Boxford, Suffolk

Boxford is a large village and a civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located around six miles east of Sudbury straddling the River Box and skirted by the Holbrook, in 2005 it had a population of 1,270.

History
According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is "the ford where box tree grows". The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, at which time it had a population of 18. During the Middle Ages, Boxford was a wool town.

International connections
As part of the American Bicentennial celebrations the townspeople of Boxford, Massachusetts, visited the villages of Boxford (there are three) in England during 1975 looking for the source of the name of their own village and decided that Boxford in Suffolk was likely to be from where the name of their own town came from.

As a result of this the villagers of Boxford, Suffolk, were invited to Boxford, MA, the following summer. This drew attention from the media: the Evening Standard incorporated a photograph of the villagers in a centre-page spread in one of their November 1975, editions, and a TV crew led by the late Bernard Falk for the BBC Nationwide programme accompanied the villagers when they left for a two-week stay on 23 July 1976. A TWA Boeing 707 was hired which flew the villagers from London Heathrow to Boston Logan, from where they were bussed to Boxford, MA, and dispersed amongst receiving families.

Economy
Copella fruit juices are made at orchards at Hill Farm on the outskirts of Boxford. There are also two pubs; The White Hart and The Fleece.

Geography
Also contained in the parish of Boxford are two hamlets, Stone Street and Calais Street (52.01°N, 0.86°W).