Wickham Market is a large village and electoral ward situated in the

River Deben The River Deben is a river in Suffolk rising to the west of Debenham, though a second, higher source runs south from the parish of Bedingfield. The river passes through Woodbridge, turning into a tidal estuary before entering the North Sea at F ...

valley of Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coastal heritage area. It is on the A12 trunk road north-east of the county town 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 from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, north-east of Woodbridge. Its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

is located approximately east at Campsea Ashe. It is a large village with 2,204 residents living in 953 dwellings (2001 census). 27.59% of the population are between the ages of 40 and 59 and 23.19% of residents reside in council or housing association homes. The population at the 2011 Census had decreased to 2,156. Wickham Market's All Saints Church is over 700 years old and its octagonal tower and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

spire (137.5 feet tall) dominate the skyline and make it visible for miles over the surrounding countryside. The exterior of the church is stone and

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

work. Inside there are four stained glass windows, a 600-year-old font, a carved pulpit and an altar table with a painted reredos. There are six bells in the tower and a Sanctus Bell in the cote. Nearby attractions include: Valley Farm Equestrian Visitor Centre,

Easton Farm Park Easton may refer to: Places Canada * Easton, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Easton, Bristol *Easton, Cambridgeshire *Easton, Dorset *Great Easton, Essex and Little Easton, Essex *Easton, Hampshire ** Crux Easton, Hampshire *Easton, Isle of Wight * ...

, Glevering Hall, the

Snape Maltings Snape Maltings is an arts complex on the banks of the River Alde at Snape, Suffolk, England. It is best known for its concert hall, which is one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival. The original purpose of the Maltings was the m ...

Framlingham Castle Framlingham Castle is a castle in the market town of Framlingham in Suffolk in England. An early motte and bailey or ringwork Norman castle was built on the Framlingham site by 1148, but this was destroyed (slighted) by Henry II of England in ...

and Sutton Hoo.

Notable residents

* Francis Lucas (1850–1918), businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament for Lowestoft 1900–1906 * Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(1952–2012), Royal Portrait painter best known for her many studies of famous people, the portrait for the

Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration held in 2002 marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was intended by the Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50 years as ...

and her innovative techniques. *

Flora Sandes Flora Sandes (, 22 January 1876 – 24 November 1956) was a British woman who served as a member of the Royal Serbian Army in World War I. She was the only British woman officially to serve as a soldier in that war. Initially a St. John Ambula ...

(1876–1956), the only British female soldier to officially serve in World War 1.

Wickham Mill

Wickham Mill is a grade II* listed watermill dating from the 18th century. The machinery is complete and in working order. In 1893 mill owner Reuben Rackham purchased a Whitmore and Binyon horizontal condensing steam-engine for his mill, priced at £25,000, to drive the entire plant. The engine was installed in July 1893 and the entire plant was operational by October of the same year. The engine was last worked in 1957 and was subsequently moved to

Museum of East Anglian Life The Food Museum, formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life, is a museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England, which specialises in presenting the agricultural history of East Anglia through a mixture of exhibits and living history demonstrations. Hi ...

Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edm ...

as a gift of Edward and Robert Rackham, Rueben Rackham's sons.

Wickham Market Hoard

In 2009 it was announced that one of the largest

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 mostl ...

coin finds had been discovered at a site near Wickham Market. The hoard of 840

gold

stater The stater (; grc, , , statḗr, weight) was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece. The term is also used for similar coins, imitating Greek staters, minted elsewhere in ancient Europe. History The stater, as a Greek silver curre ...

s was found in March 2008, in a field at Dallinghoo near the village, by

car mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

, Michael Dark using a

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

. After excavation of the site, a total of 825 coins were found, and by the time the hoard was declared

treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the hei ...

, 840 coins had been discovered. The hoard was described as "the largest hoard of British Iron Age gold coins to be studied in its entirety", and was also significant in providing "a lot of new information about the Iron Age, and particularly East Anglia in the late Iron Age". It was the largest hoard of staters to be found since the Whaddon Chase Iron Age hoard in 1849. The coins dated from 40 BC–15 AD and, at the time, would have been worth between £500,000–£1,000,000 to 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 ...

tribes who inhabited the area.

References

External links

Village website
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk