Southwold
Southwold | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | SOUTHWOLD | |
Postcode district | IP18 | |
Dialling code | 01502 | |
Police | Suffolk | |
Fire | Suffolk | |
Ambulance | East of England | |
UK Parliament | ||
Southwold is a seaside town and
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Crews_rush_to_their_3.7-inch_guns%2C_127th_Heavy_Anti-Aircraft_Regiment%2C_Southwold%2C_Suffolk%2C_9_October_1944._H40434.jpg/220px-Crews_rush_to_their_3.7-inch_guns%2C_127th_Heavy_Anti-Aircraft_Regiment%2C_Southwold%2C_Suffolk%2C_9_October_1944._H40434.jpg)
Southwold was mentioned in Domesday Book (1086) as a fishing port, and after the "capricious River Blyth withdrew from Dunwich in 1328, bringing trade to Southwold in the 15th century",[2] it received its town charter from Henry VII in 1489. The grant of the charter is marked by the annual Trinity Fair, when it is read out by the Town Clerk. Over following centuries, however, a shingle bar built up across the harbour mouth, preventing the town from becoming a major Early Modern port: "The shingle at Southwold Harbour, the mouth of the Blyth, is ever shifting," William Whittaker observed in 1887.[3]
Southwold was the home of a number of
A fire in 1659 devastated most of the town, creating spaces that were never built on again. Today this "series of varied and very delightful village greens"[7] and the restriction of expansion by the surrounding marshes, have preserved the town's tidy appearance.
On the green just above the beach, descriptively named Gun Hill, six 18-pounder
On 15 May 1943, low-flying German fighter-bombers attacked the town and killed eleven people,[10] including the cricketer George Katinakis.
Governance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Southwold_Town_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_461899.jpg/220px-Southwold_Town_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_461899.jpg)
Up to 1 April 2019, Southwold was part of the Southwold and Reydon
With the 1 April 2019 amalgamation of the
Economy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Southwold_usine.jpg/220px-Southwold_usine.jpg)
Once home to several industries, Southwold's economy centres on services: hotels, holiday lets, catering and tourism. With surrounding areas largely given to agriculture, the town is an important commercial centre, with independent shops, cafés and restaurants and a market on Mondays and Thursdays, although there has been a recent trend for retail chains in food and beverages, clothing and stationery to take over the independent units.[14]
Adnams Brewery remains in Southwold as its largest single employer. The fishing fleet is much diminished, but Southwold Harbour remains one of the main fishing ports on the Suffolk coastline. In 2012, additional fleet facilities were constructed there as part of the repair and reinstatement of the Harbour's North Wall.
Education
Primary
Southwold Primary School, adjacent to St. Edmund's Church, currently caters for children aged 2 to 11 years. As a member of the Yoxford Valley Partnership of Schools, it works in partnership with Yoxford and Peasenhall Primary School in
Secondary
The nearest secondary school for Southwold children was Reydon High School until it closed in 1990. Thereafter, most pupils were bussed to the Sir John Leman High School in Beccles or to Bungay High School. These schools have been joined by SET Beccles School, opened in 2012 and catering for pupils aged 11–16.
In line with a 2019 decision by Suffolk County Council on changes to free school transport, the default 11–16 secondary school for Southwold and Reydon students is Pakefield High School at Lowestoft.
Private education for pupils aged 2–18 is offered at Saint Felix School, a private school in nearby Reydon.
Landmarks and features
Railway
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Southwold_Lighthouse.jpg/220px-Southwold_Lighthouse.jpg)
The narrow-gauge Southwold Railway connecting the town to Halesworth ran from 24 September 1879 to 11 April 1929.[16]
In 2007 the Southwold Railway Society submitted plans to build a new line between the parish of Easton Bavents and Henham Park, to link the town to the nearest mainline service at Halesworth.[17] However, these plans were criticised for having no relation to the original route of the railway and for environmental and other reasons. In July 2007 the plans were rejected by Waveney and by Suffolk Coastal District Councils.[18] In December 2008 the Society introduced a new proposal for a Railway Park, including railway track and a museum, on a site at present occupied by a car-breaker's yard, next to the local sewage works.[19] That proposal was superseded by another, in which a short section of railway, together with other attractions and facilities, would be constructed in the village of Wenhaston, a few miles inland from Southwold and once a stop on the Southwold Railway. The plan did not meet with universal approval.[20] In February 2016, the original Railway Park proposal for Blyth Road, Southwold, on the site of the town's former gasholders, was revived, and a new planning application was submitted and approved. Construction of the Railway Park began in 2017.
Lighthouse
The lighthouse replaced three local lighthouses that were under serious threat from coastal erosion. It suffered a fire in its original oil fired lamp just six days after commissioning but survived and today operates a rotating 150-watt lamp with a range of 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi).[21][24][25][26] From 2023, Trinity House has arranged that tours of the lighthouse are offered by the Adnams brewery, which stands close by, and may be booked with that company.[27]
Brewery
Pier
Southwold Pier was built in 1900. At 247 metres (810 ft) it was long enough to accommodate the Belle steamers that carried trippers along the coast at that time. In World War II, it was weakened by two breaches, and in 1955 a large section was destroyed by a gale. The pier was entirely rebuilt and restored in 2001 and is now about 190 metres (620 ft) long. While many English seaside piers are in decline, Southwold Pier is enjoying renewed popularity, helped by a collection of modern coin-operated novelty machines made by Tim Hunkin and the occasional berth of paddle steamers such as PS Waverley and the MV Balmoral.
A model boat pond adjacent to the pier is used for the Southwold Model Yacht regattas that have been held since the late Victorian period.[32] Some of the boats entered are up to 80 years old and include replicas of beach yawls. Regattas are usually held in the spring and summer with the largest, the annual regatta, held at the end of the summer season.[33]
Water towers
The Old Water Tower, in the middle of Southwold Common, was built in 1890. The tank held 40,000 gallons of water and was powered by huge sails. On St Valentine's Day 1899, George Neller, a respected local man, died when his coat got caught in its machinery. In 1937 a new 150,000 gallon capacity Art Deco water tower was built next door. The then Southwold Borough Council bought the Old Water Tower before it came into the hands of successive water companies. It was returned to the Town Council for a nominal fee of £100 in 1987. The Old Water Tower has since been used as the Lifeboat Museum and was later used by Adnams for a number of years.[34]
Electric Picture Palace
The Electric Picture Palace cinema was opened in 2002, as a pastiche of the original 1912 cinema that stood nearby in York Road.[35]
Museum
Southwold Museum holds a number of exhibits focused on the local and natural history of the town. The museum is owned and managed by the Southwold Museum & Historical Society. It is part of the Maritime Heritage East programme which unites more than 30 maritime museums on the East Coast.[36]
Sailors' Reading Room
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Southwold_Sailours%27_Reading_Room_Interior.jpg/220px-Southwold_Sailours%27_Reading_Room_Interior.jpg)
The Southwold Sailors' Reading Room is a Grade II listed building on the seafront at Southwold. It was built in 1864 as a place for fishermen and mariners to read, as an alternative to drinking in pubs, and also to encourage the pursuit of Christian ideals. The room has a number of historic displays of model boats and other maritime objects in glass cabinets.[37]
Golf club
Southwold Golf Club was founded on 4 January 1884 as a Golf and Quoit Club. At the time there were only three other golf clubs in East Anglia – Cambridge University, Yarmouth and Felixstowe. The first game on the nine-hole course was played on 28 August 1884. Originally membership was not accepted from shopkeepers or manual workers, but in 1925 Mr J. B. Denny successfully persuaded the committee to form an Artisans' Section, which was originally restricted to 30 members.[citation needed]
St Edmund's Church
The Grade I listed parish church of Southwold is dedicated to St Edmund and considered one of Suffolk's finest.[38] It lies under one continuous roof, and was built over about 60 years from the 1430s to the 1490s; replacing a smaller, 13th-century church that was destroyed by fire. The earlier church dated from the time when Southwold was a small fishing hamlet adjacent to the larger Reydon. By the 15th century Southwold was an important town in its own right, and the church was rebuilt to reflect that power and wealth.
Harbour
Southwold
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Southwold_Lifeboat_Station%2C_Suffolk_-_geograph.org.uk_-_44582.jpg/220px-Southwold_Lifeboat_Station%2C_Suffolk_-_geograph.org.uk_-_44582.jpg)
At the seaward end of the harbour is
The river can be crossed on foot or bicycle by a public footbridge upstream from The Harbour Inn, which leads to the village of Walberswick. This bridge is known as the Bailey Bridge and rests on the piers and footings of the original iron Southwold Railway swing bridge. It had a central swinging section to allow the passage of wherries and other shipping on the Blyth Navigation, but this was largely removed at the start of World War II under the precautions against German invasion.
Towards the mouth of the Blyth, a rowed ferry service runs between the Walberswick and Southwold banks. It has been operated by the same family since the 1920s, when it was a
Beach
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Southwold_Beach_huts.jpg/220px-Southwold_Beach_huts.jpg)
The beach is a combination of sand and shingle. In 2005/06 it was further protected by a coastal management scheme which includes beach nourishment, new groynes on the south side of the pier and riprap to the north.[39][40]
It is overlooked by brightly painted beach huts.
Culture
Film and television
The fictional Southwold Estate, seat of the equally fictional Earls of Southwold, is the
.The town and its vicinity has been used as the setting for numerous films and television programmes, including
The BBC children's series Grandpa in My Pocket was filmed in Southwold, Walberswick and Aldeburgh.[42] Only exteriors of buildings were filmed, e.g. the Lighthouse – no acting was done there. An ITV1 drama, A Mother's Son, first broadcast in September 2012, was filmed on location in Southwold.
Novels
Julie Myerson set her 2003 murder novel Something Might Happen in an unnamed Southwold – "a sleepy, slightly self-satisfied seaside town". She said that setting a murder in the car park made her feel as if she were "soiling something really good". She holidayed in the town as a child and remarked in an interview that everything else in her life had changed, but her mother and Southwold had stayed the same. She still owns a second home there.[43]
Other books set in Southwold include Esther Freud's novel Sea House (2004), with Southwold as Steerborough.[44] Southwold native Neil Bell in Bredon and Sons (1933) about boat-building people). Forgive us our Trespasses (1947), based on a true story of twin boys lost at sea, renames the town Senwich.[citation needed] The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) drew on her experiences working in a Southwold bookshop in the 1950s.[45]
An earlier book thought to be set in Southwold is Beside the Guns (1902) by the Christian author Mary Elizabeth Shipley.[citation needed] The German writer W. G. Sebald describes Southwold in The Rings of Saturn, an account of a walk through East Anglia. Two recent additions are A Southwold Mystery (2015) and Shot in Southwold (2017) by the Herefordshire author Suzette A. Hill, both murder mysteries set in the 1950s.
George Orwell
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Home_of_author_George_Orwell%2C_Southwold_-_geograph.org.uk_-_61720.jpg/220px-Home_of_author_George_Orwell%2C_Southwold_-_geograph.org.uk_-_61720.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Southwold_from_pier.jpg/220px-Southwold_from_pier.jpg)
The writer George Orwell (real name Eric Blair) spent periods as a teenager and in his thirties in Southwold, living at his parents' home. A plaque can be seen next door to what is now a fish and chip shop at the far end of the High Street.
After his departure from
Cultural events
The town has long hosted summer repertory theatre by various companies. For several years, Suffolk Summer Theatres have offered a varied programme of plays from July to September, staged in Southwold Arts Centre (formerly St Edmund's Hall). Every November the "Ways with Words" literature festival is held, with notable speakers appearing at various venues.
In 2014 came the inaugural Southwold Arts Festival, which was repeated in future years. It offers a mix of literature, music, film and art exhibitions, with the main events over an eight-day period in the summer, bringing entertainers of diverse backgrounds together.[47]
In 2005, Southwold launched Suffolk's "answer to the Turner prize", the "Flying Egg" competition. This event also ran in 2006 and 2007, but not repeated in 2008.[48]
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from the Tacolneston TV transmitter[49] and via a local relay transmitter in Aldeburgh.[50]
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Suffolk, Heart East, Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk and East Point Radio, a community-based station.[51]
The town's local newspaper is the East Anglian Daily Times.[52]
Notable people
In alphabetical order:
- William Alwyn (1905–1985), composer, lived in Southwold for his last 25 years, with his second wife, the composer Doreen Carwithen.[53]
- James Barker (1622–1702) was an early leader and deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.[54]
- Lewis Blake (born 1946), poet and artist
- Jessie Forbes Cameron (1883–1968), a famed Scottish mathematician, died in Southwold.
- Colin Cook(born 1954), English motorcycle speedway rider
- Mark Crowe (born 1965), professional footballer with over 100 professional appearances[55]
- Alexander Hyatt King (1911-1995), musicologist and bibliographer, founded the British Institute of Recorded Sound.
- Michael Imison (born 1935), retired television director and literary agent[56]
- P. D. James (1920–2014), crime writer[57]
- Mother Maribel of Wantage (1887–1970), Anglican nun and artist[58]
- Margaret Mellis (1914–2009), a modernist artist of the St Ives School[59]
- John Miller (1932–2020), a journalist and writer whose work was based mainly in Russia, served as Mayor of Southwold in 2002.
- Geoffrey Munn OBE, MVO (born 1953), television presenter for BBC's Antiques Roadshow lives near Southwold.[60]
- George Orwell (1903–1950), writer[61]
- Martin Shaw OBE FRCM (1875–1958), theatre producer, composer and conductor[62]
- Stephen Southwold (pseudonym, 1887–1964), schoolmaster and prolific writer
- Agnes Strickland (1796–1874), historical writer and poet[63]
- Felix Swinstead (1880-1959), pianist and composer, died in Southwold
- Henry Winslow Woollett DSO, MC and Bar (1895–1969), World War I flying ace
- Southold, New York.[64]
See also
- Latitude festival
- Southold (CDP), New York – village on Long Island, NY
- Southold, New York – named after Southwold, UK
- Southwold, Ontario – Canadian link
References
- Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ Norman Scarfe, Suffolk in the Middle Ages: Studies in Places and Place-Names, 2004:161
- ^ W. Whitaker, The Geology of Southwold, and of the Suffolk coast from Dunwich to Covehithe: (Explanation of sheet 49 N.) 1887: "Coast deposits" pp. 45ff; coastal spits and bars are discussed in J. Steers, "The East Anglian Coast", The Geographical Journal 69.1 January 1927.
- ^ Roger Thompson, Mobility and Migration: East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629–1640 2009:188, et passim.
- ^ Suffolk County (1903). Mr. Richard Ibrooke, Suffolk Deeds, William Blake Trask, Frank Eliot Bradish, Charles A. Drew, A. Grace, Rockwell and Churchill Press, Boston, 1908. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill Press. p. 80. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ "Peck, Robert (PK598R2)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Scarfe 2004:125.
- ^ "Southwold". Pall Mall Magazine. 1893. p. 258. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ^ "Southwold At War - World War Two". Southwold Museum. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ Detailed account: Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "Southwold and Reydon ward population 2011". Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Southwold Town Council - Councillors". Southwold Town Council. 27 May 2021.
- ^ "2021 Census data for Southwold Ward (Geographic Code: E05012758)". Censusdata UK. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "Organisation warns Southwold's unique character could be lost". Lowestoft Journal. 27 April 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ "Yoxford Valley Partnership of Schools". Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ISBN 0-906520-15-0.
- ^ "The Project to Re-instate the Southwold Railway". Southwoldrailway.co.uk. 5 July 2007. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ "Southwold railway – last hopes dashed". EADT online. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
- ^ "Tentative Approval for Southwold Railway". Norwich Advertiser. 18 December 2008. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^ "Wenhaston villagers hope to derail Southwold Railway Trust plans". Lowestoft Journal. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ a b Southwold Archived 8 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Trinity House. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ The Lighthouse, Southwold, British Listed Building. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ See inside a lighthouse Archived 4 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Trinity House. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ Application note 32064 – Southwold Conversion Archived 21 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Pelangi. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
- ^ Discovering Southwold, BBC Suffolk. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ The sea – Southwold's lighthouse, Southwold museum. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ "Southwold Lighthouse visitor centre | Trinity House". Southwold Lighthouse visitor centre | Trinity House. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ a b Suffolk brewer Adnams starts distillery, BBC news website, 12 November 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
- ^ a b c Point 7 – The Brewery, BBC Suffolk. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ a b Our history, Adnams. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ Adnams claims national title Archived 1 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Eastern Daily Press, 7 October 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
- ^ The SMYR Handbook, Southwold Model Yacht Regattas. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "Southwold Model Yacht Regattas – Racing model yachts since 1894". www.southwoldmodelyachtregattas.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
- ^ "The So Southwold Office at the Old Water Tower". www.sosouthwold.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ^ "About Us - The Electric Picture Palace, Southwold". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ^ "Welcome to Maritime Heritage East". www.maritimeheritageeast.org.uk.
- ^ Official Website of the Southwold Sailors' Reading Room Archived 28 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 July 2018
- ^ "Simon Jenkin's top Suffolk churches". Suffolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ "Southwold Coastal Protection Scheme" (PDF).
- ^ "Southwold beach level blow after scheme fails". Eastern Daily Press. November 2013.
- ^ "David Copperfield". Old City. 8 November 2004. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ BBC press release Retrieved 26 April 2012
- ^ "About us". www.penguin.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ^ The Independent 24 August 2008, review of her published correspondence: Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ ISBN 9781999735920.
- ^ "2016 Festival – Southwold Arts Festival". southwoldartsfestival.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ^ "Telegraph news 01/08/2005". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2013.[dead link]
- ^ "Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Freeview Light on the Aldeburgh (Suffolk, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "East Point Radio". Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "East Anglian Daily Times". British Papers. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "William Alwyn Website :: Biography & Works". www.williamalwyn.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ "State list of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island Retrieved December 2017". Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Flown From the Nest - Mark Crowe". www.ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ IMDb Database retrieved December 2017.
- ^ "Fellows Remembered, The Royal Society of Literature Retrieved December 2017". Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ Sister Janet, Mother Maribel of Wantage, SPCK London (1973), p. 10.
- ^ "Margaret Mellis: Painter and maker of driftwood collages". The Independent. 24 March 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ Russell, Steven (11 September 2010). "Suffolk through my viewfinder". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ "George Orwell's Southwold home gets fresh plaque". BBC News. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ "Martin Shaw - an appreciation by Erik Routley MusicWeb-International". www.musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 55, Strickland, Agnes Retrieved December 2017.
- ^ "The Church of St Edmund, King and Martyr". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
External sources
- Geoffrey Munn, Southwold: An Earthly Paradise, Antique Collectors Club, (Woodbridge, 2006) ISBN 1851495185
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/40px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png)
- A Short History of the Southwold Railway Archived 16 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- Southwold Museum
- A history of Southwold's shops and trades
- Online edition of free monthly newspaper Southwold Organ Archived 13 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- The "Alfred Corry" Museum
- Southwold Guided Tour
- Southwold Online Archived 5 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Explore Southwold