Suffolk
Encyclopedia
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin
in East Anglia
, England
. It has borders with 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 Lowestoft
, Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe
, one of the largest container
ports in Europe.
The county is low-lying with very few hills, and is largely arable land
with the wetlands of The Broads
in the North. The Suffolk Coast and Heaths
are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
.
in the 5th century AD.
Suffolk was divided into separate Quarter Sessions
divisions. These were originally four in number, reduced to two in 1860, the eastern division being administered from Ipswich
and the western from Bury St Edmunds. The two divisions were made separate administrative counties as East Suffolk
and West Suffolk
under the Local Government Act 1888
, with Ipswich becoming a county borough
. A few Essex
parishes were also added to Suffolk: Ballingdon-with-Brundon, and parts of Haverhill
and Kedington.
Under the Local Government Act 1972
, East Suffolk, West Suffolk and Ipswich were merged to form a unified county of Suffolk on 1 April 1974. This was divided into several local government district
s: Babergh
, Forest Heath
, Ipswich
, Mid Suffolk
, St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal
, and Waveney
. This Act also transferred some land near Great Yarmouth
to Norfolk. As introduced in Parliament, the Local Government Bill would have transferred Newmarket and Haverhill to Cambridgeshire, but Colchester
would have been transferred in from Essex
; but those changes were not included in Act as passed.
In 2007 the Department for Communities and Local Government
referred Ipswich Borough Council
's bid to become a new unitary authority
to the Boundary Committee
. The Boundary Committee consulted local bodies and reported in favour of the proposal. It was not, however, approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Beginning in February 2008, the Boundary Committee again reviewed local government in the county, with two possible options emerging. One was that of splitting Suffolk into two unitary authorities – Ipswich & Felixstowe and Rural Suffolk; and the other, that of creating a single county-wide controlling authority – the "One Suffolk" option. In February 2010 the then Minister Rosie Winterton
announced that there would be no changes imposed on the structure of local government in the county as a result of the Review, but that the Government would be "asking Suffolk councils and MPs to reach a consensus on what unitary solution they want through a countywide constitutional convention". Following the May 2010 General Election, all further moves towards any of the suggested unitary solutions ceased on the instructions of the incoming Coalition Government
, and the administrative structures of the county are therefore unchanged.
, renowned for archaeological
finds from the Stone Age
, the Bronze Age
and the Iron Age
. Bronze Age artefacts have been found in the area between Mildenhall
and West Row, in Eriswell
and in Lakenheath
.
Many bronze objects, such as swords, spearheads, arrows, axes, palstaves
, knives, daggers, rapiers, armour, decorative equipment (in particular for horses) and fragments of sheet bronze, are entrusted to St Edmundsbury heritage service, housed at West Stow
just outside Bury St Edmunds. Other finds include traces of cremation
s and barrows
.
In the East of the county is Sutton Hoo
, the site of one of England's most signicant Anglo-Saxon
archæological finds; a ship burial containing a collection of treasures including a Sword of State
, gold and silver bowls and jewellery and a lyre
.
in Suffolk is either arable or mixed. Farm sizes vary from anything around 80 acres (32 hectares) to over 8,000. Soil types vary from heavy clays through to light sands. Crops grown include winter wheat, winter barley, sugar beet, oilseed rape, winter and spring beans and linseed, although smaller areas of rye and oats can be found in lighter areas along with a variety of vegetables.
The continuing importance of agriculture in the county is reflected in the Suffolk Show, which is held annually in May at Ipswich. Although latterly somewhat changed in nature, this remains primarily an agricultural show
.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Suffolk at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Well-known companies in Suffolk include Greene King
and Branston Pickle in Bury St Edmunds. Birds Eye
have their largest UK factory in Lowestoft, where all their meat products and frozen vegetables come from. Huntley & Palmers
biscuit company are now in Sudbury. The UK horse racing
industry is based in Newmarket. There are two USAF
bases in the west of the county close to the A11. Sizewell B nuclear power station is at Sizewell
on the coast near Leiston
. Bernard Matthews Farms have some processing units in the county, specifically Holton
. Southwold
is the home of Adnams Brewery
. The Port of Felixstowe
is the largest container
port in the United Kingdom. Other ports, are Port of Lowestoft
and port of Ipswich run by Associated British Ports. BT has its main research and development facility at Martlesham Heath
.
sand
and clay
s. These rocks are relatively unresistant and the coast is eroding
rapidly. Coastal defences have been used to protect several towns, but several cliff-top houses have been lost to coastal erosion in the past, and others are under threat. The continuing protection of the coastline and the estuaries, including the Blyth, Alde and Deben, has been, and remains, a matter of considerable discussion.
The coastal strip to the East contains an area of heathland known as "The Sandlings" which runs almost the full length of the coastline.
The west of the county lies on more resistant Cretaceous
Chalk
. This chalk is the north-eastern extreme of the Southern England Chalk Formation
that stretches from Dorset
in the south west to Dover
in the south east. The Chalk is less easily eroded so forms the only significant hills in the county. The highest point of the county is Great Wood Hill
, the highest point of the Newmarket Ridge
, near the village of Rede which reaches 128 m (420 ft).
The county flower of the county of Suffolk is the oxlip
Suffolk recorded a population
of 668,553. Between 1981 and 2001 the population of the county grew by 13%, with the district of Mid Suffolk
growing fastest at 25%. The population growth is due largely to migration
rather than natural increase. There is a very low population between the ages of 15 and 29 as the county has few large towns and institutions of higher education, though the 15-to-29 population in Ipswich is average. There is a larger population over the age of 35, and a larger than average retired population.
Historically, the county's population have mostly been employed as agricultural workers. An 1835 survey showed Suffolk to have 4,526 occupiers of land employing labourers, 1,121 occupiers not employing labourers, 33,040 labourers employed in agriculture, 676 employed in manufacture, 18,167 employed in retail trade or handicraft, 2,228 'capitalists, bankers etc.', 5,336 labourers (non-agricultural), 4,940 other males aged over 20, 2,032 male servants and 11,483 female servants. The same publication records the total population of the county at 296,304.
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from Yorkshire
and a Yellowbelly
from Lincolnshire
; the traditional nickname for people from Suffolk is 'Suffolk Fair-Maids', or 'Silly Suffolk', referring respectively to the supposed beauty of its female inhabitants in the Middle Ages, and to the long history of Christianity in the county and its many fine churches (from Anglo-Saxon selige, originally meaning holy).
founded in 630AD, plotting of Magna Carta
in 1215; the oldest documented structural element of a still inhabited dwelling in Britain found in Clare
.
This comparatively recent evidence is but a coda to the widespread settlement in the region shown by earlier archaeological evidence of Mesolithic man as far back as c.7000BC, (Grimes Graves
, Norfolk - a 5000 y/o flint mine) with Roman settlements Lakenheath
, Long Melford
, later Bronze and Saxon settlements. Sutton Hoo
: burial ground of the Anglo-Saxon pagan kings of East Anglia.
In the arts, Suffolk is noted for having been the home to two of England's best regarded painter
s, Thomas Gainsborough
and John Constable
– the Stour Valley area is branded as "Constable Country" – and one of its most noted composer
s, Benjamin Britten
. Other artists of note from Suffolk include the cartoonist
Carl Giles
(a bronze statue of his character "Grandma" to commemorate this is located in Ipswich
town centre), poet
s George Crabbe
and Robert Bloomfield
, writer
and editor
Ronald Blythe
, actors Ralph Fiennes
and Bob Hoskins
, actress and singer Kerry Ellis
, musician and record producer
Brian Eno
and Dani Filth
, singer of the Suffolk-based extreme metal
group, Cradle of Filth
. Hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood
is originally from Suffolk and the influential DJ and radio presenter John Peel
made the county his home.
One of Britain's leading contemporary painters, Maggi Hambling
, was born, and resides, in Suffolk.
Suffolk's contributions to sport include Formula One
magnate Bernie Ecclestone
and England
football
ers Terry Butcher
, Kieron Dyer
and Matthew Upson
. Due to Newmarket being the centre of British horseracing many jockey
s have settled in the county, including Lester Piggott
and Frankie Dettori
.
Significant ecclesiastical figures from Suffolk include Simon Sudbury
, a former Archbishop of Canterbury
; Tudor-era
Catholic prelate
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey
; and author, poet, and Benedictine monk John Lydgate
.
Other significant persons from Suffolk include the suffragette
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett; the captain of HMS Beagle
, Robert FitzRoy
; Witch-finder General Matthew Hopkins
; and Britain's first female physician
and mayor
, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
. Charity
leader Sue Ryder
settled in Suffolk and based her charity in Cavendish
.
St Edmund (after whom the town of Bury St Edmunds is named) was killed by invading Danes in the year 869. St Edmund was the patron saint
of England until he was replaced by St George in the thirteenth century.
2006 saw the failure of a campaign to have St Edmund named as the patron saint of England, but in 2007 he was named patron saint of Suffolk, with St Edmund's Day falling on 20 November. His flag
will be flown in Suffolk on that day.
in place with Primary Schools (ages 5–9), Middle Schools
(ages 9–13) and Upper Schools (ages 13–16). However, a 2006 Suffolk County Council study has concluded that Suffolk should move to the 2-tier school system used in the majority of the UK. The majority of schools operate the more common Primary to High school (11-16). Nearly all of the county's Upper schools have a sixth form
, and most further education
colleges in the county offer A-level courses. In terms of school population, Suffolk's individual schools are large with the Ipswich district with the largest school population and Forest Heath the smallest, with just two schools.
The Royal Hospital School near Ipswich, is the largest independent boarding school in Suffolk.
Sixth form college
s in the county include Lowestoft Sixth Form College
and Suffolk One
in Ipswich. Suffolk is home to four further education colleges: Lowestoft College
, Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture
, Suffolk New College
(Ipswich) and West Suffolk College
(Bury St Edmunds).
, a collaboration between the University of Essex
, the University of East Anglia
, partner colleges such as Suffolk New College
and local government, began accepting its first students in September 2007. The main Ipswich based waterfront campus building is due for completion in September 2008. Prior to this Suffolk was one of the few English counties not to contain a University campus.
. Formed in 1878, the club were Football League champions
in 1961–62
, FA Cup
winners in 1977–78
and UEFA Cup
winners in 1980–81
. Ipswich Town currently play in the Football League Championship
- the next highest ranked teams in Suffolk are Bury Town
and Lowestoft Town
of the Isthmian League Premier Division.
. Tattersalls
bloodstock auctioneers and the National Horseracing Museum
are also in the town. Point to point racing takes place at Higham
and Ampton
.
racing has been staged in Suffolk since at least the 1950s, following the construction of the Foxhall Stadium
, just outside Ipswich, home of the Ipswich Witches
. The Witches are currently members of the Speedway Premier League
, the UK's second division. Speedway National League
team Mildenhall Fen Tigers
are also from Suffolk. 'Casper' from the Edinburgh Monarchs speedway squad was also a native of Suffolk for a brief period in the 1970s.
compete in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship
. The club has won the championship three times outright and has shared the title one other time as well as winning the MCCA Knockout Trophy
once. Home games are played in Bury St Edmunds, Copdock
, Exning
, Framlingham
, Ipswich and Mildenhall.
, the annual Aldeburgh Festival
is one of the UK's major classical music
festivals. Originating in Aldeburgh
, it has been held at the nearby Snape Maltings
since 1967. Since 2006, Henham Park
, has been home to the annual Latitude Festival
. This mainly open-air festival, which has grown considerably in size and scope, includes popular music, comedy, poetry and literary events.
is one of most famous UFO events in England and is commonly referred to as "Britain's Roswell".
The Fourth Protocol
, a novel written by Frederick Forsyth
, is a Cold War spy thriller partly set in Suffolk and was made into a film starring Michael Caine
and Pierce Brosnan
. Other novels set in Suffolk include Unnatural Causes
by P.D. James and among Arthur Ransome
's children's books, "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea" and "Coot Club". Peter Greenaway's 1988 film, Drowning by Numbers
was largely shot in the area near Southwold
.
A TV series about a British antiques dealer, Lovejoy
, was filmed in various locations in Suffolk. The reality TV Series Space Cadets was filmed in Rendlesham Forest
, although the producers pretended to the participants that they were in Russia
. Several towns and villages in the county have been used for location filming of other television programmes and cinema films. These include an episode of Kavanagh QC
and the film Iris.
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It has borders with Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
to the north, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
to the west and Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
to the south. The North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
lies to the east. The county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
is Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
; other important towns include Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
, Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
, one of the largest container
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
ports in Europe.
The county is low-lying with very few hills, and is largely arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
with the wetlands of The Broads
The Broads
The Broads are a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Broads, and some surrounding land were constituted as a special area with a level of protection similar to a UK National Park by The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act of 1988...
in the North. The Suffolk Coast and Heaths
Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB
The Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Suffolk, England.The AONB covers ancient woodland, commercial forestry, the estuaries of the Alde, Blyth, Deben, Orwell and Stour rivers, farmland, salt marsh, heathland, mudflats, reed beds, small towns and villages,...
are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
.
Administration
Suffolk was part of the kingdom of East Anglia which was settled by the AnglesAngles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
in the 5th century AD.
Suffolk was divided into separate Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
divisions. These were originally four in number, reduced to two in 1860, the eastern division being administered from Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
and the western from Bury St Edmunds. The two divisions were made separate administrative counties as East Suffolk
East Suffolk
East Suffolk, along with West Suffolk, was created in 1888 as an administrative county of England. The administrative county was based on the eastern quarter sessions division of Suffolk...
and West Suffolk
West Suffolk
West Suffolk was an administrative county of England created in 1889 from part of the county of Suffolk. It survived until 1974 when it was rejoined with East Suffolk. Its county town was Bury St Edmunds....
under the Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
, with Ipswich becoming a county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
. A few Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
parishes were also added to Suffolk: Ballingdon-with-Brundon, and parts of Haverhill
Haverhill, Suffolk
Haverhill is an industrial market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies southeast of Cambridge and north of central London...
and Kedington.
Under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, East Suffolk, West Suffolk and Ipswich were merged to form a unified county of Suffolk on 1 April 1974. This was divided into several local government district
Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...
s: Babergh
Babergh
Babergh is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council headquarters is based in Hadleigh, whilst its largest town is Sudbury.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Borough of Sudbury, Hadleigh urban district, Cosford Rural District, Melford Rural District and...
, Forest Heath
Forest Heath
Forest Heath is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Mildenhall. Other towns in the district include Newmarket....
, Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Needham Market, and the largest town is Stowmarket.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Borough of Eye, Stowmarket urban district, Gipping Rural District, Hartismere Rural District and...
, St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal
Suffolk Coastal
Suffolk Coastal is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Woodbridge. Other towns include Felixstowe.The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Aldeburgh, along with Felixstowe,...
, and Waveney
Waveney
Waveney is a local government district in Suffolk, England, named after the River Waveney that forms its north-west border. The district council is based in Lowestoft, the major settlement in Waveney, which is the only unparished area in the district...
. This Act also transferred some land near Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
to Norfolk. As introduced in Parliament, the Local Government Bill would have transferred Newmarket and Haverhill to Cambridgeshire, but Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
would have been transferred in from Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
; but those changes were not included in Act as passed.
In 2007 the Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...
referred Ipswich Borough Council
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
's bid to become a new unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
to the Boundary Committee
Boundary Committee for England
The Boundary Committee for England was a statutory committee of the Electoral Commission, an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. The Committee’s aim was to conduct thorough, consultative and robust reviews of local government areas in England, and for its recommendations to be...
. The Boundary Committee consulted local bodies and reported in favour of the proposal. It was not, however, approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Beginning in February 2008, the Boundary Committee again reviewed local government in the county, with two possible options emerging. One was that of splitting Suffolk into two unitary authorities – Ipswich & Felixstowe and Rural Suffolk; and the other, that of creating a single county-wide controlling authority – the "One Suffolk" option. In February 2010 the then Minister Rosie Winterton
Rosie Winterton
Rosalie "Rosie" Winterton is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Doncaster Central since 1997. Formerly a minister within both the Blair and Brown Governments, she first entered the Shadow Cabinet in May 2010 as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons...
announced that there would be no changes imposed on the structure of local government in the county as a result of the Review, but that the Government would be "asking Suffolk councils and MPs to reach a consensus on what unitary solution they want through a countywide constitutional convention". Following the May 2010 General Election, all further moves towards any of the suggested unitary solutions ceased on the instructions of the incoming Coalition Government
Cameron Ministry
David Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...
, and the administrative structures of the county are therefore unchanged.
Archaeology
West Suffolk is, like nearby East CambridgeshireEast Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely....
, renowned for archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds from the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. Bronze Age artefacts have been found in the area between Mildenhall
Mildenhall, Suffolk
Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is run by Forest Heath District Council and has a population of 9,906 people. The town is near the A11 and is located north-west of county town, Ipswich. The large Royal Air Force base, RAF Mildenhall as well as RAF...
and West Row, in Eriswell
Eriswell
Eriswell is a village and civil parish of Forest Heath in the English county of Suffolk.About forty scattered Archaeological finds have been made here, including Bronze Age battle axes, palstaves and rapiers....
and in Lakenheath
Lakenheath
Lakenheath is a village in Suffolk, England. It has around 8,200 residents, and is situated in the Forest Heath district of Suffolk, close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and at the meeting point of the The Fens and the Breckland natural environments.Lakenheath is host...
.
Many bronze objects, such as swords, spearheads, arrows, axes, palstaves
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
, knives, daggers, rapiers, armour, decorative equipment (in particular for horses) and fragments of sheet bronze, are entrusted to St Edmundsbury heritage service, housed at West Stow
West Stow
West Stow is a small parish in West Suffolk, England.The village lies north of Bury St. Edmunds, south of Mildenhall and Thetford and west of the villages of Culford and Ingham in the area known as the Breckland.This area is located near the Lark River Valley and populated from AD 420-650.it is...
just outside Bury St Edmunds. Other finds include traces of cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
s and barrows
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
.
In the East of the county is Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
, the site of one of England's most signicant Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
archæological finds; a ship burial containing a collection of treasures including a Sword of State
Sword of State
A sword of state is a sword, used as part of the regalia, symbolizing the power of a monarch to use the might of the state against its enemies, and their duty to preserve thus right and peace.It is known to be used in following monarchies:...
, gold and silver bowls and jewellery and a lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
.
Economy
The majority of agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
in Suffolk is either arable or mixed. Farm sizes vary from anything around 80 acres (32 hectares) to over 8,000. Soil types vary from heavy clays through to light sands. Crops grown include winter wheat, winter barley, sugar beet, oilseed rape, winter and spring beans and linseed, although smaller areas of rye and oats can be found in lighter areas along with a variety of vegetables.
The continuing importance of agriculture in the county is reflected in the Suffolk Show, which is held annually in May at Ipswich. Although latterly somewhat changed in nature, this remains primarily an agricultural show
Agricultural show
An agricultural show is a public event showcasing the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show , a trade fair, competitions, and entertainment...
.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Suffolk at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value AddedComponents may not sum to totals due to rounding | Agricultureincludes hunting and forestry | Industryincludes energy and construction | Servicesincludes financial intermediation services indirectly measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 7,113 | 391 | 2,449 | 4,273 |
| 2000 | 8,096 | 259 | 2,589 | 5,248 |
| 2003 | 9,456 | 270 | 2,602 | 6,583 |
Well-known companies in Suffolk include Greene King
Greene King Brewery
Greene King is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become one of the largest British owned breweries in the UK through a series of takeovers which have been the subject of some criticism. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent...
and Branston Pickle in Bury St Edmunds. Birds Eye
Birds Eye
__FORCETOC__Birds Eye is an international brand of frozen foods owned by Pinnacle Foods in North America and by private equity group Permira in Europe....
have their largest UK factory in Lowestoft, where all their meat products and frozen vegetables come from. Huntley & Palmers
Huntley & Palmers
Huntley & Palmers was a British firm of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. The company created one of the world's first global brands and ran what was once the world’s largest biscuit factory. Over the years, the company was also known as J...
biscuit company are now in Sudbury. The UK horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
industry is based in Newmarket. There are two USAF
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
bases in the west of the county close to the A11. Sizewell B nuclear power station is at Sizewell
Sizewell
Sizewell is a small fishing village with a few holiday homes in the county of Suffolk, England. It is located on the East Anglian coast just north of the larger holiday villages of Thorpeness and Aldeburgh, and two miles from the town of Leiston. It is within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.The...
on the coast near Leiston
Leiston
Leiston is a town in eastern Suffolk, England. It is situated near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast and is northeast of Ipswich and northeast from London...
. Bernard Matthews Farms have some processing units in the county, specifically Holton
Holton, Suffolk
Holton, in Suffolk, England, is a village near to the town of Halesworth with a population of around 1,100. Holton is split into two parts, Upper Holton and Holton.-History:Although it often referred to as Holton St...
. Southwold
Southwold
Southwold is a town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around south of Lowestoft and north-east...
is the home of Adnams Brewery
Adnams Brewery
Adnams PLC is a British regional brewery company founded in 1890 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. The earliest recorded brewing on the Adnams site was in 1396 by Johanna de Corby. The company produces cask ale and pasteurised bottled beers. Annual production is around...
. The Port of Felixstowe
Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk is the UK's busiest container port, dealing with 35% of the country's container cargo. It was developed following the abandonment of a project for a deep-water harbour at Maplin Sands. In 2005, it was ranked as the 28th busiest container port in the...
is the largest container
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
port in the United Kingdom. Other ports, are Port of Lowestoft
Port of Lowestoft
The Port of Lowestoft is a harbour in Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk owned by Associated British Ports. It is the most easterly harbour in the United Kingdom and has direct sea access to the North Sea. The harbour is made up of two sections divided by a bascule bridge...
and port of Ipswich run by Associated British Ports. BT has its main research and development facility at Martlesham Heath
Martlesham Heath
Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield...
.
Geology, landscape and ecology
Much of Suffolk is low-lying, founded on PleistocenePleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
s. These rocks are relatively unresistant and the coast is eroding
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
rapidly. Coastal defences have been used to protect several towns, but several cliff-top houses have been lost to coastal erosion in the past, and others are under threat. The continuing protection of the coastline and the estuaries, including the Blyth, Alde and Deben, has been, and remains, a matter of considerable discussion.
The coastal strip to the East contains an area of heathland known as "The Sandlings" which runs almost the full length of the coastline.
The west of the county lies on more resistant Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
Chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
. This chalk is the north-eastern extreme of the Southern England Chalk Formation
Southern England Chalk Formation
The Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of chalk downland in the south of England. The formation is perhaps best known for Salisbury Plain, the location of Stonehenge, the Isle of Wight and the twin ridgeways of the North Downs and South Downs....
that stretches from Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
in the south west to Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
in the south east. The Chalk is less easily eroded so forms the only significant hills in the county. The highest point of the county is Great Wood Hill
Great Wood Hill
At , Great Wood Hill is the highest point in the Newmarket Ridge and in the English county of Suffolk. The top is in the middle of a wood, near the village of Rede.It is the highest point in the wide area east of the River Cam.- Footnotes :...
, the highest point of the Newmarket Ridge
Newmarket Ridge
The Newmarket Ridge is a ridge of low chalk hills extending for over 20 miles, from Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, passing through the south-eastern corner of Cambridgeshire....
, near the village of Rede which reaches 128 m (420 ft).
The county flower of the county of Suffolk is the oxlip
Demographics
The Census 2001United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
Suffolk recorded a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 668,553. Between 1981 and 2001 the population of the county grew by 13%, with the district of Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk
Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Needham Market, and the largest town is Stowmarket.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Borough of Eye, Stowmarket urban district, Gipping Rural District, Hartismere Rural District and...
growing fastest at 25%. The population growth is due largely to migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
rather than natural increase. There is a very low population between the ages of 15 and 29 as the county has few large towns and institutions of higher education, though the 15-to-29 population in Ipswich is average. There is a larger population over the age of 35, and a larger than average retired population.
Historically, the county's population have mostly been employed as agricultural workers. An 1835 survey showed Suffolk to have 4,526 occupiers of land employing labourers, 1,121 occupiers not employing labourers, 33,040 labourers employed in agriculture, 676 employed in manufacture, 18,167 employed in retail trade or handicraft, 2,228 'capitalists, bankers etc.', 5,336 labourers (non-agricultural), 4,940 other males aged over 20, 2,032 male servants and 11,483 female servants. The same publication records the total population of the county at 296,304.
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and a Yellowbelly
Yellowbelly (Lincolnshire)
A yellowbelly is a person from Lincolnshire, England. The origin of this nickname is disputed, and many explanations have been offered. These include:...
from Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
; the traditional nickname for people from Suffolk is 'Suffolk Fair-Maids', or 'Silly Suffolk', referring respectively to the supposed beauty of its female inhabitants in the Middle Ages, and to the long history of Christianity in the county and its many fine churches (from Anglo-Saxon selige, originally meaning holy).
Cities, towns and villages
Figures for the number of established communities in Suffolk vary greatly among sources because of the treatment of the large number of all but non-existent hamlets which may consist of just a single farm and a deconsecrated church: remnants of wealthy communities, some dating back to the early days of the Christian era. Suffolk encompasses one of the most ancient regions of the UK: A monastery in Bury St. EdmundsBury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...
founded in 630AD, plotting of Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
in 1215; the oldest documented structural element of a still inhabited dwelling in Britain found in Clare
Clare, Suffolk
Clare is a small town on the north bank of the River Stour in Suffolk, England.Clare is from Bury St Edmunds and from Sudbury. It lies in the 'South and Heart of Suffolk' . As a cloth town, it is one of Suffolk's 'threads'. Clare is the current holder of Village of the Year and has won the...
.
This comparatively recent evidence is but a coda to the widespread settlement in the region shown by earlier archaeological evidence of Mesolithic man as far back as c.7000BC, (Grimes Graves
Grimes Graves
Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex near Brandon in England close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk. It was worked between around circa 3000 BC and circa 1900 BC, although production may have continued well into the Bronze and Iron Ages owing to the low cost of flint...
, Norfolk - a 5000 y/o flint mine) with Roman settlements Lakenheath
Lakenheath
Lakenheath is a village in Suffolk, England. It has around 8,200 residents, and is situated in the Forest Heath district of Suffolk, close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and at the meeting point of the The Fens and the Breckland natural environments.Lakenheath is host...
, Long Melford
Long Melford
Long Melford is a large village and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, approximately from Colchester and from Bury St. Edmunds...
, later Bronze and Saxon settlements. Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
: burial ground of the Anglo-Saxon pagan kings of East Anglia.
- For a full list of settlements see the List of places in Suffolk.
Notable people
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
and John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
– the Stour Valley area is branded as "Constable Country" – and one of its most noted composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s, Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
. Other artists of note from Suffolk include the cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Carl Giles
Carl Giles
Ronald "Carl" Giles , often referred to simply as Giles, was a cartoonist most famous for his work for the British newspaper the Daily Express....
(a bronze statue of his character "Grandma" to commemorate this is located in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
town centre), poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
s George Crabbe
George Crabbe
George Crabbe was an English poet and naturalist.-Biography:He was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the son of a tax collector, and developed his love of poetry as a child. In 1768, he was apprenticed to a local doctor, who taught him little, and in 1771 he changed masters and moved to Woodbridge...
and Robert Bloomfield
Robert Bloomfield
Robert Bloomfield was an English labouring class poet whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare.-Life:...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and editor
Literary editor
A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary editor may also help with editing books themselves, by providing services such as proof reading, copy-editing, and literary...
Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe is an English writer and editor, best known in his native England for his Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village , a portrait of agricultural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s...
, actors Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
and Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
, actress and singer Kerry Ellis
Kerry Ellis
Kerry Jane Ellis is an English stage actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music...
, musician and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Dani Filth
Dani Filth
Dani Filth is the lyricist, vocalist and founding member of the metal band Cradle of Filth.-Personal life:...
, singer of the Suffolk-based extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
group, Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
. Hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood
Tim Westwood
Timothy Westwood is an English DJ and presenter of radio and television. He also presents the UK version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride...
is originally from Suffolk and the influential DJ and radio presenter John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
made the county his home.
One of Britain's leading contemporary painters, Maggi Hambling
Maggi Hambling
Maggi Hambling CBE is an English painter and sculptor. Perhaps her best known public works are a memorial to Oscar Wilde in central London and Scallop, a 4 metre high steel sculpture of two interlocking scallop shells on Aldeburgh beach dedicated to Benjamin Britten...
, was born, and resides, in Suffolk.
Suffolk's contributions to sport include Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
magnate Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...
and England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
ers Terry Butcher
Terry Butcher
Terence Ian "Terry" Butcher is an English football manager and former player. He was a highly successful football player and made his name as an uncompromising defender with Ipswich Town and Rangers in the 1980s. He was also a captain of England and won 77 caps in a ten-year international career...
, Kieron Dyer
Kieron Dyer
Kieron Courtney Dyer is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers. Born in Ipswich, he is an attacking midfielder who played youth football for his home club before going on to make nearly 100 league appearances for the club's first team...
and Matthew Upson
Matthew Upson
Matthew James Upson is an English footballer who plays for Stoke City in the Premier League. He is a central defender and he has played for England at full international level including at the 2010 World Cup....
. Due to Newmarket being the centre of British horseracing many jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
s have settled in the county, including Lester Piggott
Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....
and Frankie Dettori
Frankie Dettori
Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...
.
Significant ecclesiastical figures from Suffolk include Simon Sudbury
Simon Sudbury
Simon Sudbury, also called Simon Theobald of Sudbury and Simon of Sudbury was Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 until his death, and in the last year of his life Lord Chancellor of England....
, a former Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
; Tudor-era
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
Catholic prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey was an English political figure and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. When Henry VIII became king of England in 1509, Wolsey became the King's almoner...
; and author, poet, and Benedictine monk John Lydgate
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury was a monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England.Lydgate is at once a greater and a lesser poet than John Gower. He is a greater poet because of his greater range and force; he has a much more powerful machine at his command. The sheer bulk of Lydgate's poetic output is...
.
Other significant persons from Suffolk include the suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett; the captain of HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
, Robert FitzRoy
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality...
; Witch-finder General Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins was an English witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament...
; and Britain's first female physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD , was an English physician and feminist, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain and the first female mayor in England.-Early life:...
. Charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
leader Sue Ryder
Sue Ryder
Margaret Susan Cheshire, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw and Baroness Cheshire, CMG, OBE , best known as Sue Ryder, was a British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, who afterwards led many charitable organizations, notably the charity named in her honour.-Early...
settled in Suffolk and based her charity in Cavendish
Cavendish, Suffolk
Cavendish is a village and civil parish in the Stour Valley in Suffolk, England. It is from Bury St Edmunds and from Newmarket.It is believed that Cavendish is called so because a man called Cafa used to own a pasture or 'edisc' there, and it therefore became known as Cafa's Edisc and eventually...
.
St Edmund
King of East Anglia and Christian martyrMartyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
St Edmund (after whom the town of Bury St Edmunds is named) was killed by invading Danes in the year 869. St Edmund was the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of England until he was replaced by St George in the thirteenth century.
2006 saw the failure of a campaign to have St Edmund named as the patron saint of England, but in 2007 he was named patron saint of Suffolk, with St Edmund's Day falling on 20 November. His flag
Flag of Suffolk
The flag of Suffolk, , is a modern proposal for a county flag for the English county of Suffolk, designed by Bill Bulstrode...
will be flown in Suffolk on that day.
Primary, secondary and further education
Suffolk has a comprehensive education system with fourteen independent schools. Unusual for the UK, some of Suffolk has a 3-tier school systemThree-tier education
Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types. A similar experiment was also trialled in Scotland....
in place with Primary Schools (ages 5–9), Middle Schools
Middle Schools in England
Middle schools in England are defined in English and Welsh law as being schools in which the age range of pupils taught includes pupils who are aged below 10 years and six months, as well as those who are aged over 12. Such schools were not permitted in the state system under the legislation...
(ages 9–13) and Upper Schools (ages 13–16). However, a 2006 Suffolk County Council study has concluded that Suffolk should move to the 2-tier school system used in the majority of the UK. The majority of schools operate the more common Primary to High school (11-16). Nearly all of the county's Upper schools have a sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
, and most further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
colleges in the county offer A-level courses. In terms of school population, Suffolk's individual schools are large with the Ipswich district with the largest school population and Forest Heath the smallest, with just two schools.
The Royal Hospital School near Ipswich, is the largest independent boarding school in Suffolk.
Sixth form college
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
s in the county include Lowestoft Sixth Form College
Lowestoft Sixth Form College
Lowestoft Sixth Form College is brand new Sixth Form College in Lowestoft, Suffolk which opened in September 2011. It caters for up to 950 16-19 year old students with the facilities to engage 14-16 year olds as well as adult learners....
and Suffolk One
Suffolk One
Suffolk One is a sixth form college located on Scrivener Drive in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Opened in 2010, and a member of the South West Ipswich and South Suffolk Partnership, it provides further education in the South Suffolk Area....
in Ipswich. Suffolk is home to four further education colleges: Lowestoft College
Lowestoft College
Lowestoft College is a Further Education college in Lowestoft, Suffolk. It is affiliated to University Campus Suffolk through which it offers a range of Higher Education degree courses. The College works with two school partnerships, North Suffolk and Lowestoft, delivering vocational training in...
, Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture
Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture
Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture is a further education college in Otley, Suffolk, United Kingdom.-External links:*...
, Suffolk New College
Suffolk New College
Suffolk New College is a further education college in Ipswich, Suffolk. It has recently constructed a new building costing £70 million.- Overview :...
(Ipswich) and West Suffolk College
West Suffolk College
West Suffolk College is a Further Education college in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It is also a member of the University Campus Suffolk and as part of this affiliation it offers a range of Higher Education degree courses.-Mission:...
(Bury St Edmunds).
Tertiary education
University Campus SuffolkUniversity Campus Suffolk
University Campus Suffolk ' is an educational institution located in the county of Suffolk, United Kingdom that welcomed its first students in September 2007. Until then Suffolk was one of only three counties in England which did not have a University campus...
, a collaboration between the University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
, the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
, partner colleges such as Suffolk New College
Suffolk New College
Suffolk New College is a further education college in Ipswich, Suffolk. It has recently constructed a new building costing £70 million.- Overview :...
and local government, began accepting its first students in September 2007. The main Ipswich based waterfront campus building is due for completion in September 2008. Prior to this Suffolk was one of the few English counties not to contain a University campus.
Football
The county's sole professional football club is Ipswich TownIpswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
. Formed in 1878, the club were Football League champions
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
in 1961–62
1962 in football (soccer)
The following are the football events of the year 1962 throughout the world.-Events:*Copa Libertadores 1962: Won by Santos FC after defeating Peñarol on an aggregate score of 3-0.-Winners club national championship:...
, FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winners in 1977–78
1978 in football (soccer)
The following are the football events of the year 1978 throughout the world.-Events:*Copa Libertadores 1978: Won by Boca Juniors after defeating Deportivo Cali on an aggregate score of 4-0....
and UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
winners in 1980–81
1981 in football (soccer)
The following are the football events of the year 1981 throughout the world.- Events :*Copa Libertadores 1981: Won by Flamengo after defeating Cobreloa on the playoff match 2-0....
. Ipswich Town currently play in the Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
- the next highest ranked teams in Suffolk are Bury Town
Bury Town F.C.
Bury Town Football Club is an English semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Ram Meadow.-Early history:...
and Lowestoft Town
Lowestoft Town F.C.
Lowestoft Town F.C. is an English football club based in Lowestoft, Suffolk. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Crown Meadow.-History:...
of the Isthmian League Premier Division.
Horse racing
The town of Newmarket is the headquarters of British horseracing - home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country, many key horse racing organisations, including the National Stud, and Newmarket RacecourseNewmarket Racecourse
The town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England, is the headquarters of British horseracing, home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations. Newmarket Racecourse has two courses - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both are wide, galloping...
. Tattersalls
Tattersalls
Tattersalls is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall , who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. The first premises occupied were near Hyde Park Corner, in what was then the outskirts of London...
bloodstock auctioneers and the National Horseracing Museum
National Horseracing Museum
The National Horseracing Museum of the United Kingdom is located at 99 High Street in Newmarket. Open to the public, it contains collections and records of people and horses involved in the sport of horse racing from its Royal origins to modern heroes...
are also in the town. Point to point racing takes place at Higham
Higham, Babergh
Higham is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located on the eastern bank of the River Brett , around 400 metres north of the point at which it joins the River Stour, it is part of Babergh district...
and Ampton
Ampton
Ampton is a village and civil parish in the St Edmundsbury district of Suffolk, England, about five miles north of Bury St Edmunds.According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is Amma's homestead. The Domesday Book records the population of Ampton in 1086 to be 23...
.
Speedway
SpeedwayMotorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
racing has been staged in Suffolk since at least the 1950s, following the construction of the Foxhall Stadium
Foxhall Stadium
Foxhall Stadium is a Stock car racing stadium located in Foxhall near Ipswich. The Stadium is also used by the Ipswich Witches Speedway team, which race on most Thursday nights from March to October starting at 7.30pm. The stadium also hosts carboot sales on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from...
, just outside Ipswich, home of the Ipswich Witches
Ipswich Witches
The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm....
. The Witches are currently members of the Speedway Premier League
Speedway Premier League
The Premier League is the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom and goverened by the Speedway Control Board , in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association . The Premier League was founded in 1995 when it replaced the British League as the first division...
, the UK's second division. Speedway National League
Speedway National League
The National League was the top division of Speedway in the United Kingdom from 1932 until 1965 when it became known as the British League. Prior to 1932 there were only small regional leagues competing within the sport in the UK. The National League was re-incarnated in 1975 as the second division...
team Mildenhall Fen Tigers
Mildenhall Fen Tigers
The Mildenhall Fen Tigers are a British speedway team, currently riding in the National League.The club moved up to the Premier League in 2006 after twelve seasons in the Conference League when new promoter Mick Horton took over. In 2007 Stadium owner Carl Harris formed 'Fen Tigers Limited' with...
are also from Suffolk. 'Casper' from the Edinburgh Monarchs speedway squad was also a native of Suffolk for a brief period in the 1970s.
Cricket
Suffolk C.C.C.Suffolk County Cricket Club
Suffolk County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Suffolk....
compete in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship
Minor Counties Cricket Championship
The Minor Counties Cricket Championship is a season-long competition in England that is contested by those county cricket clubs that do not have first-class status...
. The club has won the championship three times outright and has shared the title one other time as well as winning the MCCA Knockout Trophy
MCCA Knockout Trophy
The Minor Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the Minor Counties in English cricket...
once. Home games are played in Bury St Edmunds, Copdock
Copdock
Copdock is a small settlement in Suffolk, England. It is southwest of Ipswich.It is located on the former A12 road which was blocked off at White's Corner after the construction of the Copdock Interchange and the A14 road Ipswich bypass....
, Exning
Exning
Exning is a village in Suffolk, England.It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly east-northeast of Cambridge, and south-south-east of Ely...
, Framlingham
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal District of Suffolk, England. Commonly referred to as "Fram" by the locals, it is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a population of 3,114 at the 2001 census...
, Ipswich and Mildenhall.
Arts
Founded in 1948 by Benjamin BrittenBenjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, the annual Aldeburgh Festival
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...
is one of the UK's major classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
festivals. Originating in Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
, it has been held at the nearby Snape Maltings
Snape Maltings
Snape Maltings is part of Snape, Suffolk, U.K., best known for its concert hall, which is one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival....
since 1967. Since 2006, Henham Park
Henham Park
Henham Park is an estate just north of the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk, England. It lies at the intersection of the A12 and A145 main roads. The current owner is Keith Rous, The Sixth Earl of Stradbroke, ‘The Aussie Earl’.-History:...
, has been home to the annual Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
. This mainly open-air festival, which has grown considerably in size and scope, includes popular music, comedy, poetry and literary events.
Suffolk in popular culture
The Rendlesham Forest IncidentRendlesham Forest Incident
The Rendlesham Forest Incident is the name given to a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and the alleged landing of a craft or multiple craft of unknown origin in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, in late December 1980, just outside RAF Woodbridge, used at the time by the U.S....
is one of most famous UFO events in England and is commonly referred to as "Britain's Roswell".
The Fourth Protocol
The Fourth Protocol
The Fourth Protocol is a novel written by Frederick Forsyth and published in August 1984.-Explanation of the novel's title:The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which contained four secret protocols. The fourth, of the protocols, was meant to prohibit the non-conventional...
, a novel written by Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
, is a Cold War spy thriller partly set in Suffolk and was made into a film starring Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
and Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
. Other novels set in Suffolk include Unnatural Causes
Unnatural Causes
You may be looking for UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, a documentary series broadcast on PBS in 2008.Unnatural Causes is a detective novel by English crime writer P. D. James.-Synopsis:...
by P.D. James and among Arthur Ransome
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common subjects...
's children's books, "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea" and "Coot Club". Peter Greenaway's 1988 film, Drowning by Numbers
Drowning by Numbers
Drowning by Numbers is a 1988 British film directed by Peter Greenaway. It was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:The film's plot centers on three women — a grandmother, mother and daughter — each named Cissie Colpitts. As the story progresses each woman successively drowns her husband...
was largely shot in the area near Southwold
Southwold
Southwold is a town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around south of Lowestoft and north-east...
.
A TV series about a British antiques dealer, Lovejoy
Lovejoy
Lovejoy is a TV series about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques dealer and faker based in East Anglia, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue. The episodes were based on a series of picaresque novels by John Grant...
, was filmed in various locations in Suffolk. The reality TV Series Space Cadets was filmed in Rendlesham Forest
Rendlesham Forest
Rendlesham Forest is a 1500-hectare mixed woodland in Suffolk owned by the Forestry Commission with recreation facilities for walkers, cyclists and campers. Catering to enthusiasts of the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident, there is a special UFO trail....
, although the producers pretended to the participants that they were in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Several towns and villages in the county have been used for location filming of other television programmes and cinema films. These include an episode of Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
and the film Iris.
See also
- List of places of interest in Suffolk
- Suffolk Youth OrchestraSuffolk Youth OrchestraThe flagship of Suffolk County Council's extensive programme of youth music opportunities, the Suffolk Youth Orchestra is a full symphony orchestra of over 90 players, all aged between 13 and 21 years. It ranks among the finest of its type in the UK...
- Lord Lieutenant of SuffolkLord Lieutenant of SuffolkThis is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk. Since 1642, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Suffolk.-Lord Lieutenants of Suffolk:*Sir Anthony Wingfield 1551–1552 jointly with*? 1551–?...
- High Sheriff of SuffolkHigh Sheriff of SuffolkThis is a list of High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually by the Crown. He was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county and presided at the Assizes and other important county meetings...
- Suffolk dialectSuffolk dialectSuffolk dialect is an English dialect. Like many English dialects it is rapidly disappearing, with the advent of increasing social and geographical mobility and the influence of the media...