SUFFOLK, a county (maritime), bounded on the east
by the North Sea, or German Ocean, on the
north by the county of Norfolk, on the west by that
of Cambridge, and on the south by that of Essex.
It extends from 51& 56' to 52° 36' (N. Lat.), and
from 23' to 1° 44' (E. Lon.), comprising an area of
about one thousand five hundred and twelve square
miles, or nine hundred and sixty-seven thousand six
hundred and eighty statute acres. The population, in
1821, was 270,542. At the period of the Roman invasion
this county formed part of the territory inhabited
by the Iceni, or Cenomanni, who, according to Whitaker,
were descended from the Cenomanni of Gaul. Under
the Roman dominion it was included in the division
called Flavia Ctzsariensis. After the withdrawal of the
Roman legions, Cerdic, one of the earliest Saxon invaders,
and founder of the kingdom of Wessex, landed,
in 495, at a place afterwards called Cerdic Sand, in
the hundred of Mutford and Lothingland, forming the
north-eastern extremity of the county, and, after gaining
some advantages over the opposing Britons, set sail
for the western parts of the island. During the succeeding
invasions of the Saxons, the territory now comprised
in the counties of Suffolk, Cambridge, and Norfolk, was
erected by Uffa, about the year 575, into the kingdom
of East Anglia, in which the relative position of this
district obtained for its inhabitants the name of Suthfolc,
or southern people (in contradistinction to those
of Norfolk, who were called the North-folc, or northern
people), whence, by contraction, its modern name. The
Christian religion was permanently established in this
kingdom by King Sigebert, who brought over with
him a Burgundian ecclesiastic, named Felix, whom he
made bishop of East Anglia, and who fixed his seat
at Dunwich, in this county, where he died, in 647.
Bisa, or Bosa, on succeeding to this see, in 669, divided
it into two bishopricks, the seat of one of which was
fixed at North Elmham, in Norfolk, the other remaining
at Dunwich j but these were re-united about the
year 870, when North Elmham became the sole seat
of the diocese. In 655, during the struggles for
independence maintained by East Anglia against the
powerful kingdom of Mercia, then under the sway of
Penda, a battle was fought at Bulcamp, near Dunwich,
in which Anna, monarch of the East Angles, and his
son Ferminus, were slain. East Anglia was again the
scene of desolation, at the period of its subjugation by
Offa, King of Mercia, who had basely assassinated its
king, Ethelbert. It remained tributary to Mercia until,
in the reign of Egbert, the kingdom of Wessex obtained
a preponderating influence in the' Octarchy: under that
monarch it continued to have its own sovereigns, until
the reign of the East Anglian king, Edmund, who, after
being barbarously murdered by the Danes under Inguar
and Ubba, was surnamed the Martyr. These maraviders
directing their early attacks chiefly upon this part of
the island, possessed themselves of the whole of East
Anglia before the death of Egbert, making lamentable
ravages in their progress. After the total defeat of the
Danes by Alfred, in the West of England, East Anglia
was one of the principal portions of territory allotted
to them, for their limited residence, by that monarch.
Suffolk suffered severely on the invasion by Sweyn,
King of Denmark, who landed at Ipswich in 1010, and
at Rushmere, or, according to some, at a place called
Seven Hills, in the parish of Nacton, signally defeated
the Saxons under Earl Ulf ketel.
Some time after the Norman Conquest had changed
the political system of the whole kingdom, in the
year 1153, Ipswich was besieged and taken by King
Stephen;' his son Eustace also made some ravages
in the vicinity of Bury, at which town he died, on St.
Lawrence's day in the same year. During the reign
of Henry II., in 1173, the Earl of Leicester, in support
of the  demands of Prince Henry, the king's eldest
son, landed at Wadgate haven, in this county, with an
army of Flemings, and was immediately joined by
Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk; their united forces overran
the whole county, which, in a great measure, they
laid waste; but, being met at Fornham St. Geneve,
near Bury, by Richard de Lucy, Chief Justice of Eng-
land, and Humphrey de Bohun, the constable, they
were defeated with great slaughter, and Leicester and
his countess made prisoners. In 1215, during the baronial
war, Saher de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, withdrew,
with his army of foreign mercenaries, from the
siege of Colchester to Bury St. Edmund's; and Louis
the Dauphin, in the two following years, in conjunction
with the barons opposed to the king, reduced the whole
of this county to subjection, committing great devastation
in it. In 1267, Henry III, mustered a large body
of his forces at Bury, the insurgent barons being at
that time strongly posted in the Isle of Ely. In 1326,
Isabella, queen of Edward II., landed with an army
on the coast of Suffolk, and thence marched to Bury,
where she remained a considerable time, recruiting her
forces, and collecting her adherents. In the reign of
Richard II., at the period of Wat Tyler's rebellion,
many of the men of Suffolk joined the Norfolk insurgents
in their formidable revolt, which was at last
suppressed by the military exertions of Spencer, Bishop
of Norwich. In 1486, Henry VII. made a progress
through Suffolk, under the apprehension of its being
invaded by the supporters of Lambert Simnel, the pretended
Edward Plantagenet. In the fifteenth year of
this reign, Ralph Wilford, the son of a shoemaker, was
instructed, by an Augustine friar of this county, to personate
the Earl of Warwick, and the story soon gained
credit, the friar asserting its authenticity from the pulpit;
both master and pupil were, however, soon arrested;
the latter was hanged, and the former condemned
to perpetual imprisonment. In 1526, the Dukes of Norfolk
and Suffolk met at Bury, and succeeded in quelling
an alarming insurrection which had broken out in the
southern parts of Suffolk, at Lavenham, Hadleigh,
Sudbury, &c. In 1549, it being reported that the leader
of the Norfolk rebels, named Kett, had formed a camp
on Household heath, near Norwich, the lower orders
of the people assembled in great numbers, and, having
made themselves masters of Lothingland, seized six
pieces of cannon at Lowestoft, with which they proceeded
to batter Yarmouth, but their design was frustrated
by the inhabitants of that port, and many of them
were made prisoners. On the death of Edward VI.,
the inhabitants of Suffolk showed great zeal in supporting
the claims of the Princess Mary, in opposition
to the adherents of Lady Jane Grey; and Mary,
at this period, removed from Norfolk to Framlingham
castle, in this county. In 1561, Queen Elizabeth
made a progress through Suffolk; as also in 1578,
when she was received on its confines by a magnificent
cavalcade, headed by the high sheriff, which again
attended her Majesty on her departure.
In the civil war of the seventeenth century, this was
one of the eastern counties that were associated in the
cause of the parliament, and placed under the command
of the Earl of Manchester. Sir Edward Barker, Sir John
Petty, and other loyal gentlemen, endeavoured to raise a
force to secure it for the king, but were surprised and
reduced to obedience to the parliament by Cromwell.
During the war with the Dutch, in the reign of Charles
II., on June 3rd, 1665, the memorable engagement between
the English and Dutch fleets, in which the latter
was defeated, with the loss of eighteen ships taken, and
fourteen sunk or burned, and about six thousand men,
of whom two thousand were made prisoners, occurred
off Lowestoft. In 1667, the Dutch landed three thousand
men under Felixstow cliff, near the southern extremity
of the coast, who, marching to the adjacent fort,
after an hour's incessant firing with small arms, were
put to flight by the discharge of two or three small
guns on board a galliot lying among the shingles.
Southwold bay, commonly called Sole bay, is celebrated
as the scene of the sanguinary and obstinate conflict,
on the 28th of May, 1672,' between the united fleets of
England and France on the one side, and the Dutch
fleet on the other, in which the French squadron, sheering
off soon after the commencement of the action,
left the engagement to the English and the Dutch; the
Dutch vessels that were not either sunk or burned,
being dreadfully shattered, were at last obliged to retreat
while the English, having suffered in an equal
degree, were unable to pursue. In the year 1782, Lowestoft,
and various other points on this coast, were
strongly fortified, on account of a threatened foreign
invasion.
Suffolk is comprised in the diocese of Norwich, and
province of Canterbury. Its western part, with such
parishes in Cambridgeshire as belong to the same
diocese, constitute the archdeaconry of Sudbury, which
is divided into eight deaneries, seven of which are in
the county, viz., those of Blackbourn, Clare, Hartismere,
Stow, Sudbury, Thedwestry, and Thingoe; its
eastern part forms the archdeaconry of Suffolk, which
contains the fourteen deaneries of Bosmere, Carlford,
Claydon, Colneis, Dunwich, Hoxne, Ipswich, Loes,
Lothingland, Orford, Samford, South Ehnham, Wangford,
and Wilford; the total number of parishes is five
hundred, of which three hundred and twenty-two are
rectories, ninety-seven vicarages, and the remainder
perpetual curacies. For purposes of civil government
it is divided into the twenty-one hundreds of Babergh
Blackbourn, Blything, Bosmere and Claydon, Carlford'
Colneis, Cosford, Hartismere, Hoxne, Lackford, Loes'
Mutford and Lothingland, Plomesgate, Risbridge, Samford,
Stow, Thedwestry, Thingoe, Thredling, Wangford
and Wilford. It contains the borough, market-town, and
sea-port of Ipswich; the boroughs and sea-ports of
Aldborough, and Dunwich; the borough and market
towns of Bury St. Edmund's, Eye, and Sudbury; the
borough of Orford; the market-towns and sea-ports of
Lowestoft, Southwold, and Woodbridge; and the market
towns of Beccles, Bungay, Clare, Debenham, Framlingham,
Hadleigh, Saxmundham, and Stow-Market. Two
knights are returned to parliament for the shire; and
two representatives for each of the boroughs: the county
members are elected at Ipswich, where stands the
county gaol. Suffolk is included in the Norfolk circuit:
the assizes are held at Bury. There are one hundred
and ten acting magistrates. The rates raised in the
county for the year ending March 25th, 1827, amounted
to £253,475.19., and the expenditure to £252,283. 14.,
of which £223,037. 2. was applied to the relief of the
poor.
The two grand civil divisions are, the franchise,
or liberty, of Bury St. Edmund's, and the remaining
part, or body of the county, as it is termed, each at
the county assizes, furnishing a distinct grand jury.
In its civil government Suffolk is also divided into
the Geldable portion, in which the issues and forfeii
tures are paid to the king; and the franchises, in which
they are paid to the lords of the liberties. The former
comprises the hundreds of Blything, Bosmere
and Claydon, Hartismere, Hoxne, Mutford and Lothingland,
Samford, Stow, and Wangford; the sessions for
Blything, Mutford and Lothinglaud, and Wangford, are
held at Beccles; and for the rest of the Geldable hundreds
at Ipswich. The franchises are three in number; first, the
franchise, or liberty, of St. Ethelred, which formerly
belonged to the prior and convent, now tothe Dean and
Chapter, of Ely, containing the hundreds of Carlford,
Colneis, Loes, Plomesgate, Thredling, and Wilford, the
sessions for which are held at Woodbridge. Secondly,
the franchise, or liberty, of St. Edmund, given to the
abbot of Bury by Edward the Confessor, and comprising
the hundreds of Babergh, Blackbourn, Cosford, Lackford,
Risbridge, Thedwestry, and Thingoe, the sessions
for which are held at Bury. And thirdly, the liberty
of the duchy of Norfolk, granted by letters patent from
Edward IV., dated December 7th, 1468, in which the
duke has the returning of all writs, and the right of
appointing a special coroner, and of receiving all fines
and amerciaments: it comprises, within the limits of
this county, his manors of Bungay, Kelsale, Carlton,
Peasenhall, the three Stonhams, Dennington, Brandish,
the four Ilketshalls, and Cratfield. The counties of Suffolk
and Norfolk formed only one shrievalty until the
year 1576, when a sheriff for each was first appointed.
With regard to the government and management of the
poor, the most remarkable circumstance is the incorporation
of several hundreds for the erection and support,
of houses of industry, on a very large scale, and in situations
chosen for their pleasantness and salubrity. Thus,
Colneis and Carlford hundreds were incorporated in the
29th of George II., and have their house of industry in
the parish of Nacton; the hundred of Blything was
incorporated in 1764, and has its house of industry
in the hamlet of Bulcamp, near Blythburgh; that of
Mutford and Lothingland in the same year, having its
house of industry in the parish of Oulton, near Lowestoft
and that of Wangford also in 1764, which has
its house of industry at Shipmeadow, between Bungay
and Beccles. The following hundreds were incorporated
in 1765  viz., those of Loes and Wilford (since
dis-incorporated), which had their house of industry in
the parish of Melton; that of Samford, in the parish of
Tattingstone; and that of Bosmere and Claydon, in the
parish of Barham. The hundred of Cosford, and the
parish of Polstead, which have theirs in the parish of
Semer, were incorporated in the .19th of George III.
The hundred of Stow was incorporated in the 20th of
George III., and has its house of industry in the parish
of One-House.
The climate, which is very salubrious, is also remarkably
dry: its other chief peculiarities are, that
frosts are here experienced with great severity; and that,
in the spring months, the north-easterly winds, which
are very prevalent, are sharp, and injurious to vegetation.
The soils are various, but the limits of each may
be clearly traced. Strong clayey loams, on a substratum
of clay marl, occupy the largest tract, which extends
from the confines of Cambridgeshire and Essex, on the
south-west, across the central parts of the county, to
those of Norfolk, on the north-east: on the north-west
this district is bounded by an irregular imaginary line,
passing from the western border of the county, near
Dalham, by Barrow, Little Saxham, the vicinity of Bury
St. Edmund's, Rougham, Pakenham, Ixworth, and Honington,
to the northern boundary at Knettishall; and
on the south-east by another, drawn from the banks of
the Waveney, near North Gove, a few miles to the east
of Beccles, southward byWrentham and Wangford, and
then south-westward by Blythford, Holton, Bramfield,'
Yoxford, Saxmundham, Campsea-Ash, Woodbridge,
Culpho, Bramford, Hadleigh, and along the high lands
bordering on the western side of the river Bret, to the
confluence of that stream with the Stour: it must be
observed, that the bottoms of the vales traversed by
running streams, which are numerous, and the slopes
descending to them, are of a soil superior in quality to
the rest of this district, generally consisting of a rich
friable loam. Rich loams, of various qualities, occupy
that portion of the county included between the southeastern
part of the strong loams and the actuaries of
the rivers Stour and Orwell, lying to the south of a
line drawn from Ipswich to Hadleigh: some of these
are of a sandy quality, others much stronger: from
Debtford and Higham, on the borders of the Stour,
eastward, across the Orwell, to the banks of the river
Stour, near its mouth, extends a tract of friable and
putrid vegetable mould of extraordinary fertility; more
especially at Walton, Trimley, and Felixstow. In the
projecting north-eastern district, lying between the river
Waveney and the ocean, is much land of the same rich
quality; but as it is interspersed with many sandy
tracts, and on the sea-coast is of a sandy character
throughout, it may be considered to form part of
the great sandy maritime district extending from the
riVer Orwell, between the clayey loams and the sea, to
the north-eastern extremity of the county: the lands
in this district are generally of excellent staple, and are
among the best-cultivated in England; although, in the
country lying between the towns of Woodbridge, Orford,
and Saxrnundham, and north-eastward, as far as Leiston,
there is a large extent of poor, and in some places even
blowing, sands, which have caused this south-eastern
part of the county to receive the name of " Sandlings,"
or " Sandlands;" the substratum of the eastern district,
though sometimes marl, is generally sand, chalk,
or crag; which last is a singular mass, consisting of
cockle and other shells, found in numerous places, from
Dunwich, southward, to the Orwell, and even beyond
that river. Another district of sand occupies the whole
extent between the clayey soils and the fenny tract,
which latter forms the north-western angle of the county,
and may be separated from the sand by an irregular
line drawn from near where the river Larke begins to
form the western boundary of Suffolk, to the Little Ouse,
a short distance below Brandon; these western sands,
unlike much of the last-mentioned, are seldom of a rich
loamy quality, but comprise numerous warrens and poor
sheep-walks; much of that now Under tillage is apt to
blow, that is, to be driven by the wind, and consequently
ranks among the worst soils: the chief exceptions to the
general inferiority of this district lie to the south-east
of a line drawn from Barrow to Honington, and at Mildenhall:
the substratum is throughout a perfect chalk,
at various depths. Of the Fens, it is only necessary
to observe, that the surface, to the depth of from one
foot to six, consists of the ordinary peat of bogs, some
of which is very solid and black; but in other places
it is more loose, porous, and of a reddish colour: the
substratum is generally a white clay, or marl.
By far the greater part of the county is under tillage:
the modes of culture on the clayey loams are various;
but, on the rich loam and lighter soils, the Norfolk
system has been generally introduced: on the sand/turnips
are everywhere employed as a preparative crop
before corn or grass: paring and burning is practised
only in the Fens, where the course of crops, after
this operation, is generally cole-seed; then oats twice
in succession, with the last crop of which are sown raygrass
and clover, under which the land remains for
six or seven years, and afterwards is again pared and
burned. The crops commonly cultivated are wheat,
barley, oats, beans, peas, buck-wheat, turnips, cabbages,
carrots, potatoes, tares, cole-seed, red and white clover,
trefoil, sainfoin, hemp, and hops. The produce of the
corn crops varies' greatly on the different soils: that
of wheat is estimated to average twenty-two bushels
per acre; that of barley thirty-two bushels, and that
of oats thirty-six bushels. Rye, though formerly, much
sown, is now only seen on the poorest sands, where
the produce is about sixteen bushels per acre. Peas
are more frequently cultivated than beans, as they
flourish on a greater diversity of soils. Buck-wheat
is often grown on the poor sands, and is chiefly employed
in fattening hogs and poultry. The culture of
carrots in the Sandlings is of very ancient practice,
great quantities having been formerly sent from that
district by sea to the London market; but the chief
object for which they are now grown is as food for
horses: the produce on good land is generally from
four hundred to five hundred bushels per acre: they
are left in the field during winter, and taken up only
as wanted. Potatoes are grown in every part of the
county; the tares are employed chiefly as green food
for horses. Much cole-seed is sown, and in the fen
district it constitutes one of the principal crops; it is
chiefly applied as food for sheep; but when left for
seed, it is reaped and left on the ground until fit to
thresh, which operation is performed in the field on
cloths, and the straw burned: the average produce of
seed is about twenty bushels per acre. Of the artificial
grasses above-mentioned, great quantities of clover are
seeded; as also is trefoil occasionally: the cultivation of
sainfoin is particularly extensive, and in the chalky districts
it is everywhere found; this also is not unfrequently
seeded. Hemp is chiefly grown in a tract of
about ten miles broad, extending in length from Eye to
Beccles: the average produce per acre is forty-one stones.
The culture of hops is confined to an extent of about
one hundred and fifty acres, in the vicinity of Stow-Market.
The most remarkable agricultural implement is
the well-known light Suffolk swing-plough: drilling is
much practised.
The grass lands are not remarkable for excellence,
and the extent occupied by dairy farms is not so great
as formerly, though large quantities of butter are still
sent to the London market. Large tracts of grass land
are also mown for the supply of the towns with hay;
the produce varies from one to two tons per acre; the
herbage, which springs up after the gathering of the hay
crop, is here called rawings. Clay and marl are extensively
employed as manures; as also is chalk, which the
inhabitants of the hundreds of Colneis and Samford
obtain from Kent and Essex, by means of the corn-hoys:
besides these substances, the shell-marl, or crag, as it is
provincially termed, that is found in the Sandlings, is
much used for this purpose, and considerable quantities
of manure are brought from London, The Suffolk cows
have long been famous for the great quantity of their
milk, which, however, is not remarkable for richness:
they are universally polled, and of a small size, few,
when fattened, weighing more than fifty stone: their
general character is that of having a snake-like head, a
small dewlap, short and slender legs, a large body with
flat loins, and a large udder; the colour is various. In
some parts of the county black cattle are fattened, part
of them being brought from Ireland and Wales, but by
far the greater number from Scotland. The number
of sheep kept is very great, the South Down breed
being most prevalent. The only remarkable breed
of hogs is a particularly good one, which is found in
the dairy district: they are well made, small-boned, and
have thick, short noses. There are many rabbit warrens,
particularly in the western district. Poultry is exceedingly
plentiful, especially turkies, for which this county
is nearly as famous as Norfolk. The Suffolk breed of
horses is as celebrated as that of the cows; it is found
in the greatest perfection in the tract included between
the coast and the towns of Woodbridge, Debenham,
and Eye, extending as far north as Lowestoft.
The woods are of very small extent, and are not generally
of luxuriant growth; the strong loams formerly
bore considerable quantities of fine oak, a great proportion
of which has been cleared off, and various plantations
made, but only with a view to ornament. The
amount of waste lands at the time of the publication of
Mr. Young's Agricultural Survey, in 1804, was nearly
one hundred thousand acres, the most important tracts
being the immense wastes that occupy nearly all the.
country from Newmarket, on the borders of Cambridge,
shire, to the confines of Norfolk, near the towns of
Thetford and Brandon; and those lying between Woodbridge,
Orford, and Saxmundham, in the eastern part.
of the county; besides which, numerous heaths of.
smaller extent are scattered in every quarter of it:
the chief use of these wastes is as sheep-walks. Wood
and coal are both much used as fuel, the former chiefly,
in the habitations of the poorer classes; in the vici-;
nity of the heaths, fens, and commons, turf is alsoburned.
The manufactures and commerce are very incon-.
siderable, in comparison with those of many other
counties. The chief manufacture is the combing andr
spinning of wool, in a great measure for the Norwich manufacturers,
which is carried on, though not to any great,
extent, in most parts of the county, excepting the hemp
district before mentioned, where the latter material is
spun and woven into linen. At Sudbury are manufactories
for silk, and woollen goods; there is also a
silk manufactory at Mildenhall, a branch of an exten-
sive concern at Norwich. The imports are merely the-,
ordinary supplies of foreign articles for the inhabitants:
the chief exports are corn and malt. The principal
fishery on the coast is that of herrings, which is the
chief support of the town of Lowestoft, where about,
forty boats, of forty tons' burden each, are engaged,
in it: the season commences about the middle of Sep-.
tember, and lasts until towards the latter end of November.
This town also partakes in the mackarel fishery,
in which the same boats are employed, the season,
commencing about the end of May, and continuing;
until the end of June. In the Orford river there is>
a considerable oyster fishery.
This is a well-watered county: the principal rivers.
are the Stour, the Gippen, or Orwell, the Deben, the Ore,
the Waveney, the Little Ouse, or Brandon river, and the
Lark; besides which the smaller streams are almost
innumerable. The Stour, rising on the Cambridgeshire
border of the county, runs southward, across its
south-western extremity, to the vicinity of HaverhilV
eastward of which town it begins to form the southern
boundary of Suffolk, and continues so throughout the
rest of its course, passing by the towns of Clare, Sud-
bury, and Nayland; a few miles to the eastward of the
latter place it is augmented by the powerful streajir
of the Bret, descending from the north-west: at Mannlngtree
in Essex it first meets the tide, and begins to
expand into a broad eestuary, which at high water has a
beautiful appearance; but at low water the river-shrinks
into a. narrow channel, bordered by extensive mud banksi.
Proceeding eastward, it, is joined near Harwich by the
Orwell, and their united waters, having formed the port
of Harwich, discharge themselves into the North sea,
between that town in Essex, and Landguard fort at
the south-eastern extremity of this county: this river
is navigable up to Sudbury. The Gippen is formed by
the confluence of three rivulets at Stow-Market, from1
which place it was made navigable in 1793; it takes a
south-easterly course by Needham-Market to Ipswich/
below which town it assumes the name of Orwellj ex1
pands into an sestuary, and continues its course /to its.
junction with the Stour opposite Harwich; the Orwellis
navigable for ships of considerable burden up; to
Ipswich, and the scenery on its banks is beautiful. The
Deben rises near Debenham, and, passing that town, runs
south-eastward to the vicinity of the village of Rendlesham,
whence it takes a south-westerly course to Woodbridge,
at which place it expands into an sestuary, and
thence proceeds in a southerly direction to the North
sea: towards its mouth it takes the name of Woodbridge
haven, which joins the sea about ten miles below
that town, to which it is navigable for vessels of
considerable burden. The Aid rises north of Framlingham,
and, running south-eastward, expands into an
sestuary as it approaches Aldborough, where, having
arrived within a very short distance of the sea, it suddenly
takes a southerly direction, and discharges its
waters into the North sea below Orford; it is navigable
to a short distance above Aldborough. The
Waveney, rising in a swampy meadow near the village
of Lopham in Norfolk, immediately becomes the boundary
of the county, which it henceforward continues
to be, proceeding first eastward and then north-eastward
to Bungay, where it makes an extensive horseshoe
bend, and then reassumes its easterly course by
Beccles, at a short distance beyond which town, having
approached within a very few miles of the sea, it is
compelled by rising grounds abruptly to assume a
northerly course to the river Yare, which it joins at
the head of Bredon-water, an expansion formed by
these united rivers, which, contracting again near Yarmouth,
pursues a nearly southerly course to the sea,
below that town; this river, the meadows on the banks
of which are among the richest in England, is navigable
for barges as high as Bungay bridge. The Little Ouse,
or Brandon river, though rising within a very short distance
of the course of the Waveney, assumes a directly
contrary course, and, forming the northern boundary of
the county, proceeds westward to the neighbourhood of
the village of Barnham, where it assumes a northerly
course, by the town of Thetford in Norfolk, below which
it again takes a westerly course, passing by the town
of Brandon, in this county, and quitting Suffolk at its
north-western extremity; this river is navigable up to
Thetford. The Larke, rising in the south-western part
of the county, flows northward to Bury, and thence
north-westward to Mildenhall, below which place it soon
becomes the western boundary of the county, which it
finally quits near its north-western extremity, shortly
to join the Little Ouse: this river is navigable to within
a mile of Bury St. Edmund's. The Blythe, rising near
Laxfield, in the hundred of Hoxne, thence runs eastnorth-
eastward to Halesworth, where it becomes navigable,
and whence it flows eastward by Blythburgh to
Southwold, where it falls into the North sea. The
only artificial navigation is that in the channel of the
Gippen, from Stow-Market to Ipswich; it is sixteen
miles and forty rods long, and has fifteen locks, each
sixty feet in length and fourteen in width: this canal
was opened in the year 1793; the total expense of
its formation was about £26,380. The roads, in every
part of Suffolk, are excellent. That from London to
Norwich, through Newmarket, enters this county from
the latter town in Cambridgeshire, and passes through
Mildenhall to Thetford; and that to Norwich, through
Ipswich, enters from Colchester, and passes through
Stratford, Ipswich, and Thwaite. The road from London
to Lynn, through Newmarket, branches from the
first Norwich road at Mildenhall, and passes through
Brandon. The road from London to Yarmouth, through
Ipswich, branches from the second Norwich road at
Ipswich, and passes through Woodbridge, Saxmundham,
and Lowestoft.
Within the limits of the county were comprised the
Roman stations Ad Ansam, at Stratford, on the border
of Essex 5 Cambretonium, at Brettenham, orlcklingham;
Garianonum, at Burgh Castle (though some fix it at
Caistor, near Yarmouth) j and Sitomagus, probably at
Woolpit. Remains of Roman military works exist at
Burgh Castle, Brettenham, Icklingham, Stow-Langtoft,
and Stratford, on the banks of the Stour. Numerous
domestic and sepulchral relics of that people
have also been dug up in different places, such as
pavements, coins, medals, urns, rings, &c. That stupendous
work of human labour, called the Devil's Ditch,
on Newmarket heath, is supposed to have served as
the line of demarcation between the kingdoms of Mercia
and East Anglia. On a hill called Eye Cliff, and
several others situated in its vicinity, near Southwold,
are some earthworks, supposed to have constituted a
Danish camp; and near Barnham, on the borders of the
Little Ouse, is a range of eleven tumuli, on a spot supposed
to have been the scene of one of the conflicts
between the Danes, under Inguar, and the forces of Edmund,
King of East Anglia: others occur in different
places, the most remarkable group of them being that
called the Seven Hills, at Fornham St. Geneveve, near
Bury. The number of religious houses, of all denominations,
was about fifty-nine, including four Alien
priories. There are remains, more or less extensive, of
the abbeys of Bury St. Edmund's and Leiston; of the
priories of Blythburgh, Butley, Clare, Herringfleet, Ipswich,
Mendham, and Sudbury; and of the nunneries of
Bungay and Redingfield. Some of the most remarkable
churches are those of Alderton, Ashfield, and Barnham,
all which are now in ruins; of Beccles, which is remarkable
for its noble steeple; Blythburgh; St. Mary,
and St. James, at Bury; Buxlow, in ruins; Greeting
All Saints, Corton, Diinwich, Flixton, and Fordley,
all in ruins; Framlingham; Haslewood, in ruins; St.
Lawrence, St. Mary at Quay, and St. Mildred at Ipswich,
part of the latter of which has been converted into a
town hall; Lavenham, the most beautiful in the county;
Lowestoft; Sibton; Stow-Langtoft; and Thurlston, now
used as a barn: in addition to these, may be enumerated
the churches of Eye, Hoxne, Laxfield, Long Melford,
Southwold, Bungay St. Mary (partly in ruins),
Covehithe, Walberswick (in ruins), Kessingland, Walton,
&c. The fonts in the following churches are
worthy of notice for their antiquity, or other peculiarities,
viz., those of Blythburgh, Clare, Framlingham,
Hawstead, Hengrave, St. Peter's (Ipswich), Letheringham,
Lowestoft, Melton, One-House, Orford, Snape,
Ufford, and Worlingworth. The remains of ancient
fortresses are chiefly those of the castles of Bungay,
Clare, Framlingham, Haughley, Lidgate, Mettingham,
Orford, and Wingfield. Ancient mansions are seen in
different parts of the county j the most remarkable is
Hengrave Hall. There are many elegant seats, among
the most distinguished of which is Euston Park, the
property and residence of the Duke of Grafton; and
Heveningham Hall, the seat of Lord Huntingfield. Suffolk
gives the title of earl to the family of Howard.