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Woodbridge is a port town 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 East Suffolk 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. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
and around north-east of London. In 2011 it had a population of 7,749. The town is close to some major archaeological sites of the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
period, including the
Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Archaeology, Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbed ship burial containing a wea ...
burial ship. It is well known for its boating harbour and tide mill next to the River Deben, in the
Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape The Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape 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 ...
. Several festivals are held. As a "gem in Suffolk's crown" (according to The Suffolk Coast tourist site) it has been named the best place to live in the East of England.


Etymology

Historians disagree over the etymology of Woodbridge. ''The Dictionary of British Placenames'' (2003) suggests that it is a combination of the Old English wudu (wood) and brycg (bridge). The Sutton Hoo Society's 1988 magazine ''Saxon'' points out, however, that there is no suitable site for a bridge at Woodbridge, or any fordable sites until Wilford, the site of the current bridge, several miles upstream. It also raises that an Anglo-Saxon bridge being wooden would have been unlikely to be worthy of comment. It suggests that it might instead have been a combination of ''odde'' (a cognate of the Old Scandinavian ''oddi'' meaning 'promontory or cape') and ''breg'' (from the Anglo-Saxon ''brego'' meaning king – note the closeness of Sutton Hoo) or more likely ''bryg'' (a cognate of the Norwegian ''brygge'' or quay). ''The Suffolk Traveller'' (1764) suggests a similar origin to ''The Dictionary'' but originating from a bridge over a
hollow way A sunken lane (also hollow way or holloway) is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age. Holloways may have been formed i ...
that leads from Woodbridge Market Place to the Ipswich. But this is disputed by Rev. Thomas Carthew, then
perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly ...
of Woodbridge who points out that the bridge had existed for less than a hundred years at that point and therefore was not old enough to be the source of the name. He instead suggests Oden or Woden (
Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
) and Burgh, Bury, or Brigg (town). ''The Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1840) suggests a combination of Woden and Bryge.


History and heritage

Archaeological finds point to habitation in the area from the Neolithic Age (2500–1700 BCE). A ritual site was found while excavations were made for the East Anglia Array, a wind farm at Seven Springs Field. The area was occupied by the Romans for 300 years after Queen
Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, from Brittonic languages, Brythonic * 'victory, win' + * 'having' suffix, i.e. 'Victorious Woman', known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh language, Welsh as , ) was a queen of the Iceni, ancient ...
's failed rebellion in 59 CE, but there is little evidence of their presence. After the Roman forces were recalled to Rome in 410 CE, substantial Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) settlement ensued. The Angles gave their name to East Anglia. King Rædwald of
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
was
Bretwalda ''Bretwalda'' (also ''brytenwalda'' and ''bretenanwealda'', sometimes capitalised) is an Old English word. The first record comes from the late 9th-century ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from ...
, the most powerful king in England in the early 7th century. He died in about 624 CE and is often associated with the burial at
Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Archaeology, Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when an undisturbed ship burial containing a wea ...
, across the River Deben from Woodbridge. The burial ship is long. The treasures discovered there in 1939 were the richest finds ever on British soil. They are held now in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
in London, but replicas of some items and the story of the finds can be seen in the Woodbridge Museum. The National Trust has built a visitor centre on the site. The earliest record of Woodbridge as such dates from the mid-10th century, when it was acquired by St Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, as part of the endowment of a
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
he helped to refound at
Ely, Cambridgeshire Ely ( ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district, in Cambridgeshire, England, northeast of Cambridge, southeast of Peterborough and from London. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the built-up a ...
in 970. The Domesday Book of 1086 describes Woodbridge as part of
Loes Hundred Loes was a hundred (subdivision), hundred of Suffolk, with an area of . Loes Hundred was long and thin in shape, around long and between 2 and wide. It followed the course of the River Deben from Cretingham to Ufford where it crossed Wilford (h ...
with 35 households, i.e. one of the largest 20 per cent of settlements recorded. Much of Woodbridge was granted to the powerful Bigod family, who built the castle at Framlingham. The town has been a centre for boatbuilding, rope-making and sail-making since the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
.
Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
and Sir
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
had fighting ships built in Woodbridge. The town suffered in the plague of 1349, but recovered enough, with encouragement from the Canons and growing general prosperity, to have a new church (St Mary's, behind the buildings on the south side of Market Hill) built of limestone from
the Wash The Wash is a shallow natural rectangular bay and multiple estuary on the east coast of England in the United Kingdom. It is an inlet of the North Sea and is the largest multiple estuary system in the UK, as well as being the largest natural ba ...
and decorated with
Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...
flint. By the mid-15th century the Brews family had added a tower and porch. On 12 October 1534, Prior Henry Bassingbourne confirmed Henry VIII's supremacy over the Church and rejected the incumbent "Roman Bishop". Nonetheless, Woodbridge Priory was dissolved three years later.The Abbey (Junior School), Woodbridge
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
As religious unrest continued under the Roman Catholic Queen Mary, Alexander Gooch, a weaver of Woodbridge, and Alice Driver of
Grundisburgh Grundisburgh () is a village of 1,584 residents situated in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the East Suffolk district, six north-east from Ipswich and north-west of Woodbridge located on the B1079. Flowing through the village are ...
were burnt for heresy on Rushmere Heath. Alice had previously had her ears cut off for likening Queen Mary to
Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and
. Subsequent religious settlement under Elizabeth I helped Woodbridge industries such as weaving, sail-cloth manufacture, rope-making and salt making to prosper, along with the wool trade. The port was enlarged, and shipbuilding and the timber trade became lucrative, so that a customs house was established in 1589. The town has various buildings of the Tudor, Georgian,
Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
and Victorian periods, and a tide mill in working order, one of only two in the UK and among the earliest. The mill first recorded on the site in 1170 was run by Augustinian canons. In 1536 it passed to King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
. In 1564, Queen
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
granted the mill and the priory to Thomas Seckford, who in 1577 founded Woodbridge School and the Seckford Almshouses for the poor of Woodbridge. Two
windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...
s survive, Buttrum's Mill, and Tricker's Mill, of which Buttrum's is open to the public. In 1943, the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF) built a military airfield east of Woodbridge. RAF Woodbridge was used during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
as the base for two Tactical Fighter Squadrons until 1993.


Governance

Woodbridge lies in the East Suffolk district of the shire county of Suffolk. It is a
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 ...
; the
town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...
, which is based at Woodbridge Shire Hall has a mayor and 16 councillors elected for four wards. The town is currently represented by the Labour MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter in the Suffolk Coastal parliamentary constituency. The county councillor is the Liberal Democrat Caroline Page. In 1894 Woodbridge became an urban district which became part of the administrative county of East Suffolk in 1889, the district contained the parish of Woodbridge. On 1 April 1974 the district was abolished and became part of
Suffolk Coastal Suffolk Coastal was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Melton, Suffolk, Melton, having moved from neighbouring Woodbridge, Suffolk, Woodbridge in 2017. Other towns include Fel ...
in the
non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government. The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and ...
of Suffolk. A
successor parish Successor parishes are Civil parishes in England, civil parishes with a parish councils in England, parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of Urban district (England and Wales), urban d ...
was formed covering the same area as the former district and its parish. In 2019 Woodbridge became part of East Suffolk district.


Education and the arts

The town has state and grant-aided primary and secondary education at Farlingaye High School, Woodbridge Primary School, Kyson Primary School, and St Mary's Church of England Voluntarily Aided Primary School. The co-educational independent Woodbridge School has junior and senior departments and facilities for boarding. Woodbridge has a community
brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
, the Excelsior, formed in 1846, which makes it the oldest in
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
. There is a local radio station. The town also has a two-hectare (5-acre) walled park. Also of interest ecologically are the Quaker Burial Ground and Fen Meadow, of traditionally managed grassland.


Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and
ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
. Television signals are received from the Sudbury TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Suffolk, Heart East, Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk,
Nation Radio Suffolk Nation Radio Suffolk is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting. It broadcasts from Ipswich in Suffolk. As of September 2024, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 26,000, according to RAJAR. Histo ...
and Ipswich Community Radio, a community based station which broadcast from nearby
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
. The town is served by the local newspaper,
Ipswich Star The ''Ipswich Star'' (formerly ''Evening Star'') is a daily evening local newspaper based in Ipswich, UK published by Archant. The newspaper started publication on 17 February 1885 and is published Monday to Friday. History The newspaper was kn ...
.


Sport and leisure

Woodbridge has a
Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
club Woodbridge Town F.C., which plays at Notcutts Park. The many clubs and groups cover association football, badminton, birdwatching, bowls, cricket, cruising, netball, road running, rowing, rugby football, swimming, tennis, golf (Woodbridge Golf Club, founded 1893 at Bromeswell listed in the top 100 in England and Ufford Park), yachting and archery. They include Deben Rowing Club and Deben Yacht Club. The town's Deben Leisure Centre and swimming pool were refurbished in 2017–2018 and now provide fuller services since reopening.


Places of worship

The two
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
churches are the
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
St Mary's on Market Hill, and the Victorian St John's on St John's Hill. ''Woodbridge Quay Church'' in Quay Street, once the Quay Meeting House, embodies a 2006 merger of the town's
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
and United Reformed congregations. It is affiliated to the
Baptist Union of Great Britain Baptists Together, formally the Baptist Union of Great Britain, is a Baptists, Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didc ...
and the Evangelical Alliance. There is a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
Church in St John's Street, a
Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
hall in New Street, and the
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Church of St Thomas of Canterbury in St John's Street. The last forms a joint parish with Framlingham. Woodbridge
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
Meeting meets weekly at Woodbridge Shire Hall. Avenue Evangelical Church, on the outskirts of Woodbridge, is affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.


Climate

Woodbridge has an unusually warm summer climate, according to the averages for 1991–2020, and is exceptionally dry by British standards.


Notable residents

Writers Edward FitzGerald and Anne Knight were born in Woodbridge, and fellow writer Bernard Barton lived in the town in later life. Other residents of note include musicians
Nate James Nathaniel James Speas, known as Nate James, (born 15 September 1979 in Lakenheath, Suffolk, England) is an English singer-songwriter. James released his debut soul album '' Set the Tone'' in 2005 which won him two MOBO Nominations for Best Newc ...
and Charlie Simpson; actors Brian Capron and
Nicholas Pandolfi Nicholas Pandolfi (born 16 January 1970) is an English actor, voice artist & radio presenter, who has worked for the BBC and Global Radio (HEART). He was named BBC Local Radio "Presenter of the Year" at the 2004 Frank Gillard Awards and won the b ...
; painter Thomas Churchyard; Director-General of the BBC Ian Jacob; abolitionist John Clarkson;
Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...
the football manager, and Thomas Seckford, official at the court of
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...
. The clockmaker John Calver lived in the town. Musicians
Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...
and Brinsley Schwarz were born there. The world's most tattooed man, Tom Leppard, was born in the town. So were the actor Gavin Lee and the footballer Vernon Lewis. The composer Christopher Wright (1954–2024) and his wife, violinist Ruth Dickins (1958–2009), lived in Woodbridge.


Twin towns

Woodbridge has been twinned since 1973 with Mussidan, a town in the
Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...
in south-west France.


Freedom of the Town

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Woodbridge.


Military units

* 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment: 2006 * The
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
: 11 June 2016 * The
Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...
(Woodbridge Branch): 11 June 2016


See also

* Deben Registration District


References


External links


Woodbridge Town CouncilChoose Woodbridge
* {{authority control Towns in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Neolithic sites of Europe