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Long Melford

Babergh DistrictCivil parishes in SuffolkLong MelfordUse British English from June 2016Villages in Suffolk
Holy Trinity Church Long Melford aerial image (8681952848)
Holy Trinity Church Long Melford aerial image (8681952848)

Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Sudbury, approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Colchester and 14 miles (23 km) from Bury St Edmunds. It is one of Suffolk's "wool towns" and is a former market town. The parish also includes the hamlets of Bridge Street and Cuckoo Tye. In 2011 the parish had a population of 3918. Its name is derived from the nature of the village's layout (originally concentrated along a 3-mile stretch of a single road) and the Mill ford crossing the Chad Brook (a tributary of the River Stour).

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Long Melford (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.077 ° E 0.718 °
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CO10 9SX Babergh
England, United Kingdom
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Holy Trinity Church Long Melford aerial image (8681952848)
Holy Trinity Church Long Melford aerial image (8681952848)
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Nearby Places

Melford Hall
Melford Hall

Melford Hall is a stately home in the village of Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Since 1786 it has been the seat of the Parker Baronets and is still lived in by the Hyde Parker family. Since 1960 it has been owned by the National Trust. The hall was mostly constructed in the 16th century, incorporating parts of a medieval building held by the abbots of Bury St Edmunds which had been in use since before 1065. It has similar roots to nearby Kentwell Hall. It passed from the abbots during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was later granted by Queen Mary to Sir William Cordell. From Cordell it passed via his sister to Thomas and Mary Savage before being sold back into another male Cordell line. James Howell described the hall and garden in the times of Elizabeth Savage, Countess Rivers in a letter in 1619. During the Stour Valley Riots of 1642 the house was attacked and damaged by an anti-Catholic crowd. In 1786 it was sold to Sir Harry Parker, 6th Baronet, son of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet. Beatrix Potter was a cousin of the family and was a frequent visitor to the hall from the 1890s onwards. One wing of the hall was gutted by fire in February 1942 but rebuilt after World War II, retaining the external Tudor brickwork with 1950s interior design. The hall was first opened to the public in 1955 by Ulla, Lady Hyde Parker. In 1958 Sue Ryder leased the south wing to house her holiday scheme for concentration camp survivors from Poland. This scheme, which ran at Melford Hall for 11 years, eventually grew into her work with charity Sue Ryder. In 1960 it passed to the National Trust. It is generally open on weekend afternoons in April and October, and on afternoons from Wednesday to Sunday during May to September. The Hall grounds host a number of events including the "Big Night Out" every November to mark Guy Fawkes Night and from 2013 the annual LeeStock Music Festival

Borley Rectory
Borley Rectory

Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price. Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944. The large Gothic-style rectory had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built. These reports multiplied suddenly in 1929 after the Daily Mirror newspaper published an account of a visit by Price, who wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity. Price's reports prompted a formal study by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), which rejected most of the sightings as either imagined or fabricated and cast doubt on Price's credibility. His claims are now generally discredited by ghost historians. However, neither the SPR's report nor the more recent biography of Price has quelled public interest in these stories, and new books and television documentaries continue to satisfy public fascination with the rectory. A short programme commissioned by the BBC about the alleged manifestations, scheduled to be broadcast in September 1956, was cancelled owing to concerns about a possible legal action by Marianne Foyster, widow of the last rector to live in Borley Rectory. In 1975 the BBC aired a programme entitled The Ghost Hunters that focused on the house and conducted interviews with several psychic researchers, including Peter Underwood. It also featured a late-night psychic investigation of nearby Borley Church.

Sudbury, Suffolk
Sudbury, Suffolk

Sudbury (, locally ) is a market town in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, 60 miles (97 km) north-east of London. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 13,063. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government district and part of the South Suffolk constituency. Sudbury was an Anglo-Saxon settlement from the end of the 8th century, and its market was established in the early 11th century. Its textile industries prospered in the Late Middle Ages, the wealth of which funded many of its buildings and churches. The town became notable for its art in the 18th century, being the birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough, whose landscapes offered inspiration to John Constable, another Suffolk painter of the surrounding Stour Valley area. The 19th century saw the arrival of the railway with the opening of a station on the historic Stour Valley Railway, and Sudbury railway station forms the current terminus of the Gainsborough Line. In World War II, US Army Air Forces bombers operated from RAF Sudbury. Today, Sudbury retains its status as a market town with a twice-weekly market in the town centre in front of St Peter's Church, which is now a cultural venue for events such as concerts and exhibitions. In sport, the town has a semi-professional football club, A.F.C. Sudbury, which competes at the seventh level of the football pyramid. It is home to the Gainsborough's House museum, celebrating the work of the artist.