Suffolk contains 952,710 acres or 1,476 square miles, with a population of 384,293 or 242 to the square mile, which, as usual in counties without extensive industries, is far below the average density of England. There are 86,358 inhabited houses, which gives an average of 4.5 persons to each house. The annual death rate is 15.8 per 1,000 inhabitants, a very low figure when it is remembered that the average for the whole country is 16.8 per 1,000. It may be accounted for partly by the dryness and acknowledged healthfulness of the climate, but chiefly by the absence of large towns and industrial centres, where the mortality is always high.
Political. - Suffolk is included in the South-Eastern Circuit of Judges, the Assizes being held in winter at Ipswich and in summer at Bury St Edmunds. The county has three Courts of Quarter Sessions, held at Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, and Sudbury. There are nineteen Petty and Special Sessional Divisions. Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, Sudbury, and Thetford, have Commissions of the Peace and separate Courts of Quarter Sessions, and Eye, Lowestoft, and Southwold have Commissions of the Peace.
Physical. - The coast is for the most part low and sandy, affording few harbours, bays, or sheltered roadsteads, and it has suffered considerable waste even during the last few centuries from the encroachments of the sea, so that places like Dunwich, which were formerly ports, have been gradually moved inland, and have been deprived of their anchorage and shelter by the shifting of the currents and coast-line. In other places there is, however, a gain, owing to the set of the tides and currents. Lowestoft Ness is the easternmost point of England, and Landguard Point in the extreme south is advancing seaward by accumulation of drift and silt at the rate of nearly 40 ft. per annum. The chief bays and inlets are the mouth of the Waveney, Southwold or Sole Bay, Aldeburgh Bay, Hollesley Bay, Bawdsey Haven at the mouth of the Deben, and the joint estuary of the Orwell and Stour, which separates Suffolk from Essex. Yarmouth Roads is a sheltered anchorage protected by a sandbank some three or four miles out at sea, but which does not, however, show above the surface, and Hollesley Bay is similarly protected from the south-east by the Whiting sand, while some banks off Lowestoft are dry at ebb tide. The salient points are Lowestoft Ness, Covehithe Ness, Orford Ness, and Landguard Point, on which stands a fort originally built in the reign of James I. and strengthened in recent times.
There are no very distinct hills in the county, but the chief watershed lies in a curved line from Cowling in the south-west, though Bradfield to Haughley Junction, and thence in a northward curve to the boundary between Eye and Botesham, and the whole surface is a series of gentle undulations between the shallow river valleys. To the north-west of the above watershed the Little Ouse and its tributary the Lark carry the rainfall into the Wash, while on the east and south are in succession the Waveney, Blythe, Alde, Butley, Deben, Gipping, Orwell, Brett, and Stour, which flow into the North Sea.
Geological. - None of the rocks older than the Chalk appear in the county, but this formation occupies the greater part of the surface, and its escarpment makes the only ridge of high land across the north-west corner. The edge of the great fenland of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire (a recent fluviatile deposit with peaty layers of great agricultural richness) extends near Mildenhall and Lakenheath into Suffolk, and runs up to the line of the Chalk outcrop, covering up the Lower Cretaceous and Upper Oolitic series which elsewhere intervene between the Chalk and the fens. As usual in this part of England, the Chalk dips gently to the south-east and disappears along an irregular line from Sudbury north-eastwards to near Southwold under the London clay, which is the lowest member here represented of the Eocene rocks of the London basin.
Of this area of clay a considerable extent is covered directly, without the intervention of the Upper Eocene series, by the Pliocene deposits. These rocks are known as the White and Red Crags, which, though differing in age, are not often directly superposed. The White or Coralline Crag is the elder formation, and is found in a limited area between the rivers Alde and Stour, about 20 miles long by 3 or 4 wide. It lies on London clay, and is seldom more than 25 or 30 ft. thick, consisting of a series of marly or calcareous beds, which are often little more than a mass of finely broken minute shells, while near the bottom occur layers of phosphatic nodules. Near Sudbourn and at Orford a soft building stone is quarried. The name Coralline Crag is derived from the abundance of the fossils of Bryozoa or Moss-corals, though true corals are rare. This formation is about the same age as the Antwerp Crag of Belgium. The Red Crag is a somewhat thicker deposit lying sometimes on the London clay, sometimes directly on the Chalk, and now and then upon the White Crag, and consisting of thin beds of shelly sand, loam, and gravel. Two large patches run inland from Southwold and Lowestoft respectively.
Above these occur, in places, beds of glacial or immediately pre-glacial age, especially at Chillesford, near Aldeburgh, and at Aldeby, near Beccles, where the micaceous sands and clays are 20 ft. thick; while between Yarmouth and Lowestoft the cliffs show the middle glacial sand underlying the chalky boulder clay, an undoubted glacial deposit, which also covers a considerable area of the Chalk.
The fossils of all these rocks show a continually diminishing proportion of existing species in descending order, 15 per cent. of the shells in the Chillesford beds and 36 per cent. in the White Crag being extinct, and they also indicate a gradual chilling of the climate towards the glacial epoch.
Historical. - Suffolk formed part of the territory of the Iceni, a tribe, which, under the heroic queen Boadicea, offered a vigorous, though vain resistance to the Romans, and it was subsequently included in the province of Flavia Caesariensis. Thetford was probably the sit of the station Sitomagus, and urns, coins, and pavements have been found. Cerdic, the leader of the South Sexe, is the first Saxon of whom record is given as making a descent on the coast, and he only landed near Lowestoft in 495, and passed on to the south without making any permanent settlement. In 575, however, the county was incorporated in the kingdom of East Anglia, then set up by Uffa, and this domain, though it never wielded the overlordship of Britain, yet retained a large measure of independence to a late date, as is shown by the fact of the tribal names of North-folk and South-folk being taken for the counties, which were not embraced in the parcelling out of shires around important towns. The settlers here were Angles or Engles, other branches of which people settled in Nottinghamshire (North Engle), Oxfordshire and Bucks (South Engle), and Leicester (Middle Engle), and whose numerical strength is indicated by the fact that the country was not finally called Jute-land, or Saxony, but Engla-land or England. This part of England, being of a more tractable character than the wild and rugged mountains and thick forests, and more fertile than the lofty moorlands and rocky dales of the north and west, was much earlier settled, and comparatively thickly peopled. This is well seen in the parochial system, which dates from comparatively early Saxon times. Suffolk, with an area of no more than 1,475 square miles, has 519 parishes, while in Durham and Northumberland, with an area three times as great, the number of original or "ancient parishes" is considerably less, and it has been found necessary to break them up into numerous new parishes, as modern industry fostered a dense population. War with Mercia broke out in the next century and the East Anglians were defeated by Penda at Blytheburgh in 654. But the county suffered most severely from the ravages of the Danes in the 9th and 10th centuries. The most important of these descents was that in 870, led by Ivar and Hubba, who attacked the kingdom from the north, probably attracted by the wealth of the fenland abbeys, and fixed their winter camp at Thetford, where their entrenchment remains. In the following year they defeated the East Anglian king, Eadmund, whom they captured and put to death. Being thus slain by the heathen Danes, he was made a martyr by the Church and canonised, and the town and abbey of Bury St. Edmunds arose round his tomb. Ipswich also suffered, being several times taken and plundered, especially by Norwegian Vikings in 991.
The Norman conquest was accepted here, and little trace of it remains, though Norman lords received large grants of land in the county. In the Civil Wars of the Plantagenets, Suffolk was the scene of several engagements: Ipswich was taken by Stephen in 1153; Henry II. defeated near Fornham, in 1173, the Flemings who were supporting his rebellious son Henry; and, in the reign of John, the county was conquered for Louis, Dauphin of France, to whom the barons had offered the crown. The people of Suffolk also took part in the Peasant Revolt of Wat Tyler in 1381, in the rising in 1525 caused by Henry VIII.'s arbitrary taxation, and in Ket's rebellion in 1549. Queen Mary repaired to Framlingham Castle on the death of Edward VI., and here she was joined by her adherents, and advanced to London, the Duke of Northumberland and other supporters of Lady Jane Grey falling back before her and dispersing.
During the Civil Wars of Charles I., this county, like the bulk of Eastern England, was on the Parliamentary side, and was kept almost undisturbed by the association of the eastern counties established by Cromwell.
Finally, in the wars against the Dutch, in the reign of Charles II., two naval battles were fought off the coast. In the first action (1665), the Dutch were led by the renowned Van Tromp and Opdam, while the British fleet was commanded by the Duke of York, afterwards James II.; and in the action in Sole Bay or Southwold Bay (1672), De Ruyter was in command of the Dutch fleet, and the British Admiral was Lord Sandwich, who fell in the battle. On both occasions the Dutch were defeated. Landguard Fort was also ineffectually attacked by a Dutch force in 1667.
Antiquities and Place of Interest. - There are remains of the old Icknield Way and many tumuli in the north-west corner of the county, and ancient entrenchments at Brandon and Thetford, the latter of Danish origin. Thetford was also the site of the Roman station Sitomagus. There are more or less considerable remains of the castles of Bungay, Clare, Denham, Framlingham, Hadleigh, Mettingham, Orford and Wingfield near Eye; the tower and gateway of the great abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, remains of those at Ash, Bungay, Clare, South Elmham, Framlingham, Leiston, Mendham, and Thetford; while Aldeby Chruch is a fine cruciform Early English building with Norman doorway, that at Claydon has a Saxon nave, and other churches such as those of Beccles, Clare, Eye, Hadleigh, Ipswich, Westerfield, Woodbridge, and Yarmouth, are worthy of note.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND WATERING PLACES (Census 1901)
The reference-figures and letters denote the squares on the County Maps. The population given is that of the Civil Parish unless marked M. (Municipal Borough) or U. (Urban District). The days of the week denote the Market days.
IPSWICH (I 7, C. B. 66,622; Tu.), the county town, is well situated on the picturesque tidal estuary of the Orwell, and at the mouth of the valley of the river Gipping, from which it derives its name (Gyppeswic in Domesday Book). It is an old-fashioned town, with narrow streets, and many ancient houses, the most remarkable being Sparrowe's House, in the Butter Market (dating from the 16th century), in a secret chamber of which Charles II. was concealed for some time after Worcester (1651). The modern Town hall, the Custom-house, Corn Exchange, and the Grammar school (1847) are all fine buildings, and there is a good Museum. The discovery of Roman pavement proves that a Roman settlement existed here, and, although the town was destroyed by the marauding Danes in 991, and again in 1000, yet at the Conquest it was a walled town. A castle was built here soon after, but was taken by Stephen, and destroyed by Henry II. John, however, fortified the town, and granted it a charter in 1190. Ipswich was then a port of importance, trading to Flanders, and furnished many ships and men for the wars of the Edwards, by the first of whom its charter was forfeited, but afterwards renewed (1291); and Isabel, queen of Edward II., landed here with French troops to join the malcontent barons. The trade of the town afterwards declined, but has in modern times revived, and it has extensive docks and a considerable commerce in grain, timber, oil-cake, and artificial manures. Its chief manufacture is agricultural implements and machinery (Messrs. Ransome), and there are also iron foundries, soapworks, snuff and tobacco factories, breweries and shipbuilding yards. Wolsey was born there, Bacon was its representative, Gainsborough lived there, and Dickens has described the town. Felixstowe and Harwich are within easy reach.
ALDBOROUGH or ALDEBURGH (G 11, 2,405), in the Vale of Slaughden, is an improving watering-place, half-way between Harwich and Lowestoft, and about 3½ hours from London. It has a good beach and bathing, fisheries, and a harbour, with some trade in corn, coal and timber. It has a fine promenade of nearly two miles, and many modern residences. George Crabbe was born and served his first curacy in this place, and there is a monument to his memory in the parish church. This is one of the towns which has suffered from encroachments of the sea. Orford Castle and Ness, Saxmundham and Farnham Park, Leiston, Dunwich and Southwold may also be visited.
BECCLES (C 11, M. B. 6,898; Fri.), or Beata Ecclesia, as it was originally named, is a municipal borough on the Waveney, here navigable for 190-ton vessels. It has a large annual horse fair, and a trade in corn, malt, and coals. There is a fine 16th century church with a tower, standing apart.
BRANDON (C 3, 2,334; Thurs.), on the Little Ouse, has a manufacture of gun flints, used for guns for export, and a trade in timber, coal and agricultural produce. Near the town are the remains of a Roman camp and Brandon Park.
BUNGAY (C 10, 3,560; Th.) is almost surrounded by a horseshoe bend of the Waveney, and has a paper mill, large printing works, flour mills, and a trade in corn, flour, malt, lime, and coals. There are the remains of a castle of the Bigods and a Benedictine Priory, the latter of the 12th century. Its modern aspect results from a fire in 1688.
BURY ST. EDMUNDS (F 4, M. B. 16,255; Wed.), on the Lark, is a well-placed and ancient town, a monastery having been founded here as early as 638. The present town was founded by Canute or Cnut, who also refounded the abbey about 1020. It was frequently visited by the kings, and three Parliaments were summoned here in 1272, 1269, and 1446. The ancient abbey was one of the wealthiest in the country, its mitred Abbot having a mint of his own, and its estates now belong to the Marquis of Bristol. The "Good Duke Humphry" of Gloucester was here smothered (1446). The town once had 40 churches. Manufactures of agricultural implements are carried on and the town has some trade in farm produce. The principal attractions in the town are the tower and gateway of the abbey, but the neighbourhood is healthy and picturesque, and various seats are near, as Ickworth, Hengrave Hall, &c.
CLARE (H 3, 1,657; Mon.), on the Stour, derives its name from a Benedictine monastery, founded in the time of Henry III., by Richard de Clare, which was suppressed in the time of Henry V., and its revenues granted to Westminster. There are some remains of this building and of a Norman castle, and there is a good Gothic church.
DUNWICH (E 12, 213) has a singular history. It was a Roman station, the capital of East Anglia, and the seat of a bishopric founded in 630 by King Sigebert, and transferred first to Thetford and thence to Norwich, and it had a mint at the time of the Conquest. At that period it stood on land now submerged by the sea - as much as six miles out, according to tradition, - and has suffered frequently and severely from encroachments of the sea. The town was chartered by John and fortified, kept twelve ships of war under Edward I., and had fifty churches, monasteries and hospitals. In 1286 a great storm destroyed some of its churches and streets. Other visitations have succeeded, especially under Edward III., when 400 houses were swept away, a church was lost in 1540, gates and churches in 1600, so that not one-fourth of the town remained; and in 1677 the market-place was invaded, while other losses took place in 1702, 1715, and 1740. It is now only a fishing village.
EYE (E 7, M. B. 2,004), on a small affluent of the Waveney, is also a municipal borough. The manufacture of lace is still carried on, and it has some foundries and flax mills. There were formerly a castle and Benedictine monastery here. Thornham Hall is near.
FELIXSTOWE (J 9, 2,720) is a small and quiet watering-place on the coast between the Deben and Stour Rivers. It is pleasantly situated, has a branch railway, and is within easy reach of Ipswich, Harwich, &c., and it has risen into favour very much in recent years.
FRAMLINGHAM (F9, 2, 525; Sat.), on the Ore, is a market town and agricultural centre, with a considerable trade in malt. It has some interesting ruins of a castle, the outer walls of which are perfect. It was occupied (1173) by prince Henry, the rebellious son of Henry II., and here Queen Mary began her reign (1553) by assembling her followers, the room in which she resided being shown. There is also a fine old church with a good peal of bells and interesting monuments. The People's Hall is a large building, and here is the large Albert Middle Class College, founded 1864.
HADLEIGH (I 6, U. 3,245; Mon.) is on the Brett. The only manufacture now carried on is that of yarn for the Norfolk weavers. It was once a much busier town, and has a fine church, where Guthrum the Danish chief is buried, and an old gate and chapel. On a hill close by are the picturesque ruins of its Norman castle.
HALESWORTH (D 10, 2, 246; Tu.), on the Blythe, has some manufactures, especially of farming tools, and also iron foundries and brick and tile works. There are some ancient timbered houses and an old market-place, and Heveningham Hall is near.
HAUGHLEY (F 6, 859), on the Gipping, is a railway junction, and has a good church. In Haughley Park is an ancient mansion built by Sir T. Sulyard in the time of Queen Mary, who granted him the manor in return for services rendered at her accession against the supporters of Lady Jane Grey. Here too, in 1781, a leaden box was found containing some hundreds of Roman coins and medals.
HAVERHILL (H 1, 4, 862; Fri.), on the Stour, is partly in Essex. It has a considerable industry in drabet, umbrella-silk weaving, and straw-plaiting, and it possesses also large breweries. There are some remains of a castle.
LEISTON (F11, U. 3,259) four miles east of Saxmundham Junction, has extensive iron works for the manufacture of agricultural machinery. Near it are the ruins of Leiston Abbey, as well as a modern seat of the same name.
LONG MELFORD (H 4, 3,253), near Lavenham, on the Stour, is a modern town nearly a mile long, with a fine Gothic church, and is engaged in silk-weaving. Some Roman urns were found on Crammer Green, and there is a hospital, founded in 1573, for twelve decayed housekeepers. Melford Hall is in the neighbourhood.
LOWESTOFT (B12, M. B. 29,842; Wed.), the largest and most popular watering-place in the county, stands on low cliffs near the entrance to the Waveney. It has fine sands and good bathing, an esplanade, pier, and harbour in which there is some shipping, a considerable herring and mackerel fishery, manufactures of rope and twine, and some breweries. The church contains some curious inscriptions, and also a brass lectern with black-letter Bible, the former of which was seized by a Cromwellian soldier, but found in the field after his death in battle. The climate is bracing and very healthy, and the surrounding country picturesque. Close by is the great shallow lake called Oulton Broad, and Fritton Decoy, Cankey, and other are near, in all of which good angling is obtainable. Lowestoft Ness is the eastern-most point of England. Near the town is Somerleyton Hall, and excursions can also be made to Yarmouth, Burgh Castle, Southwold,, Beccles, &c.
MILDENHALL (D 2 , 3,372; Fri.), on the Lark, is a quiet agricultural centre standing on the Chalk, but near the edge of the rich district of the fenland. Lakenheath is a large village in the northern part of the fen.
NEEDHAM MARKET (J 5, 1,105), on the Gipping below Stowmarket, is a quiet agricultural centre, with some trade on the river, here canalised. Bosmere Lake, near here, has an area of about 40 acres.
NEWMARKET (F 1, U. 6,213; Tu. and Sat.), market town and seat of horse training establishments, 13¾ miles east of Cambridge. It has eight race meetings yearly, and has been styled the racing capital of England.
NEYLAND (J 5, 1,105), on the Stour, has some river trade, and manufactures yarn for the weaving industries of the county. There are also soap works. The old mansion of Gifford's Hall and Tendring Park are near.
ORFORD (H 11, 987), on the Alde, stands inland, the river running parallel to the coast between the town and the sea. It has oyster-fisheries and some shipping trade, and is the starting-point of the submarine cable to Holland. The ruined castle was once a stronghold of importance, and has had several famous castellans, as Hugh Bigod, Hubert de Burgh, and Hugh le Despencer.
SAXMUNDHAM, (F 10, 1,452; Wed.), on the Alde, is a town of ancient origin, though its buildings are chiefly modern. Malting is largely carried on. A riot took place here in 1766, necessitating military intervention. At the end of the town stands Hurt's Hall, the seat of the Long family, one of the oldest in the county. Farnham Park, Leiston Abbey, and Yoxford, with its church, are near.
SOUTHWOLD (E 12, M. B. 2,800; Thurs.), stands on a hill overlooking the sea, made almost insular by the river Blythe. Its 15th century church is architecturally interesting. It has a coastguard and lifeboat station and a watering-place, and has saltworks, fisheries, and coasting trade. It has a light railway to Halesworth station, G.E.R. A naval victory over the Dutch (Sole Bay) was gained here in 1672.
STOWMARKET (G6, U. 4,162;Thurs.), on the Gipping has a good Corn Exchange and County Court house, and manufactures gun-cotton, gunpowder, agricultural implements, claypipes, and bricks, and it has also a trade in malt, coals, slate, and timber. The river was deepened and canalised in 1793.
SUDBURY (I 4, M. B. 7,109; Thurs. and Sat.), on the Stour, is a municipal borough, and produces agricultural implements, cocoanut matting, crape, bunting, velvet, and silk, the latter industry having been introduced in the present century from London. Malting is carried on, and bricks are made from a very pure white clay, and it has also good river trade. There are three churches, a grammar school, hospital and a stone bridge over the Stour. Here was founded the first colony of Flemish weavers introduced by Edward III.
THETFORD (D 4, M. B. 4,613; Sat.), at the confluence of the Thet with the Little Ouse, is chiefly in Norfolk. It was the site of the Roman Sitomagus, was the chief city of East Anglia, and a seat of a bishopric afterwards transferred to Norwich, was burnt by the Danes in 870, 1004, and 1010, but was an important place with twenty churches and eight monasteries as late as Edward III. It now has paper mills, iron foundries, breweries, a manufacture of agricultural machinery, and a trade in malt, corn, and wool. The Guildhall dates from the 17th century; there are some remains of a Cluniac nunnery; and Castle Hill is an artificial mound 100 ft. high and 984 ft. round, encircled by a rampart 20 ft. high. It was probably the Danish camp of Ivar and Hubba in 870, though it has been attributed to the Romans.
WICKHAM MARKET (G 9, 1,537), on the Deben, is a decayed place, though formerly a market town, as shown by its name. It stands on high ground, so that its church spire, though some distance inland, serves as a sea-mark. Clevering, Marlesford, and Loudham Halls are near.