Suffolk () is a ceremonial
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
. It borders
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
to the north,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
to the west and
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
to the south; the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
lies to the east. The
county town
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
is
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
; other important towns include
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 ...
,
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
,
Newmarket, and
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London.
His ...
which has one of the largest
container ports in Europe.
The county is low-lying but can be quite hilly, especially towards the west. It is also known for its extensive
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and has largely
arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...
with the wetlands of
the Broads in the north. The
Suffolk Coast & Heaths
The Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Suffolk and Essex, England.
The AONB covers ancient woodland, commercial forestry, the estuaries of the Alde, Blyth, Deben, Orwell and Stour rivers, farmland, sal ...
and
Dedham Vale
Dedham Vale is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Essex-Suffolk border in east England. It comprises the area around the River Stour between Manningtree and Smallbridge Farm, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Bures, including the ...
are both nationally designated
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
History
Administration
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Suffolk, and East Anglia generally, occurred on a large scale, possibly following a period of depopulation by the previous inhabitants, the Romanised descendants of the
Iceni
The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...
. By the fifth century, they had established control of the region. The Anglo-Saxon inhabitants later became the "north folk" and the "south folk", from which developed the names "Norfolk" and "Suffolk". Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the
kingdom of East Anglia, which later merged with
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
and then
Wessex.
Suffolk was originally divided into four separate
Quarter Sessions divisions. In 1860, the number of divisions was reduced to two. The eastern division was administered from
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
and the western from
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
. Under the
Local Government Act 1888, the two divisions were made the separate administrative counties of
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 ...
and
West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England:
* West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974
* West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019
* West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...
; Ipswich became a
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
. A few
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
parishes were also added to Suffolk:
Ballingdon
Ballingdon is a suburb of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, England. Once a separate village in the county of Essex, today it is part of Sudbury civil parish though it was formerly a separate parish. It is the only part of the town to the south of t ...
-with-
Brundon
Brundon is a hamlet in the Babergh district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the River Stour near the town of Sudbury (its post town). For transport there is the A131 road nearby. Brundon was recorded in the Domesday Book as ' ...
and parts of
Haverhill and Kedington.
On 1 April 1974, under the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, East Suffolk, West Suffolk, and Ipswich were merged to form the unified county of Suffolk. The county was divided into several
local government districts:
Babergh Babergh may refer to the following places in England:
* Babergh Hundred, a defunct hundred of the county of Suffolk, named for a "mound of a man called Babba"
* Babergh District
Babergh District (pronounced , ) is a local government district in ...
,
Forest Heath
Forest Heath was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Mildenhall. Other towns in the district included Newmarket. The population of the district at the 2011 Census was 59,748.
The district's name reflect ...
,
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
,
Mid Suffolk,
St Edmundsbury,
Suffolk Coastal
Suffolk Coastal was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Melton, having moved from neighbouring Woodbridge in 2017. Other towns include Felixstowe, Framlingham, Leiston, Aldeburgh, and Saxmundham.
The ...
, and
Waveney Waveney may refer to:
* River Waveney, a river that forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England
* Waveney District, a local government district in Suffolk, England
* Waveney (UK Parliament constituency)
* Waveney class lifeboat, a class ...
. This act also transferred some land near
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
to Norfolk. As introduced in Parliament, the Local Government Act would have transferred
Newmarket and Haverhill to Cambridgeshire and
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
from Essex; such changes were not included when the act was passed into law.
In 2007, the
Department for Communities and Local Government referred
Ipswich Borough Council
Ipswich Borough Council, founded in 1974 after the abolition of the County Borough of Ipswich, governs the non-metropolitan district of Ipswich in Suffolk. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse collectio ...
's bid to become a new
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
to the
Boundary Committee. The Boundary Committee consulted local bodies and reported in favour of the proposal. It was not, however, approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Beginning in February 2008, the Boundary Committee again reviewed local government in the county, with two possible options emerging. One was that of splitting Suffolk into two unitary authorities – Ipswich and Felixstowe and Rural Suffolk; and the other, that of creating a single county-wide controlling authority – the "One Suffolk" option. In February 2010, the then-Minister
Rosie Winterton
Dame Rosalie Winterton, (born 10 August 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster Central since 1997. In June 2017, Winterton became one of three Deputy Speakers in the House of Comm ...
announced that no changes would be imposed on the structure of local government in the county as a result of the review, but that the government would be: "asking Suffolk councils and MPs to reach a consensus on what unitary solution they want through a countywide constitutional convention". Following the
May 2010 general election, all further moves towards any of the suggested unitary solutions ceased on the instructions of the incoming
Coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
. In 2018 it was determined that Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury would be merged to form a new
West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England:
* West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974
* West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019
* West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...
district, while Waveney and Suffolk Coastal would similarly form a new
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 ...
district. These changes took effect on 1 April 2019.
Archaeology
West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England:
* West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974
* West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019
* West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...
, like nearby
East Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely. The population of the District Council at the 2011 Census was 83,818. The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...
, is renowned for
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
finds from the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
, the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, and the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. Bronze Age
artefacts have been found in the area between
Mildenhall and West Row, in
Eriswell and in
Lakenheath
Lakenheath is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It has a population of 4,691 according to the 2011 Census, and is situated close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, ...
.
Many bronze objects, such as swords, spearheads, arrows, axes,
palstave {{Short description, European Bronze Age axe
A palstave is a type of early bronze axe. It was common in the middle Bronze Age in northern, western and south-western Europe. In the technical sense, although precise definitions differ, an axe is gener ...
s, knives, daggers, rapiers, armour, decorative equipment (in particular for horses), and fragments of sheet bronze, are entrusted to St. Edmundsbury heritage service, housed at
West Stow just outside Bury St. Edmunds. Other finds include traces of
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
s and
barrows.
In the east of the county is
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the English town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a ...
, the site of one of England's most significant
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
archaeological finds, a ship burial containing a collection of treasures including a
sword of state,
helmet, gold and silver bowls, jewellery and a
lyre
The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...
.
In 1992 a famous
hoard
A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...
of late Roman gold and silver was discovered in the village of
Hoxne. It is still the largest
hoard
A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...
of its kind to have been discovered in Britain.
While carrying out surveys before installing a pipeline in 2014, archaeologists for
Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial Water privatisation in England and Wales, privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment ...
discovered nine skeletons and four cremation pits, at
Bardwell,
Barnham,
Pakenham and
Rougham, all near Bury St Edmunds. Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and medieval items were also unearthed, along with the 9 skeletons believed to be of the late or
post-Roman era (AD 300–500). Experts said the 5-month project had recovered enough artefacts to fill half a shipping container, and that the discoveries had shed new light on their understanding of the development of small rural communities.
A number of 6th century
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
"grub huts" were also found nearby, which are believed to be cellars beneath Saxon buildings.
In 2019, an excavation of a 4th-century
Roman cemetery in
Great Whelnetham
Great Whelnetham (sometimes Great Welnetham) is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around two miles south of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 820.
The parish also contains th ...
uncovered unusual burial practices. Of 52 skeletons were found, a large number had been
decapitated, which archaeologists claimed gave new insight in to Roman traditions. The burial ground includes the remains of men, women and children who likely lived in a nearby settlement. The fact that up to 40% of the bodies were decapitated represents "quite a rare find".
A survey in 2020 named Suffolk the third best place in the UK for aspiring archaeologists, and showed that the area was especially rich in finds from the Roman period, with over 1500 objects found in the preceding year.
In July 2020,
metal detectorist Luke Mahoney, found 1061 silver hammered coins estimated to be worth £100,000 in
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
. The coins dated back to the 15th–17th century, according to experts.
In September 2020, archaeologists announced the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery with 17 cremations and 191 burials dating back to the 7th century in Oulton, near
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 ...
. The graves contained the remains of men, women and children, as well as artefacts including small iron knives and silver pennies, wrist clasps, strings of amber and glass beads. According to Andrew Peachey, who carried out the excavations, the skeletons had mostly vanished because of the highly acidic soil. They, fortunately, were preserved as brittle shapes and "sand silhouettes" in the sand.
Suffolk Pink
Villages and towns in Suffolk are renowned for historic pink-washed halls and cottages, which has become known far and wide as "Suffolk Pink". Decorative paint colours found in the county can range from a pale shell shade, to a deep blush brick colour.
According to research, Suffolk Pink dates back to the
14th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 ( MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 ( MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and n ...
, where these shades were developed by local dyers by adding natural substances to a traditional
limewash mix. Additives used in this process include
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
or
ox blood with
buttermilk
Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mod ...
,
elderberries and
sloe juice.
Locals and historians often state that a true Suffolk Pink should be a "deep dusky terracotta shade", rather than the more popular pastel hue of modern times. This has caused controversy in the past when home and business-owners alike have been reprimanded for using colours deemed incorrect, with some being forced to repaint to an acceptable shade. In 2013, famous chef
Marco Pierre White had his 15th century hotel, The Angel, in Lavenham, decorated a shade of pink that was not traditional Suffolk Pink. He was required by local authorities to repaint.
In another example of Suffolk taking its colours seriously, a home-owner in
Lavenham
Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medie ...
was obligated to paint their
Grade 1 listed cottage Suffolk Pink, to make it match a neighbouring property. The local council said it wanted all of the cottages on that particular part of the road to be the same colour, because they were a single building historically (300 years earlier).
County landmarks that are painted Suffolk Pink include the cottages in front of St Mary's Church in the village of
Cavendish.
The historic Suffolk Pink colour has also inspired the name of a British
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
.
Geography
Located in the
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
,
much of Suffolk is low-lying, founded on
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
and
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
s. These rocks are relatively
unresistant and the coast is
eroding rapidly.
Coastal defences
Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...
have been used to protect several towns, but several cliff-top houses have been lost to
coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
and others are under threat. The continuing protection of the coastline and the
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
, including the
Blyth,
Alde and
Deben, has been, and remains, a matter of considerable discussion.
The coastal strip to the East contains an area of
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
known as "The Sandlings" which runs almost the full length of the coastline. Suffolk is also home to nature reserves, such as the
RSPB
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...
site at
Minsmere
Minsmere is a place in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast around north of Leiston and south-east of Westleton within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. It is the site of the Minsmere RSPB reserve and the origina ...
, and
Trimley Marshes
Trimley Marshes is a 77 hectare nature reserve west of Trimley St Mary, on the outskirts of Felixstowe in Suffolk. It is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Orwell ...
, a wetland under the protection of
Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The clay plateau inland, deeply intercut by rivers, is often referred to as 'High Suffolk'.
The west of the county lies on more resistant
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
. This chalk is responsible for a sweeping tract of largely
downland landscapes that stretches from
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
in the south west to
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
in the south east and north through
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
to the
Yorkshire Wolds. The chalk is less easily eroded so forms the only significant hills in the county. The highest point in the county is
Great Wood Hill
At , Great Wood Hill, near Chedburgh, is the highest point in the English county of Suffolk. It is part of the Newmarket Ridge. The summit is in the middle of a wood, near the village of Rede.
It is the highest point in the wide area east o ...
, with an elevation of . It is the highest point of the
Newmarket Ridge
The Newmarket Ridge or East Anglian Ridge is a ridge starting north-west of Hertford, Hertfordshire near the Chiltern Hills and ending near Sudbury, Suffolk. It is approximately long and passes through Essex and south-east Cambridgeshire.
Eleva ...
and is near the villages of
Rede and
Chedburgh
Chedburgh is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the A143 around five miles south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 650, reducing to 597 at the 2011 Census.
Great ...
.
The county flower is the
oxlip
''Primula elatior'', the oxlip (or true oxlip), is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts of ...
.
Demography
According to estimates by the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for th ...
, the population of Suffolk in 2014 was 738,512, split almost evenly between males and females. Roughly 22% of the population was aged 65 or older, and 90.84% were "
White British
White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...
".
Historically, the county's population has mostly been employed as agricultural workers. An 1835 survey showed Suffolk to have 4,526 occupiers of land employing labourers, 1,121 occupiers not employing labourers, 33,040 labourers employed in agriculture, 676 employed in manufacture, 18,167 employed in retail trade or handicraft, 2,228 'capitalists, bankers etc.', 5,336 labourers (non-agricultural), 4,940 other males aged over 20, 2,032 male servants and 11,483 female servants. The same publication records the total population of the county at 296,304.
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a
Tyke from
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
and a
Yellowbelly from
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
. A traditional nicknames for people from Suffolk is 'Suffolk Fair-Maids' referring to the supposed beauty of its female inhabitants in the Middle Ages.
Another is 'Silly Suffolk', often assumed to be derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
word
sælig in the meaning 'blessed' referring to the long history of Christianity in the county. However, use of the term 'Silly Suffolk' can actually be dated to no earlier than 1819, and its alleged medieval origins have been shown to be mythical.
There are several towns in the county with Ipswich being the largest and most populous. At the time of the 2011 census, a population of 730,000 lived in the county with 133,384 living in Ipswich. The table below shows all towns with over 20,000 inhabitants.
Economy
The majority of agriculture in Suffolk is either
arable or
mixed. Farm sizes vary from anything around 80 acres (32 hectares) to over 8,000. Soil types vary from heavy clays to light sands. Crops grown include
winter wheat
Winter wheat (usually ''Triticum aestivum'') are strains of wheat that are planted in the autumn to germinate and develop into young plants that remain in the vegetative phase during the winter and resume growth in early spring. Classification ...
,
winter barley,
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
,
oilseed rape
Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...
, winter and
spring beans
The Spring Framework is an application framework and inversion of control container for the Java platform. The framework's core features can be used by any Java application, but there are extensions for building web applications on top of the Java ...
and
linseed, although smaller areas of rye and oats can be found growing in areas with lighter soils along with a variety of vegetables.
The continuing importance of agriculture in the county is reflected in the
Suffolk Show
The Suffolk Show is an annual show that takes place in Trinity Park on the eastern edge of Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away f ...
, which is held annually in May at Ipswich. Although latterly somewhat changed in nature, this remains primarily an
agricultural show.
Well-known companies in Suffolk include
Greene King and
Branston Pickle
Branston is an English food brand best known for the original Branston Pickle, a jarred pickled chutney first made in 1922 in the village of Branston near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire by Crosse & Blackwell. The Branston factory proved to b ...
in Bury St Edmunds.
Birds Eye has its largest UK factory in Lowestoft, where all its meat products and frozen vegetables are processed.
Huntley & Palmers
Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and r ...
biscuit company has a base in Sudbury. The UK
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
industry is based in Newmarket. There are two
USAF bases in the west of the county close to the
A11.
Sizewell B nuclear power station
The Sizewell nuclear site consists of two nuclear power stations, one of which is still operational, located near the small fishing village of Sizewell in Suffolk, England. Sizewell A, with two Magnox reactors, is now in the process of being de ...
is at
Sizewell
Sizewell is an English fishing hamlet in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It belongs to the civil parish of Leiston and lies on the North Sea coast just north of the larger holiday village of Thorpeness, between the coastal towns ...
on the coast near
Leiston
Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, 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 ...
.
Bernard Matthews Farms
Bernard Matthews Holdings Ltd., trading as Bernard Matthews Foods Ltd, is a British farming and food products business with its headquarters in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, England, which specialises in turkey products.
Founded by Bernard Matt ...
have some processing units in the county, specifically
Holton.
Southwold is the home of
Adnams Brewery
Adnams is a regional brewery founded in 1872 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. It produces cask ale and bottled beers. Annual production is around 85,000 barrels.
In 2010, the company established the Copper House d ...
. The
Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a han ...
is the largest
container port in the United Kingdom. Other ports are at
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 ...
and Ipswich, run by
Associated British Ports
Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...
.
BT has its main research and development facility at
Martlesham Heath.
Below is a chart of regional gross value added of Suffolk at current basic prices published by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Education
Primary, secondary and further education
Suffolk has a
comprehensive education system with fourteen independent schools. Unusually for the UK, some of Suffolk had a
3-tier school system in place with primary schools (ages 5–9),
middle schools
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
(ages 9–13) and upper schools (ages 13–16). However, a 2006 Suffolk County Council study concluded that Suffolk should move to the 2-tier school system used in the majority of the UK. For the purpose of conversion to 2-tier, the 3-tier system was divided into 4 geographical area groupings and corresponding phases. The first phase was the conversion of schools in Lowestoft and Haverhill in 2011, followed by schools in north and west Suffolk in 2012. The remainder of the changeovers to 2-tier took place from 2013, for those schools that stayed within Local government control, and did not become
Academies and/or
free schools. The majority of schools thus now (2019) operate the more common primary to high school (11–16).
Many of the county's upper schools have a
sixth form
In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
and most
further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
colleges in the county offer
A-level
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
courses. In terms of school population, Suffolk's individual schools are large with the Ipswich district with the largest school population and Forest Heath the smallest, with just two schools. In 2013, a letter said that "...nearly a fifth of the schools inspected were judged inadequate. This is unacceptable and now means that Suffolk has a higher proportion of pupils educated in inadequate schools than both the regional and national averages."
The Royal Hospital School near Ipswich is the largest independent boarding school in Suffolk. Other boarding schools within Suffolk include Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School,
Culford School
Culford School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school for pupils age 1-18 in the village of Culford, miles north of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. The headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Confer ...
,
Finborough School
Finborough School is a co-educational independent school. It is situated in and around Finborough Hall, in the village of Great Finborough, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
History
The original school, named St. George's School, was fou ...
,
Framlingham College,
Ipswich High School,
Ipswich School,
Orwell Park School
Orwell Park School is a day and boarding preparatory school for boys and girls in the village of Nacton on the edge of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. Founded in 1868 in Lowestoft, the school currently accommodates around 300 boys and ...
,
Saint Felix School and
Woodbridge School.
The Castle Partnership Academy Trust in Haverhill is the county's only All-through Academy Chain. Comprising
Castle Manor Academy
Castle Manor Academy ''(formerly Castle Manor Business and Enterprise College)'' is a secondary phase converter academy school in Haverhill, Suffolk
Haverhill ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next ...
and Place Farm Primary Academy, the Academy Trust supports all-through education and provides opportunities for young people aged 3 to 18.
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
s in the county include
Lowestoft Sixth Form College
Lowestoft Sixth Form College is a sixth-form college in the town of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. The college opened in September 2011, replacing sixth form provision in the existing high schools in Lowestoft. The college is a membe ...
and
One
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
in Ipswich. Suffolk is home to four further education colleges:
Lowestoft College
East Coast College is a Further Education (FE) college which has campuses in Lowestoft, Suffolk and Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Following a six-month pilot area review in 2014, it was proposed that the merger of Great Yarmouth College and Lowestoft C ...
,
Easton & Otley College,
Suffolk New College
Suffolk New College (formerly Suffolk College) is a further education college in Ipswich. It provides courses for students from across south Suffolk. In 2009 it constructed a new building costing £70 million.
Overview
Suffolk New College is ...
(Ipswich) and
West Suffolk College
West Suffolk College is a Further Education college in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The college delivers a range of courses, including vocational and technical courses, apprenticeships, and an array of higher-apprenticeships and bachelor's degree ...
(Bury St Edmunds).
Tertiary education
The county has one university, with branches spread across different towns.
University of Suffolk
The University of Suffolk is a public university situated in Suffolk and Norfolk, England. The modern university was established in 2007 as University Campus Suffolk (UCS), the institution was founded as a unique collaboration between the Univer ...
was, prior to August 2016, known as University Campus Suffolk. Up until it became independent it was a collaboration between the
University of Essex and the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
which sponsored its formation and validated its degrees.
[University Campus Suffolk](_blank)
, University of Essex. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
, ''Daily Telegraph'', 21 June 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2012. UOS accepted its first students in September 2007. Until then Suffolk was one of only four
counties in England which did not have a university campus.
The University of Suffolk was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in November 2015, and in May 2016 it was awarded University status by the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
and renamed The University of Suffolk on 1 August 2016.
The university operates at five sites with its central hub in
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
. Others include
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 ...
,
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...
, and
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
in Norfolk.
[University Campus Suffolk](_blank)
, University of East Anglia. Retrieved 28 September 2012. The university operates two academic faculties and in had students. Some 30% of the student body are classed as mature students and 68% of university students are female.
Culture
Arts
Founded in 1948 by
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, the annual
Aldeburgh Festival is one of the UK's major classical music festivals. Originating in
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...
, it has been held at the nearby
Snape Maltings since 1967. Since 2006,
Henham Park
Henham Park is an historic estate in the parish of Wangford with Henham, situated north of the village of Blythburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The park is bordered to the east by the A12 road and to the west by the A145, the two roads ...
, has been home to the annual
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since, apart from 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 ...
. This mainly open-air festival, which has grown considerably in size and scope, includes popular music, comedy, poetry and literary events. The
FolkEast
FolkEast is an English music festival which started in 2012 at Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk, England. In 2013, it relocated to Glemham Hall in Little Glemham, Suffolk, where it currently holds its annual festival on the weekend before the August bank ...
festival is held at
Glemham Hall
Glemham Hall is an Elizabethan stately home, set in around of park land on the outskirts of the village of Little Glemham in Suffolk, England. It is a Grade I listed building, properly called Little Glemham Hall.
History
It was built around ...
in August and attracts international acoustic, folk and roots musicians whilst also championing local businesses, heritage and crafts. In 2015 it was also home to the first instrumental festival of musical instruments and makers. More recently,
LeeStock Music Festival
The LeeStock Music Festival (originally known as LeeFest) is an annual music festival, held in Long Melford, Suffolk, since 2006 in memory of a local man, Lee Dunford, who died the same year. The festival raises money for the Willow Foundation, ...
has been held in
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes)
** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
. A celebration of the county, "Suffolk Day", was instigated in 2017.
Dialect
The
Suffolk dialect
East Anglian English is a dialect of English spoken in East Anglia, primarily in or before the mid-20th century. East Anglian English has had a very considerable input into modern Estuary English, which has largely replaced it. However, it has r ...
is very distinctive.
Epenthesis
In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epenth ...
and
yod-dropping
The phonological history of the English language includes various changes in the phonology of consonant clusters.
H-cluster reductions
The H-cluster reductions are various consonant reductions that have occurred in the history of English, inv ...
is common, along with non-conjugation of verbs.
Sport
Football
The county's sole professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club is
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
. Formed in 1878, the club were
Football League champions in
1961–62,
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
winners in
1977–78 and
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
winners in
1980–81; as of the
2022–23 season, Ipswich Town play in
League One, the third tier of English football. The club has as part of its
crest
Crest or CREST may refer to:
Buildings
*The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York
*"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York
*Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...
the
Suffolk Punch, a now endangered breed of
draught horse native to the county. The next highest ranked teams in Suffolk are
Leiston
Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, 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 ...
and
Needham Market
Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market.
History
It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. ...
, who both participate in the Southern League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football.
Horse racing
The town of
Newmarket is the headquarters of
British horseracing – home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations including the
National Stud, and
Newmarket Racecourse
Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...
.
Tattersalls bloodstock auctioneers and the
National Horseracing Museum
Palace House is the home of the National Horse Racing Museum in the remaining part of Charles II's racing palace in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. It is home to the National Horse Racing Museum, the British Sporting Art Trust and Retraining of Rac ...
are also in the town.
Point to point racing takes place at
Higham and
Ampton.
Speedway
Speedway
Speedway may refer to:
Racing Race tracks
*Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta
*Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana
Types of races and race cours ...
racing has been staged in Suffolk since at least the 1950s, following the construction of the
Foxhall Stadium
Foxhall Stadium is a Stock car
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using car ...
, just outside Ipswich, home of the
Ipswich Witches. The Witches are currently members of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, the UK's first division.
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
team
Mildenhall Fen Tigers
The Mildenhall Fen Tigers are a British speedway team, founded in 1975 and currently riding in the National Development League.
History
1971–1989
The original track was built in 1971 on farm land owned by Terry Waters, with chef Bernie Klat ...
are also from Suffolk.
Cricket
Suffolk C.C.C. compete in the Eastern Division of the
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...
. The club has won the championship three times outright and has shared the title one other time as well as winning the
MCCA Knockout Trophy once. Home games are played in Bury St Edmunds,
Copdock
Copdock is a village and former civil parish in county of Suffolk, south-eastern England. In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 399.
Location
Copdock is south-west of Ipswich. It is located on the former A12 road (now designated as the C ...
,
Exning
Exning is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England.
It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly east-northeast of Cambridge, and south-southeast of Ely. The nearest large town is Newmarket.
The ...
,
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...
, Ipswich and Mildenhall.
Suffolk in popular culture
Novels set in Suffolk include parts of ''
David Copperfield'' by
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, ''
The Fourth Protocol
''The Fourth Protocol'' is a thriller novel by British writer Frederick Forsyth, published in August 1984.
Etymology
The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which (at least in the world of the novel) contained four secr ...
'', by
Frederick Forsyth, ''
Unnatural Causes'' by
P.D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuring t ...
,
Dodie Smith
Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (3 May 1896 – 24 November 1990) was an English novelist and playwright. She is best known for writing ''I Capture the Castle'' (1948) and the children's novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1956). Other works i ...
's ''
The Hundred and One Dalmatians
''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' is a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian (dog), Dalmatian puppies. It was originally serialized in ''Woman's Day'' as ''The Great Dog Robbery'', and details the ...
'', ''
The Rings of Saturn
''The Rings of Saturn'' (german: Die Ringe des Saturn: Eine englische Wallfahrt - An English Pilgrimage) is a 1995 novel by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its first-person narrative arc is the account by a nameless narrator (who resembles the ...
'' by
W. G. Sebald
Winfried Georg Sebald (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001), known as W. G. Sebald or (as he preferred) Max Sebald, was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by literary critics as one of the g ...
, and among
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...
's children's books, ''
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea
''We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea'' is the seventh book in Arthur Ransome's ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books. It was published in 1937. In this book, the Swallows (John, Susan, Titty and Roger Walker) are the only recurring cha ...
,
Coot Club
''Coot Club'' is the fifth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1934. The book sees Dick and Dorothea Callum visiting the Norfolk Broads during the Easter holidays, eager to learn to sail and ...
'' and ''
Secret Water
''Secret Water'' is the eighth book in Arthur Ransome's ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books. It was published on 28 November 1939.
This book is set in and around Hamford Water in Essex, close to the resort town of Walton-on-th ...
'' take place in part in the county. Roald Dahl's short story
"The Mildenhall Treasure" is set in Mildenhall.
A TV series about a British antiques dealer, ''
Lovejoy
''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...
'', was filmed in various locations in Suffolk. The reality TV series ''
Space Cadets'' was filmed in
Rendlesham Forest
Rendlesham Forest is a mixed woodland in Suffolk owned by Forestry England with recreation facilities for walkers, cyclists and campers.
Geography
The forest is in the parishes of Bromeswell in the west, Eyke, Capel St Andrew to the south, a ...
, although the producers fooled participants into believing that they were in Russia. Several towns and villages in the county have been used for location filming of other television programmes and cinema films. These include the
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 TV series ''
Detectorists'', an episode of ''
Kavanagh QC
''Kavanagh QC'' is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. All five series are available on DVD in both Region 1 and Region 2.
Plot
The series starred John Thaw as barrister James Kavanagh QC, wh ...
,'' and the films ''
Iris and'' ''
Drowning by Numbers
''Drowning by Numbers'' is a 1988 British-Dutch film directed by Peter Greenaway. It won the award for Best Artistic Contribution at the Cannes Film Festival of 1988.
Plot
The film's plot centres on three married women — a grandmother, her da ...
''. During the period 2017–2018, a total of £3.8million was spent by film crews in Suffolk
The
Rendlesham Forest Incident is one of the most famous
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
events in England and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's
Roswell".
The song "Castle on the Hill" by
Ed Sheeran was referred to by him as "a
love letter to Suffolk", with lyrical reference to his hometown of
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...
and Framlingham Castle.
George Orwell's Knype Hill is the fictional name for Southwold in
A Clergyman's Daughter
''A Clergyman's Daughter'' is a 1935 novel by English author George Orwell. It tells the story of Dorothy Hare, the clergyman's daughter of the title, whose life is turned upside down when she suffers an attack of amnesia. It is Orwell's most f ...
, while the character of Dorothy Hare is modelled on Brenda Salkeld, the gym mistress at St Felix School in the early 1930s.
Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle's 2019 romantic comedy
''Yesterday'' was filmed throughout Suffolk, using Halesworth, Dunwich, Shingle Street and Latitude Festival as locations.
The 2021 film ''
The Dig'', based on the excavation of Sutton Hoo in the 1930s and starring
Ralph Fiennes and
Carey Mulligan was mostly shot on location.
The 2022 series "
The Witchfinder" is a
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
sitcom based on the journey of
Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder general, and a suspected witch through
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
and many Suffolk towns including
Stowmarket and
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...
during the
Witch trials of the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
.
Notable people
In the arts, Suffolk is noted for having been home to two of England's best regarded painters,
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
and
John Constable
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...
– the Stour Valley area is branded as "Constable Country" – and one of its most noted composers,
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
. Other artistic figures connected with Suffolk include:
Sir Alfred Munnings
Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...
,
John Nash, sculptress
Dame Elizabeth Frink,
Cedric Morris who ran the
East Anglian School,
Philip Wilson Steer
Philip Wilson Steer (28 December 1860 – 18 March 1942) was a British painter of landscapes, seascapes plus portraits and figure studies. He was also an influential art teacher. His sea and landscape paintings made him a leading figure in ...
, and the cartoonist
Carl Giles (a bronze statue of his character "Grandma" is located in Ipswich town centre); the poets
George Crabbe
George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people.
In the 177 ...
and
Robert Bloomfield
Robert Bloomfield (3 December 1766 – 19 August 1823) was an English labouring-class poet, whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers, such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare.
Life
Robert Bloomfield wa ...
were both born in Suffolk; farmer and writer
Adrian Bell, writer and
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
Ronald Blythe
Ronald George Blythe (born 6 November 1922)["Dr Ronald Blythe ...](_blank)
,
V. S. Pritchett
Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett (also known as VSP; 16 December 1900 – 20 March 1997) was a British writer and literary critic.
Pritchett was known particularly for his short stories, collated in a number of volumes. His non-fiction works incl ...
, the authors Ralph
Hammond Innes and
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries.
Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...
. The writer
M. M. Kaye
Mary Margaret ('Mollie') Kaye (21 August 1908 – 29 January 2004) was a British writer. Her most famous book is ''The Far Pavilions'' (1978).
Life
M. M. Kaye was born in Simla, British India, and lived in an Oakland, Shimla, a heritage proper ...
spend her last years in Suffolk and died in
Lavenham
Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medie ...
. Actors
Ralph Fiennes and
Bob Hoskins
Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
, actress and singer
Kerry Ellis, musician and record producer
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
, multi-award winning singer-songwriter
Ed Sheeran and sopranos
Laura Wright
Laura Wright (née Sisk) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Ally Rescott on ''Loving (TV series), Loving'' (1991–1995) and ''The City (1995 TV series), The City'' (1995–1997), Cassie Layne Winslow on ''Guidin ...
and
Christina Johnston
Christina Johnston is an English coloratura soprano. Born in Framlingham, Suffolk, and educated at Framlingham College, she has sung leading roles, notably, at the Prague State Opera, including the Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''The Magic ...
are all connected with the county.
Glam rock band and three time
Brit Award winners
The Darkness hail from Lowestoft.
Hip hop DJ
Tim Westwood is originally from Suffolk and the influential DJ and radio presenter
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
made the county his home. Contemporary painter
Maggi Hambling, was born and resides in Suffolk.
Norah Lofts
Norah Lofts, ''née'' Norah Ethel Robinson, (27 August 190410 September 1983) was a 20th-century British writer. She also wrote under the pen names Peter Curtis and Juliet Astley. She wrote more than fifty books specialising in historical fict ...
, author of best-selling historical novels, lived for decades in Bury St. Edmunds.
Sir Peter Hall the founder of the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
was born in Bury St. Edmunds, and
Sir Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...
the theatre director was born in Ipswich. The actor
Sir John Mills
Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...
spent periods of his youth in the county. The designer
David Hicks lived for a number of years in Suffolk. Model
Claudia Schiffer and her husband, the film director
Matthew Vaughn, have owned a house in Suffolk since 2002.
Suffolk's contributions to sport include
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
magnate
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...
and former
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
footballers
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
Terry Butcher,
Kieron Dyer and
Matthew Upson
Matthew James Upson (born 18 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Upson played for England at full international level including at the 2010 World Cup.
Upson started his career with Bedfordshire ...
. Due to
Newmarket being the centre of British
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
many jockeys have settled in the county, including
Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest f ...
and
Frankie Dettori.
MMA
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...
fighter
Arnold Allen
Arnold Billy Allen (born 22 January 1994) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 8, 2022, he is #4 in the UFC featherweig ...
was born in Suffolk.
Fabio Wardley
Fabio Wardley (born 18 December 1994) is a British professional boxer who has held the British heavyweight title since 2022.
Boxing career Professional career
Managed by Dillian Whyte
Dillian Whyte (; born 11 April 1988) is a British pr ...
English heavyweight champion is also from Suffolk.
Significant ecclesiastical figures from Suffolk include
Simon Sudbury
Simon Sudbury ( – 14 June 1381) was Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 until his death, and in the last year of his life Lord Chancellor of England. He met a violent death during the Peasants' Revolt in 138 ...
, a former
archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
; former
Lord High Chancellor Cardinal Thomas Wolsey hailed from Ipswich; and author, poet and Benedictine monk
John Lydgate.
Richard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Pri ...
the great recorder of exploration and voyages was a clergyman in
Wetheringsett
Wetheringsett is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the east of the A140, it is the largest village in the parish of Wetheringsett-cum-Brockford
Wetheringsett-cum-Brockford is a civil parish in t ...
.
Edward FitzGerald, the first translator of the
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, was born in
Bredfield. The
abolitionists
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
Thomas Clarkson and
Richard Dykes Alexander both lived near Ipswich. The
agriculturist Arthur Young had a long-standing association with the county.
Other significant persons from Suffolk include the great
landscape designer
Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...
,
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for women's suffrage by legal change and in 1897–1919 led Britain's largest women's rights associati ...
; the captain of ''
HMS Beagle'',
Robert FitzRoy; Witch-finder General
Matthew Hopkins; educationist
Hugh Catchpole
Hugh Catchpole CBE HI (26 May 1907 – 1 February 1997) was a British educationist and philanthropist, mostly active in British India, and later India and Pakistan. He was a teacher and administrator in military colleges and schools such as Pri ...
; and Britain's first female physician and mayor,
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. The
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
pioneer Dr.
Jane Walker ran the East Anglian Sanatorium above the banks of the
River Stour, and charity leader
Sue Ryder settled in Suffolk and based her charity in
Cavendish. The popular Victorian novelist
Henry Seton Merriman lived and died in the village of
Melton. Between 1932 and 1939
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
lived at his parents' home in the coastal town of Southwold, where a mural of the author now dominates the entrance to Southwold Pier.
He is said to have chosen his pen name from Suffolk's
River Orwell.
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...
lived alongside the river during the 1930s, sailing his boats from
Pin Mill
A pin mill is a mill that comminutes materials by the action of pins that repeatedly move past each other. Much like a kitchen blender, it breaks up substances through repeated impact.
The mill is a type of vertical shaft impactor mill and consi ...
and along the
Shotley Peninsula.
Edmund of East Anglia
King of East Anglia and Christian
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
St Edmund Saint Edmund may refer to:
* Saint Edmund the Martyr (d. 869), king of East Anglia who was venerated as a martyr saint soon after his death at the hands of Vikings
* Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit, one of the Forty Martyrs of England ...
(after whom the town of
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
is named) was killed by invading Danes in the year 869. St Edmund was the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of England until he was replaced by
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
in the 13th century. 2006 saw the failure of a campaign to have St Edmund named as the patron saint of England, but in 2007 he was named patron saint of Suffolk, with St Edmund's Day falling on 20 November. His
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
is flown in Suffolk on that day.
Gallery
File:Ickworth House.jpg, Ickworth House
Ickworth House is a country house at Ickworth, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. It is a neoclassical building set in parkland. The house was the residence of the Marquess of Bristol before being sold to the National Trust in 1998.
H ...
close to Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
File:Southwold maisons phare.jpg, Southwold, a popular seaside town
File:Architectural Detail - Lavenham - Suffolk - England - 09 (28226197172).jpg, Lavenham
Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medie ...
is a preserved medieval village
File:St Edmundsbury Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1292400.jpg, St Edmundsbury Cathedral
St Edmundsbury Cathedral (formally entitled the Cathedral Church of St James and St Edmund) is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in ...
File:Bank of the River Orwell - geograph.org.uk - 1592162.jpg, Bank of the River Orwell
File:Supposed UFO landing site - Rendlesham Forest - geograph.org.uk - 263104.jpg, Rendlesham Forest
Rendlesham Forest is a mixed woodland in Suffolk owned by Forestry England with recreation facilities for walkers, cyclists and campers.
Geography
The forest is in the parishes of Bromeswell in the west, Eyke, Capel St Andrew to the south, a ...
File:RS1497 Waterfront location (32)-lpr.jpg, Ipswich Waterfront, once the most important dock in the kingdom
File:Beach Front, Aldeburgh - geograph.org.uk - 959856.jpg, Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...
beachfront
File:Kersey - Ancient Cottages.jpg, Ancient Cottages in Kersey
File:Orford Ness (National Trust) and the lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 261134.jpg, Lighthouse at Orford Ness
Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the m ...
, a national trust site
See also
*
List of places of interest in Suffolk
This is a list of places of interest in the British county of Suffolk. See List of places in Suffolk for a list of settlements in Suffolk.
Babergh
Forest Heath
Ipswich
Mid Suffolk
St Edmundsbury
Suffolk Coastal
...
*
History of Suffolk
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*
Healthcare in Suffolk
*
Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)
Suffolk was a county constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1290 until 1832, when it was split into two divisions.
History
Boundaries and franchise
The ...
*
Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner
The Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Suffolk Police in the English County of Suffolk. The post was created in November 2012, fol ...
*
Suffolk Coast and Heaths
*
List of Lords Lieutenant of Suffolk
*
List of High Sheriffs of Suffolk
*
Suffolk Youth Orchestra
The Suffolk Youth Orchestra (SYO) is a symphony orchestra of over 90 players, all aged between 13 and 21 years. It is part of Suffolk County Council's programme of youth music.
The orchestra gives annual performances at the Snape Proms. It provi ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
William Addison, ''Suffolk'' (
The County Books),
Robert Hale, 1950.
*Mark Bailey, ''Medieval Suffolk: An Economic and Social History, 1200–1500'', The
Boydell Press, 2007.
*
Adrian Bell, ''A Suffolk Harvest'',
The Bodley Head, 1956.
*Adrian Bell, ''Corduroy'', Cobden-Sanderson, 1930.
*Adrian Bell, ''Men and the Fields'',
B.T. Batsford
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...
, 1939.
*
Ronald Blythe
Ronald George Blythe (born 6 November 1922)["Dr Ronald Blythe ...](_blank)
, ''
Akenfield
''Akenfield'' is a film made by Peter Hall in 1974, based loosely upon the book ''Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village'' by Ronald Blythe (1969). Blythe himself has a cameo role as the vicar and all other parts are played by real-lif ...
: Portrait of an English Village'',
Allen Lane
Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...
, 1969.
*
Henry Munro Cautley
Henry Munro Cautley (1876–1959) was an architect based in Ipswich.
Cautley, was born at Bridge, Kent in 1876, the son of Richard Hutton Cautley and Annie Munro Inchbald. When Henry was very young the family moved to Ipswich where Richard was a ...
, ''Suffolk Churches and their Treasures'', B.T. Batsford, 1937; reprinted Boydell, 1954.
*
Thomas Kitson Cromwell
Thomas Kitson Cromwell (1792–1870) was an English dissenting minister and antiquary.
Life
Born on 14 December 1792, at an early age he entered the literary department of the publishers Longmans.
Brought up a member of the Church of England, o ...
, ''Excursions in the County of Suffolk'', 2 vols., Longmans, 1818 & 1819.
*
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
, ''Tour through the Eastern Counties'' (1722), East Anglian Magazine ed., 1949.
*Sarah E. Doig, ''The A-Z of Curious Suffolk: Strange Stories of Mysteries, Crimes and Eccentrics'',
The History Press
The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...
, 2016.
*Sarah E. Doig, ''The Little History of Suffolk'', The History Press, 2018.
*Robert Halliday, ''Suffolk Strange But True'', The History Press, 2008.
*
M. R. James, ''Suffolk and Norfolk: A Perambulation of the Two Counties with Notices of their History and their Ancient Buildings'', J.M. Dent & Sons, 1930.
*Allan Jobson, ''A Suffolk Calendar'', Robert Hale, 1966; illustrated by
Beryl Irving.
*Allan Jobson, ''A Window in Suffolk'', Robert Hale, 1962; illus. Beryl Irving.
*Allan Jobson, ''Something of Old Suffolk'', Robert Hale, 1978.
*Allan Jobson, ''Suffolk Miscellany'', Robert Hale, 1975.
*Allan Jobson, ''Suffolk Remembered'', Robert Hale, 1969.
*Allan Jobson, ''Suffolk Villages'', Robert Hale, 1971.
*Allan Jobson, ''Under a Suffolk Sky'', Robert Hale, 1964; illus. Beryl Irving.
*D. P. Mortlock, ''The Guide to Suffolk Churches'',
Lutterworth Press, 2nd rev. ed. 2009.
*
Arthur Mee, ''Suffolk. Our Farthest East'' (
The King's England
''The King's England'' is a topographical and historical book series written and edited by Arthur Mee in 43 volumes. The first, introductory, volume was published in 1936; in 1989, The King's England Press was established to reprint the series.
...
series),
Hodder and Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.
History
Early history
The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher ...
, 1942; reprinted.
*
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
, James Bettley (ed.), ''Suffolk: East'' (
The Buildings of England),
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous.
, Yale Universi ...
, rev. ed. 2015.
*Nikolaus Pevsner, James Bettley (ed.), ''Suffolk: West'' (The Buildings of England), Yale University Press, rev. ed. 2015.
*Steven Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', The History Press, 2005.
*W. M. Roberts, ''Lost Country Houses of Suffolk'', The Boydell Press, 2010.
*Eric Sandon, ''Suffolk Houses: A Study of Domestic Architecture'', Antique Collector's Club, 1977.
*Norman Scarfe, ''Suffolk. A Shell Guide'' (
Shell Guides
The Shell Guides were originally a 20th-century series of guidebooks on the counties of Britain. They were aimed at a new breed of car-driving metropolitan tourist, and for those who sought guides that were neither too serious nor too shallow and ...
),
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, 1960; reprinted.
*Norman Scarfe, ''Suffolk in the Middle Ages'', The Boydell Press, 2007.
*Norman Scarfe, ''The Suffolk Landscape'', Phillimore & Co., new ed. 2002.
*
W. G. Sebald
Winfried Georg Sebald (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001), known as W. G. Sebald or (as he preferred) Max Sebald, was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by literary critics as one of the g ...
, ''
The Rings of Saturn
''The Rings of Saturn'' (german: Die Ringe des Saturn: Eine englische Wallfahrt - An English Pilgrimage) is a 1995 novel by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its first-person narrative arc is the account by a nameless narrator (who resembles the ...
'',
Harvill Press
Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press.
History
Secker & Warburg
Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...
, English ed. 1998.
*Neil R. Storey, ''The Little Book of Suffolk'', The History Press, 2013; 2nd ed. 2020.
*
Alfred Suckling, ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk'', printed for the author, 1846.
*Josephine Walpole, ''Suffolk Artists of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries'', Antique Collector's Club, 2009.
*Peter Warner, ''The Origins of Suffolk'',
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with th ...
, 1996.
*Derek Wilson, ''A Short History of Suffolk'', B.T. Batsford, 1977.
*Pip Wright, ''I Read it in the Local Rag: Selections from Suffolk and Norfolk Papers 1701-1900'', Poppyland, 2006.
External links
Suffolk County CouncilBBC Suffolk*
Images of Suffolkat the
English Heritage Archive
{{Authority control
Non-metropolitan counties
Kingdom of East Anglia
Counties of England established in antiquity