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Boxford is a village and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the Babergh district of
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, England. Located around six miles east of
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...
straddling the River Box and skirted by the Holbrook. The parish includes the hamlets of Calais Street, Hagmore Green and Stone Street. In 2021 the built-up area had a population of 833. In 2021 the parish had a population of 1403. The parish borders Assington, Edwardstone, Groton, Kersey, Newton and Polstead. There are 87 listed buildings in Boxford. Boxford became a
conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...
in 1973.


History

According to
Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (8 January 1877 in Vallsjö – 23 November 1964 in Lund) was a Swedish academic, Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to 1942 and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language in the firs ...
the meaning of the village name is "the ford where box trees grow". During the Middle Ages, Boxford was a wool town.


Historical writings

In 1870–72,
John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The '' Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–1872), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was ...
's
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...
described the village as: In 1887, John Bartholomew also wrote an entry on Boxford in the Gazetteer of the British Isles with a much shorter description:


Governance

A
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...
with the same name existed until 2019. The population of this ward stretched north to Milden with a total population of 2,170. Boxford was in the Babergh hundred, in 1894 it became part of
Cosford Rural District Cosford Rural District was a rural district in the administrative county of West Suffolk, England. It was created in 1894 out of the earlier Cosford rural sanitary district, except for Hadleigh parish which was made a separate urban district. ...
which became part of the administrative county of
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 di ...
in 1889. In 1974 it became part of Babergh non-metropolitan district in the non-metropolitan county of Suffolk.


International connections

As part of the American Bicentennial celebrations the townspeople of
Boxford, Massachusetts Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population was 8,203 in 2020. The original town center of Boxford, along with East Boxford and other areas in the eastern part of the ...
, visited the villages of Boxford (there are three) in England during 1975 looking for the source of the name of their own village and decided that Boxford in Suffolk was likely to be where the name of their own town came from. As a result of this the villagers of Boxford, Suffolk, were invited to Boxford, MA, the following summer. This drew attention from the media: the ''
Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
'' incorporated a photograph of the villagers in a centre-page spread in one of their November 1975 editions, and a TV crew led by Bernard Falk for the BBC ''Nationwide'' programme accompanied the villagers when they left for a two-week stay on 23 July 1976. A TWA Boeing 707 was hired which flew the villagers from London Heathrow to Boston Logan, from where they were bussed to Boxford, MA, and dispersed amongst receiving families.


Economy

There are two pubs in Boxford: The Fleece, (a 16th-century grade II* listed coaching inn) and the White Hart. Boxford has a church called St Mary's which is Grade I listed and a primary school. Riddelsdell Brothers was established here in 1900 and is believed to be Europe's oldest recorded working garage. Copella fruit juices are made at orchards at Hill Farm on the outskirts of Boxford.


Geography


Localities

Intrinsic to the parish of Boxford are 3
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
, Stone Street south of the church and the A1071 and that to the east as Calais Street, neither separated by
buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...
s of more than 250 metres and well connected by pavements/footpaths as well as roads. Hagmore Green is south west of Stone Street.


Notable people

* Robert Coe (1596–1689), early settler of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. * John Kingsbury (?–1660), a representative of
Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...
to the Great and General Court in 1647, originally from Boxford. * Joseph Kingsbury (1600–1676), early settler and selectman in
Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...
. *
Elinor Bellingham-Smith Elinor Bellingham-Smith (28 December 1906 – 4 November 1988) was a British painter of landscapes and still life. Her paintings are in the collections of Tate, Museums Sheffield, the Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection and other ...
(1906–1988), painter of landscapes and still life. * Hardiman Scott (1920–1999), journalist, broadcaster and writer. He served as the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's first political editor, from 1970 to 1975.


References


Location grid


External links

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Babergh District