Babergh District (pronounced , ) is a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

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

, England. Primarily a rural area, Babergh contains two towns of notable size: Sudbury, and Hadleigh, which was the administrative centre until 2017. Its council headquarters, which are shared with neighbouring

Mid Suffolk Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Needham Market until late 2017, and is currently sharing offices with the Suffolk County Council in Ipswich. The largest town of Mid Suffolk is Stowmarket. ...

, are now based 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 district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Sudbury,

Hadleigh Urban District Hadleigh may refer to: *Hadleigh, Suffolk, a town in Suffolk **Hadleigh Railway, a seven and a half mile long single-track railway branch-line from Bentley to Hadleigh, Suffolk (now closed) ** Hadleigh High School, a high school in Hadleigh, Suffol ...

Cosford Rural District Cosford Rural District was a rural district in the 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. Only minor adju ...

Melford Rural District Melford Rural District was a rural district in the county of West Suffolk, England. It was created in 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894 from that part of the Sudbury rural sanitary district in West Suffolk (the rest becoming Belchamp R ...

and

Samford Rural District Samford Rural District was a rural district within the administrative county of East Suffolk between 1894 and 1974. It was created out of the earlier Samford rural sanitary district. It was named after the historic hundred of Samford, whose bo ...

. The district did not have one party of councillors (nor a formal coalition of parties) exercising overall control until 2015. Babergh's population size has increased by 5.2%, from around 87,700 in 2011 to 92,300 in 2021 and covers an area of approximately . It is named after the

Babergh Hundred Babergh was a hundred of Suffolk, consisting of . Its name survives in that of Babergh District, the local government district of southern Suffolk that includes the former hundred as well as those of Cosford and Samford. It consisted of the lan ...

, referred to in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, although it also covers the hundreds of Cosford and Samford. The southern boundary of the district is marked almost exclusively by the River Stour, which also forms the border with

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 ...

, and it is separated from East Suffolk by the

River Orwell The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England from Ipswich to Felixstowe. Above Ipswich, the river is known as the River Gipping, but its name changes to the Orwell at Stoke Bridge, where the river becomes tidal. It broadens into ...

. It also neighbours the district of

. '

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Country' is cognate with a large tract of Babergh: drawing visitors to the conservation area

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 ...

and the well-preserved villages of

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by ...

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 ...

and Kersey for painting, agricultural and architectural history, produce such as fruit, vegetables, cider, cheese and meat, shops, accommodation, restaurants and

tea room A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

s. In 2011, Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils began working together, with one, fully integrated staff structure.

Politics

Elections to the district are held every four years. Until 2019, 43

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s were elected from 26

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

, since that date the council consists of only 32 councillors from 24 wards. From the first election in 1973 until 2015 no party won an overall majority on the council, but after the 2015 election, the Conservative party gained a large majority. After this election the council was composed of the following councillors: In 2017 a by-election resulted in the loss of one Conservative and gain of one Labour councillor. In May 2017 Babergh adopted the Leader/Cabinet governance model and, since January 2018, the leader is Cllr John Ward. For the 2 May 2019 election, following a boundary review, the number of

s was reduced to 32 elected from 24

and at the election the district reverted to No Overall Control, with the following councillors elected:

Suffolk County Council Electoral Divisions in Babergh

References

External links

Babergh District Council website
{{East of England Non-metropolitan districts of Suffolk