Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Stalham

2025-09-30T22:21:20Z

2A00:23C6:6993:3B01:F4A1:3B02:B04E:4858:

{{Short description|Market town in Norfolk, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|official_name= Stalham
|region= East of England
|coordinates = {{coord|52.770|1.511|display=inline,title}}
|shire_district= [[North Norfolk]]
|shire_county = [[Norfolk]]
|population= 3,149
|population_ref= ''(2011)''
|area_total_sq_mi= 2.82
|constituency_westminster=[[North Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|North Norfolk]]
|post_town= NORWICH
|postcode_district = NR12
|postcode_area= NR
|dial_code= 01692
|os_grid_reference= TG3725
|civil_parish= Stalham
|static_image_name = Stalham Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 781295.jpg
|static_image_caption= Stalham Town Hall
}}

'''Stalham''' is a [[market town]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] on the [[River Ant]] in the [[England|English]] [[county (England)|county]] of [[Norfolk]], in [[East Anglia]]. It covers an area of {{convert|2.82|mi2|abbr=on}} and had a population of 2,951 in 1,333 households at the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 census]],<ref>[http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211032229/http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls |date=2017-02-11 }}. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.</ref> the population increasing to 3,149 at the 2011 Census.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11128939&c=Stalham&d=16&e=62&g=6449766&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1441216099590&enc=1|title=Parish population 2011|access-date=2 September 2015}}</ref> It lies within the [[The Broads|Norfolk Broads]], about {{convert|15|mi}} north-east of [[Norwich]] on the [[A149 road]].
For the purposes of local government, it falls within the [[Non-metropolitan district|district]] of [[North Norfolk]]. The parts of the parish lying adjacent to the river fall into the executive area of the [[Broads Authority]].

The name Stalham derives from the [[Old English]] ''stallhām'' meaning 'village with a fishing pool' or perhaps ''stallhamm'' meaning 'hemmed-in land with a fishing pool'.<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Stalham</ref>

Stalham was served by [[Stalham railway station|a railway station]] until it was closed in 1959. The nearest railway station is now [[Worstead railway station|Worstead]].

Through the 1960s Stalham's economy sank from a reduction of the [[agriculture|agricultural]] labour force as a result of improvements in agricultural technology. Beginning in the 1970s, though, housing developments attracted people who took up residence in Stalham but worked elsewhere.

[[The Museum of the Broads]] moved to Stalham in 2000 and is situated on Stalham Staithe. It "aims to bring the history of the Broads alive for locals and visitors to Norfolk" and is open to the public throughout the summer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museumofthebroads.org.uk|title=Home page of the Museum of the Broads|work=The Museum of the Broads}}</ref>

In 2002 Tesco built a supermarket in Stalham, with considerable controversy, with many residents fearing that it would "kill the high street".<ref>[http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/tesco_every_little_hurts.pdf Tesco every little hurts] ''Foe.co.uk''</ref> Despite this, the High Street contains a wide range of independent traders.

==Governance==
Stalham is part of the [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] of Stalham and [[Sutton, Norfolk|Sutton]]. The total population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,312.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/stalham-and-sutton-e05005868#sthash.zt0kiW7l.dpbs|title=Stalham and Sutton Ward population 2011|access-date=2 September 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hunsett Windmill]]
*[[Stalham High School]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Stalham}}
{{Wikivoyage|Stalham and Sutton}}

{{Norfolk}}
{{Civil Parishes of North Norfolk}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Stalham| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Norfolk]]
[[Category:North Norfolk]]
[[Category:Market towns in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Norfolk]]

Stalbridge

2025-09-30T22:17:45Z

2A00:23C6:6993:3B01:F4A1:3B02:B04E:4858: /* History */

{{Short description|Town and civil parish in Dorset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Stalbridge
| country = England
| region = South West England
| lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]]
| unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]]
| static_image_name = 050113 02 Stalbridge church.jpg
| static_image_caption = St Mary's Church
| population = {{Population WD|show=value}}
| population_ref = ({{Population WD|show=year}})
| population_density =
| os_grid_reference = ST735177
| coordinates = {{coord|50.9594|-2.3784|display=inline,title}}
| post_town = Sturminster Newton
| postcode_area = DT
| postcode_district = DT10
| dial_code = 01963
| constituency_westminster = [[North Dorset (constituency)|North Dorset]]
| london_distance =
| website = [http://www.stalbridgetowncouncil.gov.uk/ Stalbridge Council]
}}

'''Stalbridge''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|t|ɔː|l|b|r|ɪ|dʒ}})<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Daniel|date=1919|title=An English Pronouncing Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.83619|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.83619/page/n383 353]|location=London|publisher=Dent}}</ref> is a town and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in [[Dorset]], [[England]], situated in the [[Blackmore Vale]], near the border with [[Somerset]]. In the [[United Kingdom 2021 Census|2021 census]] the civil parish—which includes the hamlets of '''Stalbridge Weston''', and '''Thornhill'''—had 1,224 households and a population of 2,668.<ref name=census2021>Table PP002 - Sex, from {{cite web |title=Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=5 August 2024}}</ref> The nearest towns are [[Sturminster Newton]], {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} southeast, [[Sherborne]], {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} west, and [[Shaftesbury]], {{convert|7|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} northeast. Stalbridge is situated on the [[A357 road (Great Britain)|A357]] on a low [[limestone]] ridge, {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in|round=0.5|abbr=off}} west of the [[River Stour, Dorset|River Stour]]. It officially became a town in April 1992.<ref>Stalbridge Town Council, 2005. [http://www.stalbridgetowncouncil.gov.uk/ Introduction]. Accessed 2005-12-30.</ref>

Though relatively small, Stalbridge has its own independent supermarket, dispensing pharmacy, dentist and optician, as well as many other services, reflecting its [[catchment area (human)|catchment area]] of surrounding farms and hamlets. It is also home to the local free newspaper, the ''Blackmore Vale Magazine''.

==History==
[[File:Thatched Cottage at Stalbridge - geograph.org.uk - 133085.jpg|thumb|Thatched cottage at Stalbridge]]
The name Stalbridge derives from the [[Old English]] ''stapolbrycg'' meaning '[[post (structural)|post]] bridge'.<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Dorset/Stalbridge</ref>

There was a settlement near Stalbridge in [[Roman Britain|Roman]] times. The town has a 15th-century [[Church (building)|church]] with a 19th-century tower, dedicated to [[Saint Mary]] and restored to designs by [[T. H. Wyatt]],<ref name=mpr>Michael Pitt-Rivers, 1966. ''Dorset''. London: Faber & Faber.</ref> in 1878, which overlooks the town from a hill. The town has had market rights since the time of [[George I of Great Britain|King George I]], though it has not held a regular market for many years. In the town centre stands a 10-metre (30 ft) tall [[market cross]], said to be the finest in the country.<ref name=tdp>The Dorset Page, "[http://www.thedorsetpage.com/locations/place/S190.htm Stalbridge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927034639/http://www.thedorsetpage.com/locations/place/S190.htm |date=27 September 2007 }}."</ref>

Stalbridge was home to scientist [[Robert Boyle]] (see below), and writer [[Douglas Adams]], who wrote much of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' in the town.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stalbridge History Trail|url=http://www.stalbridge.info/uploads/3/1/5/8/31586035/stalbridge_history_trail_2014.pdf|publisher=Stalbridge|access-date=8 December 2018}}</ref> The town also boasts that it is home to the oldest living male [[twin]]s in the world.

Artist Sir [[James Thornhill]] lived just south of the town, in Thornhill Park, which he bought in 1725. The house is believed to have been originally owned by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 16th century.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for this sentence|date=June 2015}} In 1727, Sir James Thornhill erected an [[obelisk]] in the park to honour the accession of [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]].<ref name=tdp/>

From September 1863 Stalbridge was served by [[Stalbridge railway station]] on the [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]], with trains to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] and [[Bournemouth]]. During [[World War II]] a [[Minister of Food (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Food]] depot was situated here. The last train ran on 7 March 1966, and most of the tracks, station and goods yard have been replaced, though tracks still cross the road.<ref>Mike Oakley, 2001. ''Dorset Railway Stations''. Wimborne: Dovecote Press {{ISBN|1-874336-96-2}}</ref>

=== Stalbridge House ===
In 1618 [[Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven]], who had inherited Stalbridge Park from his father, decided to build a [[mansion]] house on his Stalbridge estate. He enclosed an area used as [[common land]] to the northwest of the church, moving tenant farmers out, and built a [[Jacobean style]] mansion, the fifth largest house in [[Dorset]].

In 1631 the earl's eldest son [[James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven|James]] brought a case against him for "unnatural practices", and he was subsequently [[execution (legal)|execute]]d.

James sold the house to [[Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork]]. After his father's death, the scientist [[Robert Boyle]] became [[Lord of the Manor]], and the house was his residence between 1644 and 1652. It was here that he conducted many of his experiments.<ref name=mpr/>

At some point during the house's history a {{convert|2|m|ftin|adj=mid|-high}} stone wall was built around the boundary of Stalbridge Park. There is some argument as to when and why the wall was built. It may have been commissioned by Castlehaven as a status symbol, work for French [[prisoners of war]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], or as work for local labourers in times of high unemployment.

By 1822 the house was in poor repair and the owner, [[Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey]], had it demolished.<ref name=lth>Denys Kay-Robinson, 1984. ''The Landscape of Thomas Hardy''. Exeter, Webb & Bower {{ISBN|0-86350-020-X}}</ref> By 1827 all that remained was the raised area where it had stood. The stone was sold off and much of it is in use elsewhere in the town, including the large farm house which now stands in the park.

There are many popular local myths and ghost stories about the demise of the house, mostly involving a fire destroying the house.

Stalbridge Park features in [[Thomas Hardy's Wessex]] as "Stapleford Park".<ref name=lth/>

==Governance==
Stalbridge is part of the [[North Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|North Dorset parliamentary constituency]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.streetcheck.co.uk/postcode/dt102pp|title=Interesting Information for Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, DT10 2PP Postcode|last=StreetCheck|website=StreetCheck|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-10-30}}</ref>

Stalbridge is part of the [[Stalbridge and Marnhull]] [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]], which elects 1 member to [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset Council]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Area profile for Stalbridge & Marnhull - Dorset Council |url=https://gi.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/insights/AreaProfiles/Ward/stalbridge-and-marnhull |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=gi.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk}}</ref>

Historically, Stalbridge was in [[Sturminster Rural District]] from 1894 to 1974, and [[North Dorset]] district from 1974 to 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stalbridge Dorset |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/13888 |website=A vision of Britain through time}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{| class="wikitable" style="width:32em; text-align:center;"
|+ Census population of Stalbridge parish
|-
! scope=col| Census
! scope=col| Population
! scope=col| Households
|-
|| 2001<ref>Dorset County Council & [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]], 2001 "[http://www1.dorsetcc.gov.uk/LIVING/FACTS/Census2001.nsf/6cadf4da179fc19500256663004afece/25c6a81095f8c97e80256ec500445f51?OpenDocument Stalbridge Parish Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519125841/http://www1.dorsetcc.gov.uk/LIVING/FACTS/Census2001.nsf/6cadf4da179fc19500256663004afece/25c6a81095f8c97e80256ec500445f51?OpenDocument |date=19 May 2006 }}." Accessed 2003-07-19.</ref>
|| 2,579
||
|-
|| 2011<ref name=ons>{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11128938&c=Stalbridge&d=16&e=62&g=6417929&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1433423198073&enc=1 |title=Area: Stalbridge (Parish). Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics |publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |access-date=5 February 2015}}</ref>
|| 2,698
|| 1,160
|-
|| 2021<ref name=census2021/>
|| 2,668
|| 1,224
|}

==Geography==
{{Location map | Dorset Geology
| caption = Geological map of Dorset. Stalbridge lies on Great Oolite clay.
| width = 300px
}}
{{maplink|frame=yes|zoom=13|id=Q1242808|type=shape|text=Interactive map of Stalbridge}}
Stalbridge lies in the [[Blackmore Vale]]. As an area of hills, this means that the town lies largely on a gradient. The [[A357 road (Great Britain)|high street]] through the town centre follows the contour of the landscape, before climbing up Church Hill past the parish church of St. Mary, heading towards the Somerset border and [[Henstridge]]. To the east of the high street, Station Road heads down the hill, heading towards the Stalbridge trading estates, passing the modern housing estates built in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Eighteenth – Nineteenth Century Stalbridge (1700-1899) | url=https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/163796/Stalbridge-Part-5.2-and-5.4-Eighteenth-nineteenth-and-twentieth-century-February-2011/pdf/Stalbridge_Part_5.2_and_5.4_Eighteenth_nineteenth_and_twentieth_century_February_2011.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072715/https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/163796/Stalbridge-Part-5.2-and-5.4-Eighteenth-nineteenth-and-twentieth-century-February-2011/pdf/Stalbridge_Part_5.2_and_5.4_Eighteenth_nineteenth_and_twentieth_century_February_2011.pdf | archive-date=2018-01-03}}</ref> To the West, the town climbs Barrow Hill, with older housing, some estates dating to the 1950s, and the 1990s Pond Walk.
There are two parks in Stalbridge, the larger of which is situated on Barrow hill, and hosts a football field and a cricket pitch, as well as two tennis courts. This park also has an [[outdoor playset]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://playmapp.co.uk/south-west/stalbridge-park/|title=Stalbridge Park}}</ref> The smaller park functions largely as an [[outdoor playset]], with two slides, a small football pitch and other toys.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stalbridge.info/stalbridge-street-map.html|title=Stalbridge Street Map}}</ref>

There are several footpaths and bridleways in Stalbridge. A trailway follows the route of the disused [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/document/migrated/tro/dorset_council_bridleway_stalbridge.pdf|title=Public Path Diversion Order}}</ref> It passes through the Stalbridge Nature Reserve, and has a hard pack surface suitable for cycles, including [[hybrid bicycle]]s, or even endurance [[road bicycle]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stalbridge.info/stalbridge-nature-reserve-and-trailway.html|title=Stalbridge trailway and nature reserve}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline|Stalbridge}}
*[http://www.stalbridge.info/ Stalbridge Info Community Website]
*[http://www.stalbridgetowncouncil.gov.uk/ Stalbridge Town Council official website]
*[https://ukga.org/england/Dorset/towns/Stalbridge.html Stalbridge Genealogy site]
{{Dorset}}
{{North Dorset}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Stalbridge| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Dorset]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Dorset]]
[[Category:North Dorset District]]
[[Category:Country houses in Dorset]]

Southwold

2025-09-30T22:12:14Z

2A00:23C6:6993:3B01:F4A1:3B02:B04E:4858: /* History */

{{Short description|Coastal town in Suffolk, England}}
{{about|the town in England|the town in Canada|Southwold, Ontario}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name = Southwold North Parade.jpg
| static_image_caption = The lighthouse from the North Parade
| country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|52.327|1.680|display=inline,title}}
| official_name = Southwold
| population = 950
| population_ref = (2021 Census)<ref name=2021census>{{NOMIS2021 |id=1170218950 |title=Southwold Parish |access-date=17 March 2018}}</ref>
| area_total_km2 = {{convert|267.55|ha|km2|2|disp=number}}
| civil_parish = Southwold
| shire_district = [[East Suffolk (district)|East Suffolk]]
| region = East of England
| shire_county = [[Suffolk]]
| constituency_westminster = [[Suffolk Coastal (UK Parliament constituency)|Suffolk Coastal]]
| post_town = SOUTHWOLD
| postcode_district = IP18
| postcode_area = IP
| dial_code = 01502
| os_grid_reference = TM510763
}}

'''Southwold''' is a seaside town and [[civil parish]] on the [[North Sea]], in the [[East Suffolk District|East Suffolk]] district, in the county of [[Suffolk]], England. It lies at the mouth of the [[River Blyth, Suffolk|River Blyth]] in the [[Suffolk Coast and Heaths]] Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, {{convert|11|mi|km|0}} south of [[Lowestoft]], {{convert|29|mi|km|0}} north-east of [[Ipswich]] and {{convert|97|mi|km}} north-east of London, within the parliamentary constituency of [[Suffolk Coastal (UK Parliament constituency)|Suffolk Coastal]]. At the 2021 Census, the population was 950.

==History==
[[File:Crews rush to their 3.7-inch guns, 127th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Southwold, Suffolk, 9 October 1944. H40434.jpg|thumb|Crews rush to their 3.7-inch guns, 127th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, 9 October 1944]]
The name Southwold derives from the [[Old English]] ''sūðwald'' meaning 'south forest'.<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Suffolk/Southwold</ref>

Southwold was mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as a fishing port, and after the "capricious River Blyth withdrew from [[Dunwich]] in 1328, bringing trade to Southwold in the 15th century",<ref>[[Norman Scarfe]], ''Suffolk in the Middle Ages: Studies in Places and Place-Names'', 2004:161</ref> it received its town charter from [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] in 1489. The grant of the charter is marked by the annual [[Charter fair|Trinity Fair]], when it is read out by the Town Clerk. Over following centuries, however, a [[Shingle beach|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.<ref>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.</ref>

Southwold was the home of a number of [[Puritan]] emigrants to the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in the 1630s, notably a party of 18 assembled under Rev. Young, which travelled in the ''Mary Ann'' in 1637.<ref>Roger Thompson, ''Mobility and Migration: East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629–1640'' 2009:188, ''et passim''.</ref> Richard Ibrook, born in Southwold and a former bailiff of the town, emigrated to [[Hingham, Massachusetts]], along with Rev. Peter Hobart, son of Edmund Hobart of [[Hingham, Norfolk]]. Rev. Hobart had been an assistant vicar of St Edmund's Church, Southwold, after graduating from [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Suffolk County |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfkPAAAAYAAJ&q=ibrooke+hingham&pg=RA3-PA300 |title=Mr. Richard Ibrooke, Suffolk Deeds, William Blake Trask, Frank Eliot Bradish, Charles A. Drew, A. Grace, Rockwell and Churchill Press, Boston, 1908 |access-date=23 February 2013 |location=Boston |publisher=Rockwell and Churchill Press |year=1903 |page=80 }}</ref> Hobart married in America Rebecca Ibrook, daughter of his fellow Puritan Richard Ibrook. The migrants to Hingham were led by Robert Peck, vicar of St Andrew's Church in Hingham and a native of [[Beccles]].<ref>{{acad |id=PK598R2 |name=Peck, Robert}}</ref>

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 green]]s"<ref>Scarfe 2004:125.</ref> and the restriction of expansion by the surrounding [[marsh]]es, have preserved the town's tidy appearance.

On the green just above the beach, descriptively named Gun Hill, six 18-pounder [[cannon]] commemorate the [[Battle of Sole Bay]], fought in 1672 between English and French fleets on one side and the Dutch (under [[Michiel de Ruyter]]) on the other. The battle was bloody but indecisive and many bodies were washed ashore. Southwold Museum has a collection of mementos of the event. These cannon were captured from the [[Scotland|Scots]] at [[Battle of Culloden|Culloden]] and given to the town by the [[Prince William, Duke of Cumberland|Duke of Cumberland]], who had landed at Southwold in October 1745 having been recalled from Europe to deal with the Jacobite threat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ptPvFrIOW4UC&dq=southwold+old+town+hall&pg=PA258|title=Southwold|publisher=Pall Mall Magazine|page=258|year=1893|access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> In World War II they were prudently removed, reputedly buried for safety, and returned to their former position after hostilities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 February 2021 |title=Southwold At War - World War Two |url=http://southwoldmuseum.org/war_worldwar2.htm |access-date=2 February 2021 |website=Southwold Museum}}</ref>

On 15 May 1943, low-flying German fighter-bombers attacked the town and killed eleven people,<ref>Detailed account: [https://www.southwoldmuseum.org/War%20popups/Bomb%20story.pdf Retrieved 8 October 2018.]</ref> including the cricketer [[George Katinakis]].

==Governance==
[[File:Southwold Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 461899.jpg|thumb|[[Southwold Town Hall]]]]
Up to 1 April 2019, Southwold was part of the Southwold and Reydon [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] in the [[Waveney District Council]] area. The ward population at the 2011 census was 3,680; the resident population of the neighbouring village of [[Reydon]] was more than double that of the town of Southwold.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/southwold-and-reydon-e05007245#sthash.uWXf5iho.dpbs |title=Southwold and Reydon ward population 2011 |access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref> Although the town lost its independent [[municipal boroughs|Municipal Borough]] status in the [[Local Government Act 1972|Local Government reforms of 1974]] and consequent incorporation in Waveney District, it continues to have an elected, [[non-partisan democracy|non-partisan]] [[Town Council]] and Mayor, based at [[Southwold Town Hall]].<ref>{{Cite web |website=Southwold Town Council |date=27 May 2021 |title=Southwold Town Council - Councillors |url=https://southwoldtown.com/southwold-town-council/}}</ref>

With the 1 April 2019 amalgamation of the [[Waveney District Council|Waveney]] and [[Suffolk Coastal]] districts into a new [[East Suffolk (district)|East Suffolk]] district, Southwold became an expanded ward with Reydon and [[Walberswick]], represented by a single councillor. Previously, the Southwold and Reydon ward, under Waveney District, elected two councillors. At the 2021 Census, the ward population overall had increased, by the inclusion of Walberswick (346 souls), to 3,843; of which Southwold was 950 and Reydon 2547.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Census data for Southwold Ward (Geographic Code: E05012758) |url=https://censusdata.uk/e05012758-southwold |access-date=1 July 2023 |website=Censusdata UK}}</ref>

==Economy==
[[Image:Southwold usine.jpg|thumb|Adnams Brewery]]
Once home to several industries, Southwold's economy is now centred 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, beverages and clothing to take over the formerly independent units.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 April 2012 |url=http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/organisation_warns_southwold_s_unique_character_could_be_lost_1_1361359 |title=Organisation warns Southwold's unique character could be lost |publisher=Lowestoft Journal |access-date=26 May 2012 |archive-date=23 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023230033/http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/organisation_warns_southwold_s_unique_character_could_be_lost_1_1361359 |url-status=dead }}</ref>There has also been an increase in the number of [[Charity shop|charity shops]] in the town.{{CN|date=September 2025}}

[[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 [[Yoxford]] and [[Middleton, Suffolk|Middleton Primary School]], near [[Dunwich, Suffolk|Dunwich]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.yoxvalleypartnership.org.uk|title=Yoxford Valley Partnership of Schools |access-date=20 January 2023}}</ref>

===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 schools in the United Kingdom|private school]] in nearby Reydon.

==Landmarks and features==
===Railway===
[[File:Southwold Lighthouse.jpg|thumb|The lighthouse]]
{{ main|Southwold Railway}}
The narrow-gauge [[Southwold Railway]] connecting the town to [[Halesworth]] ran from 24 September 1879 to 11 April 1929.<ref name="mitchell">{{Cite book |title=Branch Line to Southwold |last1=Mitchell |first1=V. |last2=Smith |first2=K. |year=1984 |publisher=Middleton Press |isbn=0-906520-15-0}}</ref>

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 railway station|Halesworth]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.southwoldrailway.co.uk/project/index.php |title=The Project to Re-instate the Southwold Railway |publisher=Southwoldrailway.co.uk |date=5 July 2007 |access-date=23 February 2013 |archive-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303115727/http://www.southwoldrailway.co.uk/project/index.php |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 District|Waveney]] and by [[Suffolk Coastal]] District Councils.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2007 |url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED05%20Jul%202007%2000%3A18%3A11%3A157 |title=Southwold railway – last hopes dashed |publisher=EADT online |access-date=20 July 2006}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 December 2008 |url=http://www.advertiser24.co.uk/content/advertiser24/news/story.aspx?brand=WAVOnline&category=News&tBrand=WAVOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED18%20Dec%202008%2009%3A02%3A05%3A483 |title=Tentative Approval for Southwold Railway |publisher=Norwich Advertiser |access-date=2 January 2009 |archive-date=23 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223193538/http://www.advertiser24.co.uk/content/advertiser24/news/story.aspx?brand=WAVOnline&category=News&tBrand=WAVOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED18%20Dec%202008%2009%3A02%3A05%3A483 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 May 2012 |url=http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/wenhaston_villagers_hope_to_derail_southwold_railway_trust_plan_1_1388986 |title=Wenhaston villagers hope to derail Southwold Railway Trust plans |publisher=Lowestoft Journal |access-date=26 May 2012 |archive-date=30 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430053140/http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/wenhaston_villagers_hope_to_derail_southwold_railway_trust_plan_1_1388986 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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===
{{ main|Southwold lighthouse}}
[[Southwold lighthouse]] was commissioned in 1890 and automated and electrified in 1938.<ref name="thsouthwold">[http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/southwold.html Southwold] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008023411/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/southwold.html |date=8 October 2012}}, ''Trinity House''. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref> It stands as a prominent landmark in the centre of the town and is a Grade II [[listed building]].<ref name="britlistlight">[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-484878-the-lighthouse-southwold-suffolk The Lighthouse, Southwold], ''British Listed Building''. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref> It is {{convert|31|m|ft}} metres tall, standing {{convert|37|m|ft}} metres above sea level. It is built of brick and painted white and has 113 steps around a spiral staircase.<ref name="thleaflet">[http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/vc_generic_leaflet.pdf See inside a lighthouse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604151503/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/vc_generic_leaflet.pdf |date=4 June 2012}}, ''Trinity House''. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref>

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 {{convert|24|nmi|km mi}}.<ref name="thsouthwold"/><ref name=pelangi>[http://www.pelangi.co.uk/appnotes/32064-Southwold%20PRL400.pdf Application note 32064 – Southwold Conversion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221215857/http://www.pelangi.co.uk/appnotes/32064-Southwold%20PRL400.pdf |date=21 February 2014}}, Pelangi. Retrieved 4 January 2013.</ref><ref name="bbcsouthwold">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2005/07/04/coast05walks_peter_austin_feature.shtml Discovering Southwold], ''BBC Suffolk''. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref><ref name="museumlight">[http://www.southwoldmuseum.org/thesea_lighthouse.htm The sea – Southwold's lighthouse], ''Southwold museum''. Retrieved 29 October 2012.</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southwold Lighthouse visitor centre {{!}} Trinity House |url=https://trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouse-visitor-centres/southwold-lighthouse-visitors-centre |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=Southwold Lighthouse visitor centre {{!}} Trinity House}}</ref>

===Brewery===
{{main|Adnams}}
[[Adnams|Adnams brewery]] was established in the town by George and Ernest Adnams in 1872 with the purchase of the Sole Bay Brewery, which had been founded in 1818.<ref name=bbc12nov10>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-11741473 Suffolk brewer Adnams starts distillery], BBC news website, 12 November 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-02.</ref><ref name=adnamsbbc>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2005/07/03/coast05walks_stage7.shtml Point 7 – The Brewery], BBC Suffolk. Retrieved 2 January 2013.</ref><ref name=adnamshistory>[http://adnams.co.uk/about/some-history/ Our history], Adnams. Retrieved 2 January 2013.</ref> In 1890 the brewery was re-built on its current site in the centre of the town. The brewery is the town's largest employer<ref name=adnamsbbc/> and has been modernised and expanded in recent years, with development of an energy efficient brewery, a distribution centre in the nearby village of Reydon, and a distillery.<ref name=bbc12nov10/><ref name=adnamsbbc /><ref name=adnamshistory/> In 2011 it received the [[Good Pub Guide]] Brewery of the Year Award.<ref name=edp7oct10>[http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/adnams_claims_national_title_1_674856 Adnams claims national title] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501094154/http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/adnams_claims_national_title_1_674856 |date=1 May 2015 }}, ''Eastern Daily Press'', 7 October 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-02.</ref>

===Pier===
[[File:SouthwoldPier.JPG|thumb|right|Southwold Pier in the summer sunshine]]
{{main|Southwold Pier}}
[[Southwold Pier]] was built in 1900. At {{convert|247|m|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 {{convert|190|m|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 (1949)|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.<ref name="modelyachts">[http://southwoldmodelyachtregattas.co.uk/handbook/index.php The SMYR Handbook], ''Southwold Model Yacht Regattas''. Retrieved 30 October 2012.</ref> Some of the boats entered are up to 80 years old and include replicas of [[yawl|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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.southwoldmodelyachtregattas.co.uk/ |title=Southwold Model Yacht Regattas – Racing model yachts since 1894 |website=www.southwoldmodelyachtregattas.co.uk |language=en-GB |access-date=2018-02-04}}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sosouthwold.co.uk/about-us/our-office |title=The So Southwold Office at the Old Water Tower |website=www.sosouthwold.co.uk |access-date=2016-09-28}}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.southwoldcinema.co.uk/about-us/ |title=About Us - The Electric Picture Palace, Southwold |language=en-US |access-date=2016-09-28}}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Maritime Heritage East |url=http://www.maritimeheritageeast.org.uk/ |website=www.maritimeheritageeast.org.uk}}</ref>

===Sailors' Reading Room===
[[File:Southwold Sailours' Reading Room Interior.jpg|thumb|Southwold Sailors' Reading Room interior]]
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.<ref>[http://www.southwoldsailorsreadingroom.co.uk/index.php Official Website of the Southwold Sailors' Reading Room] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928121149/http://www.southwoldsailorsreadingroom.co.uk/index.php |date=28 September 2018}} Retrieved 16 July 2018</ref>

===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|date=January 2018}}

==St Edmund's Church==
{{Main|St Edmund's Church, Southwold}}
The Grade I listed parish church of Southwold is dedicated to [[Edmund the Martyr|St Edmund]] and considered one of Suffolk's finest.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/abjenkins.htm |title=Simon Jenkin's top Suffolk churches |publisher=Suffolkchurches.co.uk |access-date=2013-02-23}}</ref> 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 [[Harbour]] lies south of the town on the [[River Blyth, Suffolk|River Blyth]]. Vehicle access is via York Road and Carnsey Road to the west and Ferry Road to the east. The harbour extends nearly a mile upstream from the river mouth and is mainly used by fishing boats, yachts and small [[pleasure boat]]s. The clubhouse of Southwold Sailing Club is on the north side of the harbour adjacent to ''The Harbour Inn''. The quay and area in front of the inn and clubhouse is called Blackshore; although the name has often been used incorrectly for the whole harbour in recent years.

[[File:Southwold Lifeboat Station, Suffolk - geograph.org.uk - 44582.jpg|thumb|Southwold Lifeboat Station]]
At the seaward end of the harbour is [[Southwold Lifeboat Station]], operated by the [[RNLI]]. The former [[Cromer]] lifeboat shed houses the Alfred Corry Museum, which features the Southwold lifeboat [[RNLB Alfred Corry (ON 353)|"Alfred Corry"]], which was in service from 1893 to 1918. An extensive and now-complete restoration to her original state has been carried out by volunteers over several years.

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|Bailey Bridge]] and rests on the [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] and footings of the original iron Southwold Railway swing bridge. It had a central swinging section to allow the passage of [[Norfolk wherry|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 [[chain ferry]] that could take cars. The chain ferry ceased working in 1941, but some vestiges remain at the Walberswick slipway.

==Beach==
[[File:Southwold Beach huts.jpg|right|thumb|Southwold Beach huts]]
The beach is a combination of [[sand]] and [[slate|shingle]]. In 2005/06 it was further protected by a [[coastal management]] scheme which includes [[beach nourishment]], new [[groyne]]s on the south side of the pier and [[riprap]] to the north.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://teamvanoord.com/downloads/Southwold%20Coast%20Protection.pdf |title=Southwold Coastal Protection Scheme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Southwold beach level blow after scheme fails |date=November 2013 |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/business/southwold-beach-level-blow-after-scheme-fails-1-2957656 |publisher=Eastern Daily Press}}</ref>

It is overlooked by brightly painted [[beach hut]]s.

==Culture==
===Film and television===
The fictional Southwold Estate, seat of the equally fictional Earls of Southwold, is the [[country estate]] of the family of [[Lady Marjorie Bellamy]] in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] British drama ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]''.

The town and its vicinity has been used as the setting for numerous films and television programmes, including ''[[Iris (2001 film)|Iris]]'' about the life of [[Iris Murdoch]] starring [[Judi Dench]], ''[[Drowning by Numbers]]'' by [[Peter Greenaway]], ''[[Kavanagh QC]]'' starring [[John Thaw]], ''East of Ipswich'' by [[Michael Palin]], ''[[Little Britain (sketch show)|Little Britain]]'' with [[Matt Lucas]] and [[David Walliams]], and a 1969 version of ''[[David Copperfield (1969 film)|David Copperfield]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oldcity.org.uk/norwich/film/copperfield1.php |title=David Copperfield |publisher=Old City |date=8 November 2004 |access-date=23 February 2013 |archive-date=14 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014064352/http://www.oldcity.org.uk/norwich/film/copperfield1.php |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[BBC]] children's series ''[[Grandpa in My Pocket]]'' was filmed in Southwold, Walberswick and [[Aldeburgh]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2009/wk6/feature_grandpa.shtml BBC press release] Retrieved 26 April 2012</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/company/about-us.html/offthepage/guide.htm?command=Search&db=/catalog/main.txt&eqisbndata=0099453525 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514195049/http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/offthepage/guide.htm?command=Search&db=%2Fcatalog%2Fmain.txt&eqisbndata=0099453525 |url-status=dead |title=About us |archivedate=14 May 2008 |website=www.penguin.co.uk}}</ref>

Other books set in Southwold include [[Esther Freud]]'s novel ''Sea House'' (2004), with Southwold as Steerborough.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jul/06/fiction.features2 |title=Mysteries under an open Suffolk sky - once you've got your bearings |last=Kellaway |first=Kate |date=2003-07-05 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |access-date=2016-09-28}}</ref> Southwold native [[Stephen Southwold|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|date=June 2020}} ''[[The Bookshop]]'' by [[Penelope Fitzgerald]] (1978) drew on her experiences working in a Southwold bookshop in the 1950s.<ref>''The Independent'' 24 August 2008, review of her published correspondence: [https://web.archive.org/web/20141120160433/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/so-i-have-thought-of-you-the-letters-of-penelope-fitzgerald-ed-terence-dooley-904867.html Retrieved 31 May 2012.]</ref>

An earlier book thought to be set in Southwold is ''Beside the Guns'' (1902) by the Christian author Mary Elizabeth Shipley.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} 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===
[[File:Home of author George Orwell, Southwold - geograph.org.uk - 61720.jpg|thumb|Orwell's home in Southwold]]
[[File:Southwold from pier.jpg|thumb|Southwold from the end of the pier]]
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 [[Commemorative plaque|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 [[Eton College]] in December 1921, Orwell travelled to join his retired father, mother and younger sister Avril, who that month had moved to 40 Stradbroke Road, Southwold, the first of four homes in the town.<ref name=Binns>{{Cite book |last=Binns |first=Ronald |title=Orwell in Southwold |publisher=Zoilus Press |year=2018 |isbn=9781999735920}}</ref> In January–June 1922 he attended an [[cram school|educational crammer]] in Southwold to prepare for [[Indian Police Service]] exams and his career in [[Burma]]. In 1929, after 18 months in Paris, he returned to the family in Southwold and was based there for most of the next five years. He tutored a disabled child and a family of three boys and wrote reviews and developed ''[[Burmese Days]]''. He also spent nearly 18 months teaching in West London, until struck by a bout of pneumonia. His mother then insisted he stay at home instead of teaching. He spent the time writing ''[[A Clergyman's Daughter]]'', which is partly set in a fictionalised East Anglian town called "Knype Hill". His final visit to Southwold was in 1939.<ref name=Binns/>

===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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://southwoldartsfestival.co.uk/whats-on/ |title=2016 Festival – Southwold Arts Festival |website=southwoldartsfestival.co.uk |access-date=2016-09-28 |archive-date=1 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001190609/http://southwoldartsfestival.co.uk/whats-on/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/01/nart01.xml&DCMP=OTC-Autonolnk |title=Telegraph news 01/08/2005 |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk |access-date=23 February 2013}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC East]] and [[ITV Anglia]]. Television signals are received from the [[Tacolneston transmitting station|Tacolneston]] TV transmitter<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Tacolneston|title= Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=1 November 2023}}</ref> and via a local relay transmitter in [[Aldeburgh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Aldeburgh|title=Freeview Light on the Aldeburgh (Suffolk, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=1 November 2023}}</ref>

Local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Suffolk]], [[Heart East]], [[Greatest Hits Radio East|Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk]] and East Point Radio, a community-based station.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eastpointradio.com/|title= East Point Radio |access-date=1 November 2023}}</ref>

The town's local newspaper is the ''[[East Anglian Daily Times]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-eang/east-anglian-daily-times/|title=East Anglian Daily Times|date=23 June 2014|website=British Papers|accessdate=1 November 2023}}</ref>

==Notable people==
[[File:PD James Cologne.JPG|thumb|PD James 2013]]
In alphabetical order:
*[[William Alwyn]] (1905–1985), composer, lived in Southwold for his last 25 years, with his second wife, the composer [[Doreen Carwithen]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Alwyn Website :: Biography & Works |url=http://www.williamalwyn.co.uk/biography |access-date=2020-10-10 |website=www.williamalwyn.co.uk}}</ref>
*[[James Barker (Rhode Island official)|James Barker]] (1622–1702) was an early leader and deputy governor of the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sos.ri.gov/divisions/Civics-And-Education/RI-History |title=State list of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island Retrieved December 2017. |access-date=29 December 2017 |archive-date=21 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521171700/http://sos.ri.gov/divisions/Civics-And-Education/RI-History |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Jessie Forbes Cameron]] (1883–1968), a famed Scottish mathematician, died in Southwold.
*[[Colin Cook (speedway rider)|Colin Cook]] (born 1954), English motorcycle speedway rider
*[[Mark Crowe (footballer)|Mark Crowe]] (born 1965), professional footballer with over 100 professional appearances<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flown From the Nest - Mark Crowe |url=http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/crowe.htm |access-date=2020-10-10 |website=www.ex-canaries.co.uk}}</ref>
* [[Alexander Hyatt King]] (1911-1995), musicologist and bibliographer, founded the [[British Library Sound Archive|British Institute of Recorded Sound]].
*[[Michael Imison]] (born 1935), retired television director and literary agent<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0408202/ IMDb Database] retrieved December 2017.</ref>
*[[P. D. James]] (1920–2014), crime writer, who is Baroness James of Holland Park, of Southwold<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rsliterature.org/fellow/p-d-james-baroness-james-of-holland-park-obe-jp-3/ |title=Fellows Remembered, The Royal Society of Literature Retrieved December 2017. |access-date=29 December 2017 |archive-date=24 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024210206/https://rsliterature.org/fellow/p-d-james-baroness-james-of-holland-park-obe-jp-3/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Mother Maribel of Wantage]] (1887–1970), Anglican nun and artist<ref>Sister Janet, ''Mother Maribel of Wantage'', SPCK London (1973), p. 10.</ref>
*[[Margaret Mellis]] (1914–2009), a modernist artist of the [[St Ives School]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-03-24 |title=Margaret Mellis: Painter and maker of driftwood collages |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/margaret-mellis-painter-and-maker-of-driftwood-collages-1652626.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/margaret-mellis-painter-and-maker-of-driftwood-collages-1652626.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2020-10-10 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>
*[[John Miller (journalist and author)|John Miller]] (1932–2020), a journalist and writer whose work was based mainly in Russia, served as Mayor of Southwold in 2002.
*[[Geoffrey Munn]] (born 1953), television presenter for BBC's ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]'', lives near Southwold.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/ea-life/suffolk-through-my-viewfinder-1-638532 |title=Suffolk through my viewfinder |first=Steven |last=Russell |website=East Anglian Daily Times |date=11 September 2010 |access-date=5 March 2019}}</ref>
*[[George Orwell]] (1903–1950), writer<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-44197314 |title= George Orwell's Southwold home gets fresh plaque |date=21 May 2018 |work=BBC News |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref>
*[[Martin Shaw (composer)|Martin Shaw]] (1875–1958), theatre producer, composer and conductor<ref>{{Cite web |title=Martin Shaw - an appreciation by Erik Routley MusicWeb-International |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/shaw/index.htm |access-date=2020-10-10 |website=www.musicweb-international.com}}</ref>
*[[Stephen Southwold]] (pseudonym, 1887–1964), schoolmaster and prolific writer
*[[Agnes Strickland]] (1796–1874), historical writer and poet<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Strickland,_Agnes_(DNB00) Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 55, Strickland, Agnes Retrieved December 2017.]</ref>
*[[Felix Swinstead]] (1880-1959), pianist and composer, died in Southwold
*[[Henry Woollett]] (1895–1969), World War I [[flying ace]]
*[[John Youngs (minister)|John Youngs]] (c. 1598–1672), a Puritan minister, founded [[Southold (town), New York|Southold, New York]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Church of St Edmund, King and Martyr |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2005/07/05/coast05walks_david_weight_feature.shtml |access-date=2020-10-10 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref>

==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==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External sources==
*Geoffrey Munn, ''Southwold: An Earthly Paradise'', Antique Collectors Club, (Woodbridge, 2006) {{ISBN|1851495185}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[http://www.southwoldmuseum.org/ Southwold Museum]

{{East Suffolk}}
{{Suffolk}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Southwold| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in England]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Suffolk]]
[[Category:Port cities and towns of the North Sea]]
[[Category:Beaches of Suffolk]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Waveney District]]

Sawbridgeworth

2025-09-30T21:14:43Z

2A00:23C6:6993:3B01:F4A1:3B02:B04E:4858: /* History */

{{Short description|Town in Hertfordshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|official_name= Sawbridgeworth
|coordinates = {{coord|51.814|0.150|display=inline,title}}
|label_position = top
|population = 8,458
|population_ref =(2011 Census, parish)<ref>{{cite web |title=Sawbridgeworth Parish |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E04004746 |website=NOMIS |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>
|civil_parish = Sawbridgeworth
|shire_district= [[East Hertfordshire]]
|region= East of England
|shire_county = [[Hertfordshire]]
|constituency_westminster= [[Hertford and Stortford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertford and Stortford]]
|post_town= Sawbridgeworth
|postcode_district = CM21
|postcode_area= CM
|dial_code= 01279
|os_grid_reference= TL481151
|static_image_name = St Mary the Great, Sawbridgeworth, Herts - geograph.org.uk - 358893.jpg
|static_image_caption= St Mary the Great, Sawbridgeworth
}}

'''Sawbridgeworth''' (traditionally {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|æ|p|s|w|ə|θ}} {{respell|SAPS|wəth}} or {{IPAc-en|-|s|ə|θ}} {{respell|SAPS|əth}}, now also {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɔː|b|r|ɪ|dʒ|w|ɜː|θ}} {{respell|SAW|brij|wurth}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Forster |first=Klaus |title=A Pronouncing Dictionary of English Place-Names |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |year=1981 |isbn=0710007566 |pages=205}}</ref> is a town and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in [[Hertfordshire]], England, close to the border with [[Essex]]. It is {{convert|12|mi|km}} east of the county town of [[Hertford]] and {{convert|9|mi|km}} north of [[Epping, Essex|Epping]]. It is the northernmost part of the [[Greater London Built-up Area]].

== History ==

The name Sawbridgeworth derives from the [[Old English]] ''saebeorhtsworð'' meaning 'Saebeorht's [[enclosure]]'.<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Hertfordshire/Sawbridgeworth</ref>

Prior to the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman conquest]], most of the area was owned by the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] Angmar the Staller.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}}

The Manor of "Sabrixteworde" (one of the many spellings previously associated with the town) was recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. After the [[Battle of Hastings]] it was granted to [[Geoffrey de Mandeville (11th century)|Geoffrey de Mandeville I]] by [[William the Conqueror]]. Local notables have included [[John Leventhorpe]], an executor of both [[Henry IV of England|King Henry IV]] and [[Henry V of England|King Henry V]]'s [[Will (law)|wills]], and [[Anne Boleyn]], who was given the [[Pishobury|Pishiobury/Pishobury]] estate, located to the south of the town.

[[File:Entrance to Great Hyde Hall, near Sawbridgeworth, Herts. - geograph.org.uk - 216852.jpg|thumb|alt=A street entrance to Great Hyde Hall (formerly just Hyde Hall), flanked by two lodges along Sawbridgeworth Road|Entrance to Great Hyde Hall; it was known simply as Hyde Hall when it was held by the Jocelyn family in the 16th and 17th centuries]]
[[File:Neale(1818) p2.134 - Hyde Hall, Hertfordshire.jpg|thumb|Print of Hyde Hall (1818) by [[John Preston Neale|J. P. Neale]]]]
The Great Hyde Hall mansion and surrounding land was acquired by Sir Walter Lawrence, the master builder, in the 1920s. In 1934, he instituted the [[Walter Lawrence Trophy]] for the fastest century in county cricket.<ref>{{cite web|title=Walter Lawrence Trophy History|url=http://www.walterlawrencetrophy.com/?page_id=7|access-date=22 November 2017}}</ref> He built a cricket ground and pavilion in the grounds where the great and the good of the cricket world came to play against Sir Walter's home team, which often included his three sons: Jim, Guy and Pat. Sir Walter also had two daughters: Molly and Gipsy. Great Hyde Hall was sold in 1945 and became a school. It is a Grade II* listed building and has now been divided into housing.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1347838|desc=Great Hyde Hall|grade=II*|access-date=23 November 2017}}</ref>

Much of the town centre is a conservation area; many of the buildings date from the [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]], [[House of Stuart|Stuart]] and [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] periods.

Great St Mary's Church is a Grade I listed building; "of special interest as a substantially unaltered large medieval parish church, typical of the Hertfordshire type, and with an outstanding collection of memorials of the highest artistic quality".<ref>{{NHLE|num=1101668|desc=Parish Church of Great St Mary's, Sawbridgeworth|grade=I|access-date=23 November 2017}}</ref> It was built in the 13th century (although a church on the site existed in Saxon times) and includes a [[Tudor period|Tudor]] tower containing a clock bell (1664) and eight ringing bells, the oldest of which dates from 1749.<ref>[http://www.sawbridgeworthchurch.com/bells.htm Sawbridgeworth Church bells]</ref> It is thought to be called 'Great' St Mary's to distinguish it from St Mary's, [[Gilston]]. [[Ralph Josselyn|Ralph Jocelyn]] of Hyde Hall, who was [[Lord Mayor of the City of London|Lord Mayor of London]] in 1464 and in 1476, is buried here; images of many of his family and other locals have been engraved on brass, and the church is popular for enthusiasts of [[brass rubbing]]. The ghost of Sir John Jocelyn, known for his love of horses, is reputed to appear riding a white horse on the old carriage drive every 1 November.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ash |first=Russell |date=1973 |title=Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain |publisher=Reader's Digest Association Limited |page=278 |isbn=9780340165973 }}</ref>

The town's prosperity came from the [[maltings]], some of which now house antiques centres. Among the maltsters were George Fawbert and John Barnard; in 1839 they set up the Fawbert and Barnard charity to fund local children and their education, funding a local infant school that still exists today.

By the time of the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman conquest]], or soon after, Sawbridgeworth's rich farming land was fully developed for cultivation as was possible with the means available at the time: it was the richest village community in the county. Many important [[medieval]] families had [[estate (land)|estates]] here. The land was divided among them, into a number of [[manorialism|manors]] or distinct estates; the lord of each manor had rights not only over this land but also over the people who farmed it. The number of manors increased during the [[Middle Ages]], by a process of [[subinfeudation]], that is the granting out of a part of an existing manor to a new owner so that the new manor was created. Many manors sprang from the original [[Domesday Book]] holding of the de Mandeville family. The first came to be called Sayesbury manor, from the de Say family who inherited it from the de Mandevilles in 1189. The many important people who held these manors built themselves houses with hunting parks around them; when they died their tombs enriched the [[parish church]], so that today St Mary's has one of the finest collections of [[church monument]]s in the country.

During the [[Second World War]] [[RAF Sawbridgeworth]], which is not in the civil parish, operated [[Supermarine Spitfire]]s, [[Westland Lysander]]s, [[North American P-51 Mustang|North American Mustangs]] and [[de Havilland Mosquito]], among other types - for a complete history of the airfield, see the book ''Where the Lysanders were .....'', by Paul Doyle, published in 1995 by Forward Airfield Research Publishing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://merlinsroared.tripod.com/id3.html |title=RAF Sawbridgeworth |access-date=2010-03-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514224856/http://merlinsroared.tripod.com/id3.html |archive-date=14 May 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Walter Lawrence & Son Ltd joinery works, located in Lower Sheering, between the canal and the railway, built over 1,000{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}} Mosquito fuselage shells and wing skins for [[de Havilland]] during the Second World War.<ref>{{cite web|title=De Havilland Aircraft: DH 98 Mosquito: Suppliers |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/De_Havilland_Aircraft:_DH_98_Mosquito:_Suppliers|access-date=22 November 2017|publisher=Grace's Guide}}</ref> Subsequently, it reverted to making joinery and doors for the building trade. The joinery works was closed in about 1982 and Lawrence Moorings flats complex was built on the site.

Sawbridgeworth was the birthplace of composer [[Bernard Rose (musician)|Bernard Rose]] (1916–1996) and the actor [[Stephen Greif]] (1944–2022).

Sawbridgeworth has been twinned with [[Bry-sur-Marne]] in France since 1973, and [[Moosburg an der Isar]] in Germany since 2018.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sawbridgeworthtowntwinning.co.uk/moosburg | title=Moosburg }}</ref>

==Governance==
===Parliamentary representation===
Sawbridgeworth is in the [[United Kingdom Parliament constituencies|parliamentary constituency]] of [[Hertford and Stortford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertford and Stortford]]. Since the formation of the constituency in 1983 until recently, it has elected Tory Members of Parliament. At the most recent general election of 2024, it finally changed hands to the Labour Party with the current MP being [[Josh Dean (politician)|Josh Dean]].

===Local government===
Sawbridgeworth has three tiers of local government, at parish (town), district, and county level: Sawbridgeworth Town Council, [[East Hertfordshire District Council]], and [[Hertfordshire County Council]]. The town council has twelve councillors. The hamlet of [[Spellbrook]] is included within the administrative boundaries of the town.

{{Infobox legislature
| name = Sawbridgeworth Town Council
| native_name =
| transcription_name =
| legislature =
| coa_pic =
| coa_res =
| house_type = [[Parish council (England)|Town council]]
| body =
| houses =
| leader1_type = [[Mayors in England|Mayor]]
| leader1 = Salvatore Pagdades
| party1 = <br>[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| election1 = 19 May 2025<ref>{{cite web |title= Youngest ever mayor of Sawbridgeworth, 22-year-old Salvatore Pagdades, voted in by town councillors
|url= https://www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/youngest-mayor-in-sawbridgeworth-s-history-takes-chains-of-o-9417961/ |website=Bishop’s Stortford Independent |access-date=25 May 2025}}</ref>
| leader2_type = [[Deputy Mayor]]
| leader2 = Angus Parsad-Wyatt
| party2 = <br>[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| election2 = 19 May 2025<ref>{{cite web |title= Youngest ever mayor of Sawbridgeworth, 22-year-old Salvatore Pagdades, voted in by town councillors
|url= https://www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/youngest-mayor-in-sawbridgeworth-s-history-takes-chains-of-o-9417961/ |website=Bishop’s Stortford Independent |access-date=25 May 2025}}</ref>
| leader3_type = [[Town Clerk]]
| leader3 = Christopher Hunt
| party3 = 
| election3 = 2021
| last_election1 = 2023
| next_election1 = 2027
| meeting_place = Sawbridgeworth Town Council, Sayesbury Manor Cottages, Bell Street, Sawbridgeworth, CM21{{nbsp}}9AN
| website = {{url| https://www.sawbridgeworth-tc.gov.uk}}
| footnotes =
}}

===Town mayors===
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Sawbridgeworth, and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Full Council meetings are chaired by the Mayor. The Mayors since 2012 have been:

{| class=wikitable
! Councillor !! colspan=2|Party !! From !! To !! Deputy
|-
| Barry Hodges || {{Party name with colour|Independent}} || align=right|May 2012 || align=right|28 May 2013 || align=right| Unknown
|-
| Angela Alder || {{Party name with colour|Independent}} || align=right|28 May 2013 || align=right|27 May 2014 || align=right| Andrew Wincott
|-
| Eric Buckmaster || {{Party name with colour| Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|27 May 2014 || align=right|23 May 2016 || align=right| Barry Hodges (2014-15), Tom Reeks (2015-16)
|-
|-
| David Royle || {{Party name with colour|Independent}} || align=right|23 May 2016 || align=right|22 May 2017 || align=right| Ruth Buckmaster
|-
| Ruth Buckmaster || {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|22 May 2017 || align=right|21 May 2018 || align=right| Angela Alder
|-
| Angela Alder || {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|21 May 2018 || align=right|13 May 2019 || align=right| Heather Riches
|-
| John Burmicz || {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|13 May 2019 || align=right|18 May 2020 || align=right| David Royle
|-
| Annelise Furnace || {{Party name with colour|Liberal Democrats (UK)}} || align=right|18 May 2020 || align=right|24 May 2021 || align=right| Greg Rattey
|-
| Greg Rattey || {{Party name with colour|Independent}} || align=right|24 May 2021 || align=right| 15 May 2023 || align=right| Craig Chester (2021-22), Ruth Buckmaster (2022-23)
|-
| Ruth Buckmaster || {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|15 May 2023|| align=right| 20 May 2024 || align=right| Reece Smith
|-
| Reece Smith || {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|20 May 2024|| align=right| 19 May 2025 || align=right| Salvatore Pagdades
|-
| Salvatore Pagdades || {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}} || align=right|19 May 2025|| align=right| Incumbent || align=right| Angus Parsad-Wyatt
|-
|}

{{Infobox former subdivision
|Name=Sawbridgeworth
|subdivision_type=[[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban District]] (1901{{ndash}}1974)
|HQ=Sawbridgeworth

|Start=1 April 1901
|End=31 March 1974
|Replace=[[East Hertfordshire]]
|image=[[File:Sawbridgeworth library - geograph.org.uk - 933444.jpg|250px]]<br>Council Offices, The Forebury, Sawbridgeworth
|arms_image = [[File:Sawbridgeworth_Town_Council_coat_of_arms.jpg|150px|center]]

| membership_title1 = County Council
| membership1 = [[Hertfordshire County Council|Hertfordshire]]
|PopulationFirst=2,085
|PopulationLast=7,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10061623 |title=Sawbridgeworth Urban District, ''A Vision of Britain through Time'' |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>
|PopulationFirstYear=1901
|PopulationLastYear=1971
}}

The parish of Sawbridgeworth was in the [[hundred (county division)|hundred]] of [[List of hundreds of England|Braughing]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sawbridgeworth Ancient Parish / Civil Parish |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10148923 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref> From 1835 the parish was included in the [[Bishop's Stortford]] [[Poor Law Union]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Higginbotham |first1=Peter |title=Bishop's Stortford Poor Law Union |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/BishopsStortford/ |website=The Workhouse |access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref> It therefore became part of the Bishop's Stortford [[Sanitary district|Rural Sanitary District]] in 1872. Under the [[Local Government Act 1894]] elected parish and district councils were created. Sawbridgeworth Parish Council came into office on 31 December 1894, and the parish was included in the [[Hadham Rural District]]. Sawbridgeworth was made an [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban district]] on 1 April 1901, making it independent of the Hadham Rural District. It was decided that the whole parish of Sawbridgeworth was not suitable for becoming an urban district, and so the more rural western part of the parish was made a separate parish called [[High Wych]] on the same day, which remained in the Hadham Rural District.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1901 |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zxbOAAAAMAAJ |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>

Until 1914 Sawbridgeworth Urban District Council met at offices on Bell Street (sometimes called Cock Street).<ref>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Hertfordshire |date=1902 |location=London |page=196 |url=http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/315588/rec/5 |access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Hertfordshire |date=1914 |location=London |page=235 |url=http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/59414/rec/6 |access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref> In 1914 the council moved to the upper floor of the town's fire station at 5 Church Street, which had been built in 1905. In 1937 the council built itself new offices on The Forebury, holding its first meeting in the new building on 5 July 1937.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sawbridgeworth Urban District Council: First meeting in new offices |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=25 December 2021 |work=Herts and Essex Observer |date=10 July 1937 |location=Bishop's Stortford |page=3}}</ref>

Sawbridgeworth Urban District Council was granted a [[coat of arms]] on 20 July 1962.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sawbridgeworth Town Council |url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/east_of_england.html#sawbridgeworth%20tc |website=Civic Heraldry |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>

The urban district was abolished under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], becoming part of [[East Hertfordshire]] on 1 April 1974. A [[successor parish]] (and Sawbridgeworth Town Council) was created for the former urban district.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Local Government (Successor Parishes) Order |date=1973 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1973/1110/made |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref> The urban district council's former offices on The Forebury are now used as the town's library, whilst Sawbridgeworth Town Council is based at Sayesbury Manor on Bell Street.<ref>{{cite web |title=Contact us |url=http://www.sawbridgeworth-tc.gov.uk/contact-us/ |website=Sawbridgeworth Town Council |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref>

===Fire service===
The town has an on-call fire station, in Station Road, with one fire engine. Sawbridgeworth had its own fire brigade from 1897 until it was merged into the [[National Fire Service]] in 1941.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sawbridgeworth Fire Brigade |url=http://www.sawbridgeworthfirebrigade.co.uk/site_home.htm |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref> In 1948 control of the local fire brigade passed to the Hertfordshire Fire Brigade, since renamed the [[Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service]], run by Hertfordshire County Council.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sawbridgeworth Fire Station|url=https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/fire-and-rescue/fire-station-locations/sawbridgeworth-fire-station.aspx|website=Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue|access-date=22 November 2017}}</ref>

==Geography==
Sawbridgeworth adjoins the border between Hertfordshire and Essex. The village of [[Lower Sheering]] is across the county boundary into Essex, and adjoins Sawbridgeworth along its eastern edge, east of the railway station and of the River Stort. It has a Sawbridgeworth CM21 postal code, but is in the [[Epping Forest District]] of Essex.

==Geology==
Underlying the town at some depth is the [[London Clay]] stratum, with a thick layer of [[Boulder clay]] laid down during the ice ages, including the [[Anglian stage|Anglian]]. The soil on top of this is a loam, with [[glacial erratic]]s of [[Hertfordshire puddingstone]] conglomerate found around the town.

== Education ==
Sawbridgeworth has a secondary school, the [[The Leventhorpe School|Leventhorpe Academy]], which had a public swimming pool and leisure centre until its closure at the end of 2024. Sawbridgeworth has two [[primary schools]], Reedings and Mandeville, and one [[infant school]], Fawbert & Barnard.

== Media ==
Sawbridgeworth is within the [[BBC London]] and [[ITV London]] region. Television signals are received from the [[Crystal Palace transmitting station|Crystal Palace]] TV transmitter,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Crystal_Palace|title=Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=22 November 2023}}</ref> [[BBC East]] and [[ITV Anglia]] can also be received from the [[Sandy Heath transmitting station|Sandy Heath]] transmitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sandy_Heath|title=Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=22 November 2023}}</ref>

Local radio stations are [[BBC Three Counties Radio]], [[Heart Hertfordshire]] and East Herts Radio, a community-based station.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://easthertsradio.co.uk/|title=East Herts Radio|access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>

The town is served by the local newspapers, ''Bishop's Stortford Independent'' and ''[[Hertfordshire Mercury]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/sawbridgeworth/|title=Sawbridgeworth News - Bishop's Stortford Independent|access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-eang/hertfordshire-mercury/|title=Hertfordshire Mercury|date=13 April 2014|website=British Papers|accessdate=22 November 2023}}</ref>

== Sport ==
[[Sawbridgeworth Town F.C.|Sawbridgeworth Town FC]], a [[non-league football]] club, was established in 1897. The Men's 1st Team currently play in the [[Spartan South Midlands League]], step five of the English non-league system. Home matches are played at Crofters End, Sawbridgeworth.

[[Sawbridgeworth Cricket Club]] field three senior sides on a Saturday and seven colts sides, from ages nine to fifteen. The 1st XI plays in the Hertfordshire Cricket League. The main ground is Town Fields, situated behind Bell Street. The second ground is at Leventhorpe Academy.

Sawbridgeworth has tennis and [[bowls]] clubs.

== Local groups ==
Sawbridgeworth is home to 309 Squadron of the [[Air Training Corps]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.air-cadets-squadron-finder.org/air-cadets-squadron-details.php?sqn=0309--sawbridgeworth-air-training-corps-atc|title = 309 (Sawbridgeworth) Squadron, Air Training Corps (ATC) - ATC (Air Cadets) Squadron Finder}}</ref> Additionally, the 1st Sawbridgeworth Scout Group, which was established in 1908, is located in the town.

== Transport ==
The [[A1184 road]] runs through the town. The [[Stort Navigation|River Stort]] Navigation flows north–south along the eastern edge of the town, parallel to the railway, and past the Maltings.

The town is served by [[Sawbridgeworth railway station]], located on the [[West Anglia Main Line]] between [[Liverpool Street station|London Liverpool Street]] and [[Cambridge railway station|Cambridge]]. The station and all trains serving it are operated by [[Greater Anglia]].

There are bus services to [[Harlow]], [[Bishops Stortford]], and [[Stansted Airport]], operated by [[Arriva Herts & Essex]].

==See also==
*[[Sawbridgeworth Marsh]] SSSI
*[[The Hundred Parishes]]

===Nearby villages===
*[[High Wych]]
*[[Spellbrook]]
*[[Much Hadham]]

==Notable people==
*[[Alexander Annesley]] (c. 1753 - 1813), lawyer
*[[David Beckham]] (1975-), former [[England national football team|England]] captain, and singer [[Victoria Beckham]] (1974-) lived in [[Rowneybury House]].<ref name="beckingham">{{Cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article236166.ece |title=Beckingham Palace, our lovely home |work=The Independent |date=31 July 2001 |access-date=27 October 2021 |location=London |first=Julia |last=Stuart |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228201150/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article236166.ece |archive-date=28 December 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/inside-beckingham-palace-david-victorias-3247500 | title=Inside 'Beckingham Palace': David and Victoria's mansion bought by insurance tycoon for £11.3million | newspaper=[[Daily Mirror]] | location=UK | first=Patrick | last=Hill | date=15 March 2014 | access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref>
*[[Anne Boleyn]] (c. 1501 - 1536), second wife of [[King Henry VIII]], held [[Pishiobury]] until her execution.
*[[Robert Jocelyn, 1st Viscount Jocelyn]] (c.1688-1756), [[Lord Chancellor of Ireland]]; he was a member of the Jocelyn family of Hyde Hall.
*[[Pip Pyle]] (1950-2006), progressive rock drummer, particularly of [[Canterbury scene]] bands.
*[[Thomas Rivers (nurseryman)|Thomas Rivers]] (1797-1878), nurseryman.
*[[Elizabeth Rivers]] (1903-1964), artist.
*[[Rowland Alston (1782–1865)]], MP for Hertfordshire from 1835 to 1841.
*[[John Stanier (British Army officer)]], Chief of the General Staff of the [[British Army]] from 1982 to 1985.
*[[Frank Silcock (cricketer)|Frank Silcock]] (1838-1897), first-class cricketer and founding member of [[Essex County Cricket Club]].
*[[Christine Walkden]], television presenter and gardener.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-25 |title=Christine's Garden |url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/gardening/christine-s-garden-7096142 |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=Great British Life |language=en-UK}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Sawbridgeworth}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sawbridgeworth-tc.gov.uk/ Sawbridgeworth Town Council]
* [http://www.sawbridgeworthchurch.com/ Great St Mary's church]
* [http://www.leventhorpe.herts.sch.uk/ Leventhorpe Academy]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030815041532/http://www.sawbridgeworthcc.hitscricket.com/home Sawbridgeworth Cricket Club]
* [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2680362 www.geograph.co.uk: Photos of Sawbridgeworth and surrounding area]
* [http://www.sawbridgeworthfirebrigade.co.uk/site_home.htm Sawbridgeworth Fire Brigade History]

{{Hertfordshire}}
{{Civil parishes of Hertfordshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Sawbridgeworth| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:East Hertfordshire District]]

Sandown

2025-09-30T21:10:54Z

2A00:23C6:6993:3B01:F4A1:3B02:B04E:4858: /* History */

{{Short description|Town on the Isle of Wight, England}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{infobox UK place
| country = England
| map_type = Isle of Wight
| official_name = Sandown
| coordinates = {{coord|50.6551|-1.1541|display=inline,title}}
| population = 11,654
| population_ref = (2021 Census)
| civil_parish = Sandown
| unitary_england = [[Isle of Wight]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Isle of Wight]]
| region = South East England
| constituency_westminster = [[Isle of Wight East (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight East]]
| post_town = SANDOWN
| postcode_district = PO36
| postcode_area = PO
| dial_code = 01983
| os_grid_reference = SZ600843}}

'''Sandown''' is a [[seaside resort]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] on the south-east coast of the [[Isle of Wight]], England. The neighbouring resort of [[Shanklin]] and the settlement of [[Lake, Isle of Wight|Lake]] are sited just to the south of the town. Sandown has a population of 11,654 according to the [[United Kingdom Census 2021|2021 Census]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Sandown |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/isle_of_wight/E63006791__sandown/ |website=City Population |access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref> and the three [[Sandown Bay]] settlements form a built-up area of more than 20,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web |title=Isle of Wight |url=http://citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/wards/E06000046__isle_of_wight/ |website=City Population |access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref> Sandown is the Bay's northernmost town, with its easily accessible, sandy beaches running continuously from the cliffs below Battery Gardens in the south to Yaverland in the north.

== History ==
There is some evidence for a pre-Roman settlement in the area.<ref name=Trott /> During the Roman period, it was a site of salt production.<ref name=Trott>{{cite journal |last1=Trott |first1=Kevin |date=2002 |title=An Intervention Excavation of an Iron Age Coastal Site at Redcliff, Sandown, Isle of Wight|url=http://www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/2000s/vol57/Prelims_57.pdf |journal=Hampshire Studies 2002 Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society |volume=57 |pages=20–29 |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref>

The name Sandown derives from the [[Old English]] ''sandhām'' meaning 'sandy village' or possibly from ''sandhamm'' meaning 'sandy hemmed-in land'.<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Isle%20of%20Wight/Sandown</ref>

Before the 19th century, Sandown was on the map chiefly for its military significance, with the Bay's beaches feared to offer easy landing spots for invaders from the Continent.

It is the site of the lost [[Sandown Castle, Isle of Wight|Sandown Castle]]. While undergoing construction in 1545, the fortification was attacked during the [[French invasion of the Isle of Wight]] when invaders fought their way over [[Culver Down]] from [[Whitecliff Bay]] before being repelled. The castle was built into the sea, prone to erosion and demolished fewer than a hundred years after it was built. In 1631, the castle was replaced by Sandham Fort,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.islandeye.co.uk/history/castles-and-fortifications/sandham-fort-castle.html|title=A brief history of Sandham Fort|publisher=Island Eye}}</ref> built further inland. In 1781, the fort's complement consisted of a master gunner and over twenty soldiers.<ref>History of the Isle of Wight by Sir Richard Worsley, 1781</ref> Sandham Fort was demolished in the second half of the 19th century and is now the site of Sandham Gardens.
[[File:The_walls_of_Sandown_Barrack_Battery.jpg|thumb|Sandown Barrack Battery, a Palmerston Fort built in the 1860s]]
In the 1860s, five [[Palmerston Forts, Isle of Wight|Palmerston Forts]] were built along the coast of Sandown Bay, including [[Sandown Fort|Granite Fort]] at [[Yaverland]], now the [[Wildheart Animal Sanctuary]]. On the town's western cliffs [[Sandown Barrack Battery]] survives as a scheduled monument and [[Bembridge Fort]], where the National Trust offers tours, can be seen on the downs to the north-east.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bembridge-fort-and-downs|title=Bembridge Fort and Downs|publisher= The National Trust}}</ref>

One of the first non-military buildings was Sandham Cottage or 'Villakin', a holiday home leased by the radical politician and one-time Mayor of London [[John Wilkes]] in the final years of the 18th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_lFAQAAIAAJ&q=Sandown+Cottage+John+Wilkes&pg=PA77 |title=The correspondence of the late John Wilkes: with his friends|access-date=2013-09-17|last1=Wilkes |first1=John |last2=Almon |first2=John |year=1805 }}</ref> See 'Sandown's famous connections' below.

The arrival of the railway in 1864 saw Sandown grow as a [[Victorian era|Victorian]] resort, with the town's safe bathing becoming increasingly popular. In the summer of 1874, the Crown Prince Frederick and Princess Victoria of Germany, their children and entourage rented several properties in the town and took regular dips in the Bay.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Isle of Wight Chronicle|date=30 July 1874|quote=No greater recommendation can be given to the excellent bathing facilities possessed by Sandown than recording the fact that the members of the Imperial family take every possible advantage of them by bathing almost daily...}}</ref> Sandown's pier was built in the same decade, opening in May 1878, and extended in length in 1895.

[[File:The Ocean Hotel, Sandown.jpg|thumb|The former Ocean Hotel]]
The town laid further claim to becoming a fashionable English resort when the Ocean Hotel opened in 1899. The brainchild of West End theatrical impresario [[Henry Lowenfeld]], the Ocean built around the town's previous hotel of choice, the King's Head. For the new hotel's inauguration, a large number of dignitaries were invited from London, arriving in Sandown from Portsmouth by special boat. Guests had the chance to explore Sandown in coaches and carriages, and the hotel servants were all dressed in uniforms 'like admirals and post-captains'.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Ocean Hotel, Sandown|newspaper=Isle of Wight Observer|date=20 May 1899}}</ref>

Sandown's destiny in the 20th century was to become a favourite bucket-and-spade destination for all classes. The Canoe Lake was opened in 1929 by the author [[Henry De Vere Stacpoole]] followed in 1932 by Brown's Golf Course (see below). The [[Art Deco]] Grand Hotel, opened next door to Brown's in April 1938, is now closed with planning permission for demolition granted in 2014.
[[File:Sandown, Isle of Wight and its pier.jpg|thumb|left|A view of Sandown and its pier from the south end of the Bay]]
Today, Sandown's esplanade has a mixture of former Victorian and [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] hotels with modern counterparts overlooking the beach and the Bay. A new [[Premier Inn]] opened in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Toogood|first=Darren|date=2021-02-26|title=Doors open at £10 million Premier Inn on Sandown Seafront|url=https://www.islandecho.co.uk/doors-open-at-10million-premier-inn-on-sandown-seafront/|access-date=2021-07-27|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The original [[Sandown Pier]] was opened in 1878 and extended to its present length in 1895. The Pier Pavilion Theatre closed in the 1990s and the pier's former landing stage is used for sea fishing today.

Further north is the [[Wildheart Animal Sanctuary]], formerly Isle of Wight Zoo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wildheartanimalsanctuary.org/the-wildheart-trust|title=The Wildheart Trust|website=wildheartanimalsanctuary.org}}</ref> Established as Sandown Zoo in the 1950s, it was acquired by the Corney family in the 1970s; today, it specialises in rescued [[tiger]]s, other big cats and primates. Nearby is the purpose-built [[Dinosaur Isle]] palaeontology centre, which opened in 2001, and Sandham Gardens,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sandhamgardens.com/|title=Sandham Gardens|website=sandhamgardens.com}}</ref> which offers a dinosaur miniature golf course, attractions for children and young people, and bowls.

===HMS ''Eurydice''===
[[File:HMS Eurydice.jpg|thumb|HMS Eurydice foundering in 1878]]
On 24 March 1878, the Royal Navy training ship [[HMS Eurydice (1843)|HMS ''Eurydice'']] capsized and sank in Sandown Bay with the loss of 317 lives, one of Britain's worst peacetime naval disasters. The tops of the vessel's sunken masts were still visible from Sandown two months later, on the day the town's pier was opened.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Hampshire Advertiser County Newspaper|page=8|date= 1 June 1878}}</ref>

The ship was re-floated in August and beached at Yaverland to be pumped out, the subject of a painting by Henry Robins (1820-1892) for Queen Victoria who came over from [[Osborne House]] with other members of her family to see the wreck.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/406265/the-wreck-of-the-eurydice|title=The Wreck of the Eurydice|publisher=Royal Collection Trust}}</ref>

There is a memorial to crew of the ''Eurydice'' in the graveyard of [[Christ Church, Sandown]].

== Geography ==
The town is surrounded by natural features that form part of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve designated by UNESCO's [[Man and the Biosphere Programme]] in June 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unesco.org.uk/biosphere-reserve/isle-of-wight/|publisher=UNESCO | title=Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve|access-date=28 October 2024}}</ref> The area features walks along the [[Isle of Wight Coastal Path]].

The bay that gives Sandown its name is an example of a [[concordant coastline]], with {{convert|5|mi|0}} of tidal beaches from Luccombe to Culver replenished by [[longshore drift]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.coastalwight.gov.uk/smp/FINAL_SMP_for_web/pdf_Appendices/AppendixC/Appendix_C3_BaselineScenarios_Dec10_Final.pdf| title= Isle of Wight Shoreline Management Plan 2 |date= December 2010| publisher= Isle of Wight Council | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151004161806/http://www.coastalwight.gov.uk/smp/FINAL_SMP_for_web/pdf_Appendices/AppendixC/Appendix_C3_BaselineScenarios_Dec10_Final.pdf | archive-date = 4 October 2015 | access-date = 28 October 2024}}</ref> Sandown Bay has one of the longest unbroken beaches in the British Isles.<ref name=CCA>{{cite web|url=https://www.coastalcommunities.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Sandown-Bay-CCT-Economic-Plan.pdf | publisher= Coastal Communities Alliance | date= May 2016 | title= Coastal Communities Economic Plan, Sandown Bay | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210421175753/https://www.coastalcommunities.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Sandown-Bay-CCT-Economic-Plan.pdf | archive-date = 21 April 2021|access-date=28 October 2024}}</ref>
[[File:Red Cliff and Culver Cliff at the northern end of Sandown Bay.jpg|thumb|Red Cliff and Culver Cliff at the northern end of Sandown Bay]]
To the north-east is [[Culver Down]], mostly owned and managed by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]]. It supports typical chalk downland wildlife, and seabirds and birds of prey which nest on the cliffs.

Nearby is the flood plain of the [[Eastern Yar]], one of the few freshwater wetlands on the Isle of Wight, where [[Alverstone Mead]] [[Local Nature Reserve]] is popular for [[birdwatching]]. Sandown Meadows Nature Reserve, acquired by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in 2012, is a place to spot kingfishers and water voles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/nature-reserves/sandown-meadows-nature-reserve|title=Sandown Meadows Nature Reserve | Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust|website=www.hiwwt.org.uk}}</ref> Further inland, [[Borthwood Copse]] provides woodland walks, with many [[Common Bluebell|bluebells]] in the Spring.

The area's marine [[littoral|sub-littoral]] zone, including the reefs and seabed, is a [[Special Area of Conservation]]. At extreme low tide, a [[petrified forest]] may be revealed in the northern part of the bay, and fragments of [[petrified wood]] are often washed up.

==Town Hall==
[[File:Sandown Town Hall (geograph 6658159).jpg|thumb|Sandown Town Hall]]
Commissioned by the [[local board of health]] in 1869, the Grade II listed [[Sandown Town Hall]] is in Grafton Street.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall|num= 1034283|access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref> In March 2021, the Isle of Wight Council granted planning permission to convert the building for housing<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.islandecho.co.uk/council-approve-housing-plan-for-sandowns-historic-town-hall/ |title= Council approve housing plan for Sandown's historic town hall|date=19 March 2021|newspaper=Island Echo| access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref> and subsequently decided to dispose of the Town Hall while exploring opportunities for community use.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sandowntowncouncil.gov.uk/Sites/2535/_UserFiles/Files/News%20and%20Events/2021/STH%20Intention%20to%20Market%202021.pdf |title= Notice is pursuant to section 95 of the Localism Act 2011|date=20 September 2021|publisher=Isle of Wight Council| access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref> In 2022, paint samples found evidence of the celebrated multi-coloured ceiling decorated by Henry Tooth in 1873, hidden for many decades beneath layers of 20th century paint.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://onthewight.com/major-clues-uncovered-to-sandowns-victorian-ceiling-masterpiece/ | title=Major clues uncovered to Sandown's Victorian ceiling 'masterpiece' during forensic investigation | date=26 April 2022 }}</ref> In 2023, government funding was announced to renovate parts of the Town Hall for youth and community services.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://onthewight.com/long-neglected-historic-building-has-positive-future-for-young-people-with-3m-funding/| title=Long neglected historic building has positive future| date=4 August 2023}}</ref>

==Brown's golf course==
[[File:Brown's Golf Course, Sandown, Isle of Wight.jpg|thumb|left|The distinctive 1930s roof tiles at Brown's Golf Course on Sandown seafront]]
Designed by one of the UK's leading players of the time, [[Henry Cotton (golfer)|Henry Cotton]], the Brown's pitch and putt courses were the idea of south London pie and sausage maker Alex Kennedy. Opened on Sandown's eastern sea front in March 1932, the original clubhouse had the motto ''Golf for Everybody'' emblazoned on its roof. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sandowntowncouncil.gov.uk/_UserFiles/Files/History/Issue%2091-%2092%20SAUSAGES%20AND%20GOLF.pdf|title=Sausages and Golf}}</ref> Brown's and its ice cream factory were reportedly adapted in the 1940s to disguise pumping apparatus for [[Operation Pluto|Pipeline Under the Ocean]] (PLUTO) intended to deliver oil to the [[D-Day]] beaches.The 1930s clubhouse and ornamental fountains survive, along with ancillary buildings now used by the environmental business Artecology.

Today, Brown's is in the ownership of the Isle of Wight Council with its three golf courses and cafe leased to a private operator. A conservation management plan for the {{convert|7.5|ha|adj=on}} site was published in July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/arcconsulting/docs/brown_s_golf_course__sandown_-_conservation_manage|title=Brown's Golf Course, Isle of Wight - Conservation Management Plan|website=Issuu|date=15 July 2020 }}</ref>

==Carnival events==
[[File:Sandown Main Carnival 2022.jpg|thumb|Sandown Main Carnival in July 2022]]
The town's summer carnival has existed since 1889 and is one of the oldest in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001960/18890713/086/0008|title= 'The Sandown Carnival', report in Isle of Wight County Press, Saturday 13 July 1889 'Alike with some of its sister towns, Sandown has "tried its hand" at a Carnival, and an undoubted success has to be recorded'.}}</ref>

Today, Sandown Carnival Association - a non-profit community group run by volunteers - puts on a series of popular events including the annual Children's, Main and Illuminated Carnivals as well as fireworks displays.

In 2022, the Association took on the organisation of Sandown Bay Regatta, another historic town event with roots in Victorian times and first held in 1857.
[[File:Regatta Hat parade entrants in 2024.jpg|thumb|left|Community creations in Sandown's Hat Parade]]

The Carnival received Arts Council England funding in 2023 and 2024 to revive Sandown's tradition of wearing hats on Regatta day, fondly remembered from the town's post-war decades.

Hundreds of locals and visitors, along with a local primary school and care home, got involved in community hat-making workshops with artists commissioned to design their own extraordinary headwear. The results feature in the annual Grand Regatta Hat Parade on the beach where awards are presented for best entries.

In autumn 2024, a public exhibition featuring Sandown's hats was held at the Isle of Wight's Quay Arts Centre.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://onthewight.com/sandown-celebrates-heritage-and-creativity-with-successful-regatta-hat-factory-project/|title=Sandown celebrates heritage and creativity with successful Regatta Hat Factory project}}</ref>

==Amenities==
[[File:The Bandstand restaurant and cafe, Culver Parade, Sandown.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.65|Sandown's 1920s bandstand, now a café]]
Sandown offers an assortment of restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs along the seafront and in the town.
Sandown Pier is a popular attraction for amusements and refreshments, and there are new cafes and eating places along the seafront promenade towards Lake and Shanklin.

''Boojum and Snark'' at 105 High Street opened in 2019 as a venue for art exhibitions and community events, with its name inspired by author [[Lewis Carroll]] who stayed across the road in the 1870s when he was writing his epic nonsense poem [[The Hunting of the Snark]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://onthewight.com/boojum-and-snark-join-beers-and-buses-this-weekend/|title= Boojum and Snark join Beer and Buses this weekend|publisher= On the Wight|date=8 October 2019}}</ref>

==Transport==
[[File:Sandown Railway Station, Isle of Wight, UK.jpg|thumb|left|Sandown station, opened in 1864]]
[[Sandown railway station]] is a stop on the [[Island Line, Isle of Wight|Island Line]], the Isle of Wight's one remaining public railway line from [[Ryde Pier Head railway station|Ryde Pier Head]] to {{rws|Shanklin}}. Services are operated by [[South Western Railway (train operating company)|South Western Railway]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timetables |work=South Western Railway |date=10 December 2023 |access-date=14 March 2024 |url= https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables |quote=}}</ref>

Sandown is served by buses run by [[Southern Vectis]] with direct services to [[Bembridge]], [[Newport, Isle of Wight|Newport]], [[Ryde]], [[Shanklin]] and [[Ventnor]]. Night buses run on Fridays and Saturdays.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandown Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2024 |access-date=14 March 2024 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/sandown|quote=}}</ref>

Pleasure steamers once called at Sandown Pier and even offered trips across the English Channel in the 1930s, but the pier's landing stage is no longer used for vessels to moor alongside.

==Media location==
The UK group [[Take That]] filmed the video for their fifth single "[[I Found Heaven]]" on Sandown's beaches and sea front in 1992.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/CggiMJ59U1Q Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150501224255/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CggiMJ59U1Q&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CggiMJ59U1Q|title= Take That's 'I Found Heaven' video |date= 7 January 2015 |publisher= YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Sandown High School and locations nearby were used in the 1972 film [[That'll Be the Day (film)|''That'll Be The Day'']] starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Billy Fury and Rosemary Leach.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/thatll-be-the-day/|title=That'll Be The Day locations|publisher= Reelstreets}}</ref>

The TV series ''Tiger Island'', on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and [[National Geographic (British and Irish TV channel)|National Geographic]] in 2007 and 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.athenafilms.co.uk/productions/25-tiger-island|publisher= Athena Films|title=Tiger Island}}</ref> chronicled the lives of the more than twenty tigers living at [[Isle of Wight Zoo]].

Sandown featured in the [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]] series ''Isle of Wight: Jewel of the South'', shown in the UK in 2023 and 2024.<ref> {{cite web|url=https://www.channel5.com/show/isle-of-wight-jewel-of-the-south/season-2|title=Isle of Wight: Jewel of the South, Channel 5 website}}</ref>

== Namesakes ==
* The town of Sandown and its Bay have inspired the naming of a number of Sandowns around the world,{{cn|date=October 2024}} including [[Sandown, New Hampshire]] USA, [[Sandown, Gauteng]] a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa, and Sandown Bay in South Africa's [[Western Cape]]. The former industrial area of Sandown on the [[Parramatta River]], New South Wales, Australia was commemorated by the [[Sandown railway line]] in the western suburbs of Sydney, which ceased passenger services in 1991.
* [[HMS Sandown|HMS ''Sandown'']], launched in 1988, was the name ship in the [[Sandown-class minehunter|''Sandown'' class of mine countermeasures vessels]]. Its earlier namesake was the paddle steamer and passenger ferry [[PS Sandown (1934)|PS ''Sandown'']], which saw wartime service as a minesweeper.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

== Notable people ==
[[File:The_plaque_marking_the_site_of_John_Wilkes%27_villa_in_Sandown,_Isle_of_Wight.jpg|thumb|right|The site of John Wilkes' cottage, just off the High Street]]
* [[John Wilkes]] (former [[Lord Mayor of the City of London]]) stayed regularly in Sandown in the late 18th century at the place he called 'Villakin', also known as Sandham Cottage. A memorial plaque marks the site of the cottage close to the present-day High Street. On Sunday mornings, Wilkes would go to [[Shanklin]] Church, and after the service would walk across the fields to [[Knighton, Isle of Wight|Knighton]] with [[David Garrick]] and his wife.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jantoms-brief-biographies.com/2018/07/27/john-wilkes-on-the-isle-of-wight/|title=John Wilkes on the Isle of Wight |first=Jan |last=Toms|publisher=Jan Toms Brief Biographies|date=1 July 2018}}</ref>
* Naturalist [[Charles Darwin]] worked on the abstract which became ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' when staying at Sandown's King's Head Hotel in July 1858. He and his family later moved on to Norfolk House in nearby Shanklin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2312.xml;query=Sandown;brand=default;hit.rank=1#hit.rank1|publisher= Darwin Correspondence Project|title=Letter to W D Fox|date=21 July 1858}}</ref> Darwin also visited the Isle of Wight on other occasions, and was photographed there by [[Julia Margaret Cameron]] in 1868.<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1098326/charles-darwin-photograph-cameron-julia-margaret/] Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron, V&A Collection</ref>
* The writer [[George Eliot]] (Mary Ann Evans) stayed in Sandown during a two-week visit to the Isle of Wight in June 1863, having recently published her novels ''[[Romola]]'' and ''[[Silas Marner]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43044/43044-h/43044-h.htm|publisher= Project Gutenberg|title=George Eliot's Life|volume=2|first= George |last=Eliot}}</ref>
[[File:Família de Frederico III da Prússia.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Germany's Crown Prince and Princess and their family spent the summer of 1874 in Sandown]]
* [[Frederick III, German Emperor]] and his consort [[Victoria, Princess Royal]], when Crown Prince and Princess of Germany, stayed at Sandown with their children for two months in the summer of 1874. [[Queen Victoria]], the Crown Princess's mother, travelled from [[Osborne House]] to visit them on 31 July, an event she described in her journals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org|title=Queen Victoria's Journals|date=31 July 1874}}</ref> The German royals commissioned a stained glass window which can still be seen at [[Christ Church, Sandown]] to commemorate their stay in the town.
* The author [[Lewis Carroll]], the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, spent successive summers on Sandown sea front in the 1870s, staying first at the King's Head Hotel and later at Culverton House. In 1875, while he was writing ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]'', he met 9-year old [[Gertrude Chataway]] whose family was staying next door. The first edition of The Hunting of the Snark is dedicated to Gertrude.<ref>{{cite book|first=Lewis|last= Carroll|title= A Portrait With Background by Donald Thomas (Chapter 10 'Dreaming as the Summers Die')|publisher=John Murray|year=1996 |isbn=0-7195-5323-7}}</ref>
* The composer [[Richard Strauss]] (1864-1949) spent summer holidays at Sandown's Ocean Hotel in 1902 and 1903. His sketchbooks show that, while there, he worked on his [[Symphonia Domestica]] and themes that found their way into [[Der Rosenkavalier]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Richard Strauss: Man, Musician, Enigma |first=Michael |last=Kennedy|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780521027748}}</ref>
* [[Sir Isaac Pitman]] worked on his system of [[shorthand]] in Sandown in the 1860s<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/lifesirisaacpit00bakegoog|title= The Life of Sir Isaac Pitman (Inventor of Phonography)|first=Alfred|last= Baker |page=172|publisher= Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons |year=1919}}</ref>
* [[Cilla Black]], [[Frankie Howerd]], [[Tommy Cooper]], [[Jimmy Tarbuck]] and [[Dickie Henderson]] were among the late 20th century performers doing summer seasons at Sandown Pier Pavilion<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iwradio.co.uk/2018/05/24/john-hannam-meets-frankie-howerd-archive-edition/|title=John Hannam archive interview with Frankie Howerd in 1980 about working on the Isle of Wight (25 mins of audio)|publisher =Isle of Wight Radio}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://iwbeacon.com/2017/06/28/pier-that-rose-from-ashes-and-is-still-going-strong/|publisher=IoW Beacon |title= Sandown Pier and its performers|date=1 June 2017}}</ref>
* Oscar-winning film director and playwright [[Anthony Minghella]] was a pupil at Sandown High School<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2008/03/18/anthony_minghella_feature.shtml|title=Tributes to Anthony Minghella|publisher=BBC Hampshire and Isle of Wight|date=28 October 2014}}</ref> Members of the groups [[Level 42]], [[Wet Leg]] and [[The Bees (UK band)|the Bees]] also went to [[Sandown High School]].
* [[Edward Upward]] (1903-2009) long-lived author and part of the [[Auden Group]] in the 1930s, lived in Sandown from 1961 to 2004<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/edward-upward/|title= Renegade in Springtime |first= Rod |last=Mengham|publisher=Times Literary Supplement|date=22 March 2017}}</ref>
* [[James Clutterbuck]], cricketer
* [[William Darwin Fox]], naturalist-clergyman, second cousin of [[Charles Darwin]] buried in Sandown.
* [[Thomas Field Gibson]] found some important [[fossils]] while staying at his beach house at Sandown.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uudb.org/articles/thomasgibson.html|title=Thomas Gibson & Thomas Field Gibson|website=Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=4 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504212608/https://uudb.org/articles/thomasgibson.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Eric Charles Twelves Wilson]], recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] was born in Sandown.
* [[Simon Moore (footballer)|Simon Moore]], footballer who plays for [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland AFC]].
* [[Mary Ellis (pilot)|Mary Ellis]], [[Air Transport Auxiliary|ATA]] [[Aircraft pilot|Pilot]] 1941–1945, later managing director of Sandown Airport. Mary died in July 2018 aged 101<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/29/mary-ellis-obituary|title= Mary Ellis obituary|work= The Guardian|date= 29 July 2018}}</ref>

== Twin towns ==
Sandown had a twinning (''jumelée'' in French) arrangement with the town of [[Tonnay-Charente]] in the [[France|western French]] département of [[Charente-Maritime]] although the relationship was reported to be 'in tatters' in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1391459/Frenchman-used-town-twinning-for-cheap-holidays.html|title=Frenchman 'used town twinning for cheap holidays|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date= 19 April 2002}}</ref> Sandown has also been twinned with the United States city of [[St. Pete Beach, Florida]].

== See also ==
[[File:Christ Church, Sandown, IW, UK.jpg|thumb|Christ Church, Sandown's parish church consecrated in 1847]]
* [[Bembridge Down]]
* [[Church of St. John the Evangelist, Sandown]]
* [[The Bay Church of England School]]
* [[List of current places of worship on the Isle of Wight]]
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Sandown}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[http://www.sandowntowncouncil.gov.uk/ Official website of Sandown Town Council]
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Sandown |volume=24 |short=x}}

{{Isle of Wight}}
{{Settlements on the Isle of Wight}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Sandown| ]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in England]]
[[Category:Beaches of the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Towns on the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in the Isle of Wight]]