Sudbury, Suffolk

Sudbury is a small, ancient market town in the county of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour, 15 mi from Colchester and 60 mi from London.

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 Saxon Chronicle records the town as Suthberie ("south-borough"), presumed to distinguish it from Norwich or Bury St Edmunds, to the north. The town is also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, as a market town where the local people came to barter their goods. The market was established in 1009.

A community of Dominicans arrived in the mid-13th century and gradually extended the size of their priory, which was one of three Dominican priories in the county of Suffolk. Sudbury was one of the first towns in which Edward III settled the Flemings, allowing the weaving and silk industries to prosper for centuries during the Late Middle Ages. As the main town in the area, Sudbury prospered too, and many great houses and churches were built, giving the town a major historical legacy. The Woolsack in the House of Lords was originally stuffed with wool from the Sudbury area, a sign of both the importance of the wool industry and of the wealth of the donors.

One citizen of Sudbury, Archbishop Simon Sudbury showed that not even the Tower of London guarantees safety. On 14 June 1381 guards opened the Tower’s doors and allowed a party of rebellious peasants to enter. Sudbury, inventor of the poll tax, was dragged to Tower Hill and beheaded. 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. Simon's concerns for his native town are reflected in the founding of St Leonard's Hospital in 1372, a place of respite, towards Long Melford, for lepers. For the College of St Gregory, which he founded in 1375 to support eight priests, he used his father's former house and an adjoining plot.

From the 16th to 18th century the weaving industry was less consistently profitable and Sudbury experienced periods of varying prosperity. By means of the borough court, the mayor and corporation directed the affairs of the town. They built a house of correction (1624) for 'rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggars' and tried to finance the reconstruction of Ballingdon Bridge, which disappeared during a storm on 4 September 1594. Among theatrical companies they paid to visit Sudbury were Lord Strange's Men (1592) and the King's Men (1610). Minor infringements, such as not attending church, were punished by fines, for worse offenders there was a stocks or a whipping. During the Civil War a 12-strong band of watchmen was created to prevent the town's enemies, presumed to be Royalists, burning it down.

Sudbury and the surrounding area, like much of East Anglia, was a hotbed of Puritan sentiment during much of the 17th century. Sudbury was among the town's called "notorious wasps' nests of dissent." During the decade of the 1630s, many families departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the wave of emigration that occurred during the Great Migration.

By the 18th century the fees charged to become a freeman, with voting rights, were exorbitant and the borough of Sudbury, along with 177 other English towns, was reformed by a Municipal Reform Act (1835). During the 18th 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 Sudbury 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.

Victorian times to present day
The 1832 Reform Act saw the villages of Ballingdon and Brundon appended to the town. 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 was not 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 railway 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. 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 8.00am, except at Dobs Hole, where screens had been erected.

Sudbury's Catholic Church, Our Lady Immaculate and St. John the Evangelist, was designed by Leonard Stokes and erected in 1893. The shrine of Our Lady of Sudbury sits within its nave. It is a grade 2 listed building.

During World War II an American squadron of B-24 Liberator bombers of the 834th Squadron (H), 486th Bomb Group (H), 8th Air Force was based at RAF Sudbury. This squadron performed many important bombing and photographic missions during the war, but is perhaps best known as the "Zodiac Squadron", as its bombers were decorated with colorful images of the twelve signs of the zodiac painted by a professional artist named Phil Brinkman, who was taken into the squadron by its commander, Capt. Howell, specifically for the purpose of painting the bombers.

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 has not shut itself off from modern development. As the town has expanded (to a population in 2005 of 12,080) modern retail and industrial developments have been added on sites close to the centre and on the eastern edge at Chilton. The 18th and 19th century houses near the town centre have been added to by modern developments.

Governance
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. The parish is part of Babergh, a district covered by Suffolk County Council.

From 1559 until 1844 the parliamentary constituency of Sudbury returned two Members of Parliament, before it was disenfranchised for corruption. The Sudbury election of 1835, which Charles Dickens reported for the Morning Chronicle, is thought by many experts to be the inspiration for the famous Eatanswill election in his novel Pickwick Papers. In the previous year's by-election a dead heat of 263 votes each was recorded for the two candidates, Edward Barnes and J. Bagshaw. The mayor of Sudbury gave a casting vote to Barnes despite having already voted, and the decision led to serious riots in the town. A county constituency of the same name was established by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, electing one MP by the first past the post voting system. It was abolished for the 1950 general election when it was merged with the Woodbridge constituency to form Sudbury and Woodbridge. In 1983 this constituency was abolished, and Sudbury formed part of the new South Suffolk constituency. Since South Suffolk's formation it has been represented by the Conservative, Tim Yeo.

Schools
Like some other parts of Suffolk, Sudbury has a three-tier schooling system. The town's sole upper school is Sudbury Upper. There are two middle schools, All Saints' and Uplands, and several primary schools, including Tudor Primary School, St. Gregory CEVCP and Woodhall Primary School.

Media
Sudbury is served by two weekly newspapers, both published on a Thursday. The Sudbury Mercury, owned by the Archant group, is delivered free to households, and the Suffolk Free Press, owned by Anglia Newspapers, is sold in shops around south Suffolk and north Essex.

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 (founded 1885) and Sudbury Wanderers (founded 1958). Three times FA Vase finalists, they are currently members of the Isthmian League Division One North. The local rugby club, Sudbury R.F.C. have previously played as high as National 3 in English rugby, but are currently in the London 2 North East. The club's ground is in neighbouring village, Great Cornard. The town's oldest sports club is Sudbury Cricket Club, founded in 1787.

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 in Sudbury, Suffolk, and the name was chosen to honour her.

Twin towns
Sudbury is twinned with the following towns:
 * 🇩🇪 Höxter, Germany
 * 🇫🇷 Clermont, France.
 * 🇩🇰 Fredensborg, Denmark

Notable Sudburians
As noted above, the artist Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury and fellow painter John Constable worked in and near the town. 14th Century Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury was born in the town as was, more recently, artist Maggi Hambling and professional footballer Stuart Slater. The Bayning family of Nayland, originally cloth merchants, entered the spice trade and were joint founders of the East India Company. Paul Bayning (1588–1629) was knighted in 1611 and created Viscount Bayning of Sudbury in 1628