Leiston ( ) is an English town in the

East Suffolk East Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * East Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * East Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * East Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

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 ...

, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at the 2011 Census.

History

The 14th-century remains of Leiston Abbey lie north-west of the town.Leiston Abbey
English Heritage. Retrieved 30 March 2011. Leiston thrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a manufacturing town, dominated by Richard Garrett & Sons, owners of Leiston Works, which boasted the world's first flow assembly line, for the manufacture of

portable steam engine A portable engine is an engine, either a steam engine or an internal combustion engine, that sits in one place while operating (providing power to machinery), but (unlike a stationary engine) is portable and thus can be easily moved from one wor ...

s. The firm also made steam tractors and a huge variety of cast and machined metal products, including munitions during both world wars. The works closed in 1981 and the site was reused as a mixture of housing, flats and industrial sites. The Long Shop Museum, showing the history, vehicles and products of the works, remains as a heritage tourist attraction. In 1927,

A. S. Neill Alexander Sutherland Neill (17 October 1883 – 23 September 1973) was a Scottish educator and author known for his school, Summerhill, and its philosophy of freedom from adult coercion and community self-governance. Raised in Scotland, Neill ...

relocated

Summerhill School Summerhill School is an independent (i.e. fee-paying) boarding school in Leiston, Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other wa ...

from Lyme Regis to Leiston. This was the first major "free school" – referring to freedom in education. Children are not required to attend classes and discipline is meted by pupil self-government meetings. Summerhill has inspired a large "free school" movement and more recently, democratic schools in several countries. The school occupies the former mansion of Richard Garrett, owner of Leiston Works. In the Second World War,

RAF Leiston Royal Air Force Leiston or more simply RAF Leiston is a former Royal Air Force station located northwest of Leiston and south of Theberton, Suffolk, England. History USAAF use Originally intended as a fighter station for RAF Fighter Com ...

, north-west of the town in the neighbouring village of Theberton, sent fighter squadrons of the American 357th Fighter Group to fight the Luftwaffe. Famous American test pilot and fighter ace General Chuck Yeager (later, first to break the sound barrier) flew out of RAF Leiston. The Friends of Leiston Airfield hold a memorial service and flying display at the end of May each year, with veterans and their families attending.

Notable people

In birth order: *

Ranulf de Glanvill Ranulf de Glanvill (''alias'' Glanvil, Glanville, Granville, etc., died 1190) was Chief Justiciar of England during the reign of King Henry II (1154–89) and was the probable author of ''Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie'' ( ...

(died 1190), Chief Justiciar of England, founded Leiston Abbey for

White Canons The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

in 1183. * Richard Garrett (1755–1839) founded the engineering company Richard Garrett and Sons in Leiston. * Edward Buckton Lamb (1806–1869), architect, designed St Margaret's Church in Leiston. * Newson Garrett (1812–1893), born in Leiston, built up the malting business whose premises were converted into the Snape Maltings concert hall. *

(1883–1973), Scottish educationalist, founded the progressive

in 1924 and moved it to Leiston in 1927. *

M. E. Aldrich Rope M. E. Aldrich Rope (Margaret Edith Rope) (29 July 1891 – 9 March 1988) was an English stained-glass artist in the Arts and Crafts movement tradition active between 1910 and 1964. She was a cousin of Margaret Agnes Rope of Shrewsbury, anoth ...

(1891–1988), born and died in Leiston, was a stained-glass artist in the

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

tradition. * Paxton Chadwick (1903–1961), artist and illustrator, taught at Summerhill and was Communist chair of Leiston Town Council.

Governance

There is an

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 ...

named Leiston, with a population at the 2011 census of 6,360.

Economy and community

Since the closure of Garrett's, the town's economy has been dominated by two nuclear power stations on the coast at Sizewell: the now decommissioned Magnox reactors of Sizewell A and the more modern Pressurised Water Reactor of Sizewell B. A number of smaller companies operate from industrial areas within the town. Leiston's High Street serves as the business and market hub of the surrounding agricultural district. The town's facilities include a post office, library, banks, pubs and a range of shops and other services. Leiston Film Theatre, a half-timbered building with street front shops, is the oldest purpose-built cinema in Suffolk. The cinema is owned and run by Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council and backed by Leiston Film Theatre Support Club, which has raised money for stage refurbishment and enabled the cinema to install a digital 3D projection system. The town has a traditional

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church, St Margaret's, with an ancient tower and an unusual 19th-century nave. There are Roman Catholic and Baptist churches on the edge of the town.

Sport and leisure

Leiston F.C. plays in the Bostik Premier Division and in November 2008 reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in its history. Leiston also has a leisure centre, a skate park and several parks. Leiston and Thorpeness Rugby Club was in existence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It closed in 1995, but was revived in March 2010 as Aldeburgh and Thorpeness Rugby Club, with many of the previous club's members.

Transport

A railway branch spur from the Great Eastern line, known as the Aldeburgh branch line, went from Saxmundham to Aldeburgh, with intermediate stations at Leiston and Thorpeness. On 12 September 1966

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

withdrew all passenger services to Leiston and beyond. However, the line to Leiston remained active for the purpose of removing nuclear materials from Sizewell power station. Leiston has direct bus services to Ipswich, Saxmundham, Aldeburgh, Thorpeness and Halesworth.

Education

Other than

, Leiston also has conventional primary and secondary schools. Leiston Primary School caters for pupils aged 5–11 and runs a nursery with 52 places.Leiston Primary School profile
Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 30 March 2011.

Alde Valley Academy Alde Valley Academy is a secondary school with academy status in Leiston in the English county of Suffolk. It has approximately 500 pupils aged 11 to 16, and a staff count of approximately 82. It draws pupils from the surrounding coastal area, ...

is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status, formerly known as Leiston Community High School, then as Alde Valley School from September 2012, after reorganisation involving the closure of Leiston Middle School and conversion from a 13–18 school to one taking pupils from the age of 11.T. Potter (2012
Leiston: Pupils take first lessons in new-look high school
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 6 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012. The school received academy status in January 2015 and was renamed Alde Valley Academy. In 2001 the school had become a Specialist Technology College, and in following years was named as one of the most improved schools in England. It was the lead school in the Schools Energy Network based at the Orbis Centre in

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

Waveney students become energy ambassadors
''Eastern Daily Press'', 19 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012. and had strong links with the Sizewell nuclear power stations.Green.D (2007
School benefits from station link-up
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 20 January 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

References

External links

The Leiston Long Shop MuseumSuffolk's oldest cinemaVisit LeistonLeiston Abbey
{{authority control Leiston, Towns in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Suffolk Coastal