described the village as: In 1887,

John Bartholomew John Bartholomew (25 December 1831 – 29 March 1893) was a Scottish cartographer. Life Bartholomew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, John Bartholomew Sr., started a cartographical establishment in Edinburgh, and he was educated ...

also wrote an entry on Boxford in the Gazetteer of the British Isles with a much shorter description:

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the same name exists. The population of this ward stretches north to Milden with a total population of 2,170.

International connections

As part of the American Bicentennial celebrations the townspeople of

Boxford, Massachusetts Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population was 8,203 in 2020. The original town center of Boxford, along with East Boxford and other areas in the eastern part of t ...

, visited the villages of Boxford (there are three) in England during 1975 looking for the source of the name of their own village and decided that Boxford in Suffolk was likely to be where the name of their own town came from. As a result of this the villagers of Boxford, Suffolk, were invited to Boxford, MA, the following summer. This drew attention from the media: the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' incorporated a photograph of the villagers in a centre-page spread in one of their November 1975 editions, and a TV crew led by

Bernard Falk Bernard Michael Falk (16 February 1943 – 4 August 1990) was a British television reporter and interviewer perhaps best known for his contributions to the BBC current affairs and magazine programme '' Nationwide'' in the 1970s and the BBC Rad ...

for the BBC ''Nationwide'' programme accompanied the villagers when they left for a two-week stay on 23 July 1976. A TWA Boeing 707 was hired which flew the villagers from London Heathrow to Boston Logan, from where they were bussed to Boxford, MA, and dispersed amongst receiving families.

Economy

There are two pubs in Boxford
The Fleece
(a 15th-century grade II* listed coaching inn) and the White Hart. Riddelsdell Brothers was established here in 1900 and is believed to be Europe's oldest recorded working garage.

Copella Copella is a British fruit juice company located south of Boxford, Suffolk. It was founded in 1969. In 1991 the family bought the company back from Taunton Cider Company. The brand is now owned by Tropicana Tropicana may refer to: Companies *Tr ...

fruit juices are made at orchards at Hill Farm on the outskirts of Boxford.

Geography

Localities

Intrinsic to the parish of Boxford are 3

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

, Stone Street south of the church and the A1071 and that to the east as Calais Street, neither separated by

buffer zone A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demil ...

s of more than 250 metres and well connected by pavements/footpaths as well as roads. Hagmore Green is south west of Stone Street.

Notable people

* Robert Coe (1596–1689), early settler of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. *

John Kingsbury John Kingsbury (died September 12, 1660) was an early resident of Watertown, Massachusetts and a founder of Dedham, Massachusetts. He represented Dedham in the Great and General Court in 1647. Public service Kingsbury was admitted as a freeman in ...

(?–1660), a representative of

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

to the

Great and General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

in 1647, originally from Boxford. * Joseph Kingsbury (1600–1676), early settler and selectman in

. *

Elinor Bellingham-Smith Elinor Bellingham-Smith (28 December 1906 – 4 November 1988) was a British painter of landscapes and still life. Her paintings are in the collections of Tate, Museums Sheffield, the Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection and other m ...

(1906–1988), painter of landscapes and still life. *

Hardiman Scott Jack "Peter" Hardiman Scott (2 April 1920 – 15 September 1999) was an English journalist, broadcaster and writer. He served as the BBC's first political editor, from 1970 to 1975. During his time at the BBC, he reported on, and grew close to, ...

(1920–1999), journalist, broadcaster and writer. He served as the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...