Everything about Sudbury Suffolk totally explained
Sudbury is a small, ancient
market town in the county of
Suffolk,
England, on the
River Stour, 15 miles from
Colchester and 60 miles from
London.
History
Early history
Sudbury’s history dates back into the age of the
Saxons, the town’s earliest mention is in
799 AD, when Aelfhun,
Bishop of Dunwich, died in the town. The town is also mentioned in the
Domesday Book of
1086, as a
market town where the local people came to barter their goods. His body was afterwards buried in
Canterbury Cathedral, but his skull is kept in St. Gregory’s with St. Peter’s Church, one of the three
medieval churches in Sudbury.
During the eighteenth century Sudbury became famous for its local artists.
John Constable painted in the area, especially the River Stour. Painter
Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury in
1727, and was educated at
Grammar School. His birthplace, now named Gainsborough House, is now a museum to his work and is open to the public. It houses many valuable pictures and some of his family possessions. A statue of Gainsborough was unveiled in the town centre outside St Peter’s Church on Market Hill in 1913. In the
1841 general election Sudbury became the first place in the UK to elect a member of an
ethnic minority to
parliament, with
David Dye Sombre, the son of an
Indian queen, winning the seat. However, he wasn't allowed to take his place in parliament as he was subsequently declared insane.
The railway arrived in Sudbury in 1847 when
Sudbury railway station was built on the
Stour Valley Railway. The town escaped the
Beeching Axe of the 1960s and maintained its rail link with London, although it became the terminus of the
Gainsborough Line, and many villages further up the River lost their rail stations. Road links with the major cities of the area are being improved. Once a busy and important river port the last industrial building on the riverside in Sudbury has been converted into the Quay Theatre, which has seen waning popularity and financial hardship in recent times. However the river is no longer subject to the local ordinance of
9 November 1893, when the Town Council decided that bathing in the river was to be banned after 8 a.m., except at Dobs Hole, where screens had been erected.
The Sudbury Society was formed in 1973 after a successful campaign to save the town's Corn Exchange from developers. However, in protecting its ancient centre the town hasn't shut itself off from modern development. As the town has expanded (to a population in 2004 of 22,300) modern retail and industrial developments have been added on sites close to the centre and on the eastern edge at
Chilton. The eighteenth and nineteenth century houses near the town centre have been added to by modern developments.
Sudbury was a borough until the local government reorganisation of 1974. Since then it has been a civil parish; being an urban area the parish council and its chair are known as the
Town Council and
Town Mayor respectively.
Sports
The town's main
football club,
A.F.C. Sudbury, was formed on 1 June 1999 by the amalgamation of two existing clubs,
Sudbury Town F.C. (founded 1885) and
Sudbury Wanderers F.C. (founded 1958).
The local
rugby club, Sudbury R.F.C. have previously played as high as the fourth tier of English rugby, but are currently in London 4 North East. The club's ground is in neighbouring village,
Great Cornard.
International links
The
Canadian city of
Greater Sudbury,
Ontario (formerly known as Sudbury) was named for Sudbury, Suffolk. The then-commissioner of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, which played a major role in the Canadian city's founding, was married to a woman who had been born at Sudbury, Suffolk, and the name was chosen to honour her.
Twin towns
Sudbury is
twinned with the following towns:
Famous Sudburians
Thomas Gainsborough, artist
John Constable (a local if not a native of the town), artist
Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
Stuart Slater, former Premier League footballer for Ipswich TownFurther Information
Get more info on 'Sudbury Suffolk'.
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