Beccles

Beccles is a market town and civil parish in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. The town is shown on the milestone as 109 mi from London via the A145 Blythburgh and A12 road, 98 mi northeast of London as the crow flies, 16 mi southeast of Norwich, and 33 mi north northeast of the county town of Ipswich. Nearby towns include Lowestoft to the east and Great Yarmouth to the northeast. The town lies on the River Waveney on the edge of The Broads National Park.

It had a population at the 2001 census of 9,746. Worlingham is a suburb of Beccles. The combined population of Beccles and Worlingham in 2005 was estimated at 13,580. Beccles is twinned with Petit-Couronne in France.

History
The name is conjectured to be derived from Becc-Liss* (Brittonic=Small-court). However, also offered is Bece-laes* (Old English=Meadow by Stream). Once a flourishing Saxon riverport, it lies in the Waveney valley and is a popular boating centre. The town was granted its Charter in 1584 by Elizabeth I.

Sir John Leman (died 1632) was a tradesman from Beccles who became Lord Mayor of London.

Long associated with Beccles (including recent mayors) is the Peck family. Among those Pecks who have made a place in history is the Rev. Robert Peck, described by Blomfield in his history of Norfolk as a man with a 'violent schismatic spirit' who led a movement within the church of St Andrews in nearby Hingham, Norfolk, in opposition to the established Anglicanism of the day. The Puritan Peck was eventually forced to flee to Hingham, Massachusetts, founded by many members of his parish, where he resided for several years, until King Charles I had been executed and Oliver Cromwell had taken the reins of government. Robert Peck then elected to return to Hingham, Norfolk, and resumed as rector of St Andrews Church. He died in Hingham but left descendants in America, including his brother Joseph Peck, who settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

In 1794, François-René de Chateaubriand, while in exile, taught here French language and literature. He fell in love with Charlotte Ives, daughter of Bungay's reverend (CF : First part of Les Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, book 10, chapter 9 "Charlotte")

Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 the borough was reformed, Beccles retaining municipal borough status until the reorganisation of local government in 1974, when it was merged with surrounding authorities to become Waveney District. The successor civil parish has adopted town status.

Buildings and industry
There is an 18th-century octagonal Town Hall.

Beccles Museum is housed in Leman House, a Grade I listed building and has a collection of agricultural, industrial and domestic items, including collections of tools, boat building, printing, costumes and natural history.

Church
The townscape is dominated by the detached sixteenth-century bell tower (known as the Beccles bell tower) of St Michael's church. Like the main body of the church, the tower is Perpendicular Gothic in style and is 97 ft tall. The interior of the church was badly damaged by fire in 1586. It has a 13th-century font.

The tower is not attached to the church and at the wrong end of the church as the correct end would be too close to a large cliff.

It was at this church in 1749 that the mother of Horatio Nelson, Catherine Suckling, married the Reverend Edmund Nelson (a former curate of Beccles). The Suffolk poet George Crabbe married Sarah Elmy at Beccles church in the 18th century.

Transport
Beccles Airport is located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) southeast of the town.

Until 1960 the Beccles to Yarmouth Railway ran across the marshes. The town is still served by Beccles railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Today it can be reached by the A146 road.

Many of the modern streets have the suffix 'gate'; for example, Hulvergate, Smallgate and Blyburgate. This is derived from the Old Norse for "street", and is similar to the modern Danish word.gade

Beccles southern link road
Suffolk County Council has revealed they would like to construct a southern link road for Beccles. The scheme was estimated to cost £3.5 million in 2006 which was not enough to qualify a major transport scheme so Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council are looking elsewhere to find funding. The reasons given for this scheme are to improve transport links to Ellough Industrial Estate and to facilitate regeneration of the market town of Beccles.

Beccles rail loop
The Beccles rail loop (now completed) has been designed to allow trains to pass each other on a previously singled section of rail track (between Lowestoft and Halesworth). One face of the disused island platform has been rebuilt, and track relaid so that trains may pass each other, and this allowing for an hourly service on the East Suffolk line, instead of the former two-hourly one. The works were tied in with the line resignalling. The hourly service is to start with the December 8th 2012 Timetable The station is also being adopted under a Network Rail scheme aiming to improve the station site.

Schools
Beccles is served by Sir John Leman High School (11–18), and a range of primary schools. Beccles Free School (11-16) will relocate to the site of the Sir John Leman Lower School in 2014.

Leisure
Beccles is home to 759 (Beccles) Air Cadets, who take part in a variety of activities such as flying and gliding, expeditions and sports. Beccles Air Cadets play a small role in the community by assisting organisations and activities such as the Beccles Carnival.

Beccles' main football team is Beccles Town F.C., established in 1919. As of the 2012–13 season, they are members of the Anglian Combination Premier Division. Beccles also has a football team called Beccles Caxton.

Ellough Park Raceway is south-east of Beccles on the site of the old Ellough airfield. It is a local centre for kart racing.

Notable people

 * William Fiske, goalkeeper for Blackpool
 * Chris Martin, forward for Norwich City
 * Fearless Vampire Killers (band), death pop/punk 5-piece that have been signed by record labels Goremount and PIAS Recordings.