Beccles ( ) is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the English county of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

, south-east of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

and north-northeast of the county town of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

. Nearby towns include

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

to the east and

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

to the north-east. The town lies on the River Waveney on the edge of

The Broads National Park The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although the terms "Norfolk Broads" and "Suffolk Broads" are correctly use ...

. It had a population at the 2011 census of 10,123. Worlingham is a suburb of Beccles; the combined population is 13,868. Beccles twinned with Petit-Couronne in France in 1978.

History

The name is conjectured to be derived from Becc-Liss* (Brittonic=Small-court). However, also offered is Bece-laes* (Old English=Meadow by Stream), as well as a contraction of ''Beata Ecclesia'', the name of the Christian temple erected c. 960 by the monks of the monastery of Bury. Once a flourishing Anglian riverport, it lies in the Waveney valley and is a popular boating centre. The town was granted its

Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

in 1584 by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. Sir John Leman (died 1632) was a tradesman from Beccles who became

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. Long associated with Beccles (including recent mayors) is the Peck family. Among those Pecks who have made a place in history is the Rev. Robert Peck, described by Blomfield in his history of Norfolk as a man with a 'violent schismatic spirit' who led a movement within the church of St Andrew's in nearby

Hingham, Norfolk Hingham is a market town and civil parish in mid-Norfolk, England. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households at the time of the 2001 Census, increasing to 2,367 at the 2011 Census. Grand architecture s ...

, in opposition to the established Anglicanism of the day. The Puritan Peck was eventually forced to flee to Hingham, Massachusetts, founded by many members of his parish, where he resided for several years, until King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

had been executed and

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

had taken the reins of government. Robert Peck then elected to return to Hingham, Norfolk, and resumed as rector of St Andrew's Church. He died in Hingham but left descendants in America, including his brother Joseph Peck, who settled in

Rehoboth, Massachusetts Rehoboth is a historic town in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Established in 1643, Rehoboth is one of the oldest towns in Massachusetts. The population was 12,502 at the 2020 census. Rehoboth is a mostly rural community with many historic sites i ...

. Robert's daughter Ann Peck (16 November 1619 – 30 June 1672) also remained in Massachusetts, and married John Mason, who led colonial forces in the

Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narraga ...

. In 1794,

François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...

, while in exile, taught here French language and literature. He fell in love with Charlotte Ives, daughter of Bungay's reverend. (See: first part of '' Mémoires d'outre-tombe'', book 10, chapter 9 "Charlotte".) Under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and ...

the borough was reformed, Beccles retaining

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

status until the reorganisation of local government in 1974, when it was merged with surrounding authorities to become Waveney District. The successor civil parish has adopted town status.

Landmarks

Many of the streets in the town centre have the suffix 'gate', for example, Hulvergate, Smallgate and Blyburgate. This is derived from the Old Norse for 'street' and is similar to the modern Danish word ''gade''.Ganther S (2014
Beccles Conservation Area Character Appraisal
Waveney District Council, p.21. Available online at East Suffolk Council. Retrieved 1 November 2020. The townscape is dominated by the detached 16th century

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...

of St Michael's Church.Ganther, p.15. Like the main body of the church, the tower is

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

in style and is tall. The church was built in the 14th century but was rebuilt after being badly damaged by fire in 1586. It has a 13th-century octagonal

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

and 14th century south porch.Ganther, p.25–26. Both the church and the tower are

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s.Building record BCC 013 - Church of St Michael
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association. History Est ...

. Retrieved 1 November 2020.

Catherine Suckling Catherine Suckling (9 May 1725 – 26 December 1767) was the mother of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. Catherine had eleven children of which Nelson was the third surviving son. Family and marriage Catherine was born on 9 May 1725 in Barsh ...

married the Reverend Edmund Nelson, a former curate of Beccles, at the church in 1749. Their son,

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...

, was born in 1758 in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

. The

poet

George Crabbe George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people. In the 177 ...

married Sarah Elmy at the church in the 18th century. Opposite the church is Beccles Town Hall, built on the site of the town's

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosses ...

.Ganther, p.27. This is at the centre of the Newmarket area, which still features a weekly market. Beccles Museum is housed in Leman House, a Grade I listed building to the south of the town centre on Ballygate. The building dates from the 16th century and was the original site of the town's

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, named after John Leman who endowed it following his death in 1631.Leman House
list entry,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

. Retrieved 1 November 2020.Ganther, p.49.Ganther, p.55. Beccles Common is an area of

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has ...

, to the north west of the town. In the centre of Beccles Common sits a

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era Pillbox built in 1940 or 1914. The area hosts Boney's Island, a man made mound on the common. The name comes from Bonaparte's Island. There are two different sources of the name Boney's Island. the more popular origin is that it was a

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

. The less popular origin is that a large bonfire was lit on the island to celebrate the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1814.

Transport

Bus

A number of bus services link the town with both Norwich and Lowestoft, as well as surrounding villages. Also, it runs a town service bus, every hour, during the daytime.

Railway

The town is served by

Beccles railway station Beccles railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of Beccles, Suffolk. It is down the line from and measured from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between and stations. Its three-lette ...

on the East Suffolk Line between

and Lowestoft. Services run hourly in each direction on weekdays, following the completion of the Beccles rail loop in 2012. This rebuilt the disused island platform and relaid track to allow trains to pass at Beccles, the only point north of Saxmundham where this is possible. Services are operated by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

. The town was formerly the southern terminus of the Yarmouth to Beccles Line, which ran across the River Waveney marshes to

, and the eastern terminus of the Waveney Valley Line, linking to the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the ...

at Tivetshall in Norfolk. Both lines closed, in 1954 and 1966 respectively; the latter as a result of the

Beeching Cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

Air

Beccles Airfield Beccles Airfield, also known as Beccles Airport or Beccles Aerodrome , is located in Ellough, southeast of Beccles in the English county of Suffolk. Built during the second world war, it has operated as a heliport servicing the North Sea oil a ...

is located at

Ellough Ellough is a civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk, located approximately south-east of Beccles. The area is sparsely populated with a mid-2005 population estimate of 40. The parish, which has an area of , ...

, around south-east of the town. Originally built in 1942 as a wartime airfield,Beccles (Ellough) Airfield
Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 25 June 2011. it was used as a heliport servicing the North Sea petrochemical industry and is now a base for light aircraft and parachuting.
.

21 July 2011), RainAir (Beccles). Retrieved 25 June 2011.History
UK Parachuting. Retrieved 25 May 2011.

Cycling

National Cycle Route 1, which runs from London to the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) no ...

, passes through Beccles. Regional Route 30, which runs between Wells-next-the-Sea and Brandon, and Regional Route 31, from

Reedham Ferry Reedham Ferry is a vehicular cable ferry, chain ferry across the River Yare in the England, English county of Norfolk, in the Norfolk Broads, Broads. The ferry crosses the river near the village of Reedham, Norfolk, Reedham and is the only cross ...

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is ...

, also pass through the town.

Road

The town is by-passed to the north by the A146 road between

in Norfolk and

in Suffolk. The by-pass was built in the 1980s and the main road previously ran through the town, crossing the River Waveney at the narrow Beccles bridge. The link road between the A146 and the town is George Westwood Way, in memory of a Deputy Mayor, George Lionel Westwood, who fought hard for the construction of the by-pass. The A145 used to run from the A146 through the town centre to link with the A12 at Blythburgh, to the south of Beccles. The official route of the road now runs via the Beccles Southern Relief Road to indicate to drivers, particularly those of HGVs, that they can avoid the town; this is intended to make the relief road effective in keeping unnecessary traffic out of the town.

Beccles Southern Relief Road

In 2006, a southern relief road for Beccles was approved, running from a roundabout just south of the town towards

where the A145 connects with an industrial area, before joining with the A146 at

North Cove North Cove is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is part of the East Suffolk district, located around east of Beccles and west of Lowestoft. It merges with the village of Barnby and the villages sha ...

.Another step forward for relief road project
'' Beccles and Bungay Journal'', 27 November 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2014. The completion cost was around £7.0 million and the road forms part of

traffic management plans.Suffolk Local Transport Plan 2006–11
,

. Retrieved 1 July 2009. It allows north–south industrial traffic to by-pass the narrow streets of the town centre, reducing congestion and increasing safety and officially opened on 25 September 2018.

Education

Beccles is served by Sir John Leman High School (age 11–18) and SET Beccles School (11–16) for

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

, both of which admit children from the town and the surrounding area, including from primary schools in Norfolk. Until 2012 a middle school system operated in the town, with most children moving to middle school at age 9 and on to high school at age 13.Wood R (2012
New era for education across Beccles, Bungay and Halesworth
'' Eastern Daily Press'', 7 September 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2020.Wood R (2012
New chapter for Sir John Leman High School in Beccles
''Beccles and Bungay Journal'', 7 September 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2020.Background to the School Organisation Review and archive

. Retrieved 31 October 2020.Beccles

. Retrieved 31 October 2020. The Sir John Leman High School dates from 1632 when it was established in the town after the death of John Leman.History of the Building
Beccles and District Museum. Retrieved 31 October 2020. It was a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

between 1914 and 1971. Three

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s operate in Beccles providing education from age 5 to 11: Beccles Primary Academy (formerly Crowfoot Primary School); St Benet's Catholic Primary School; and The Albert Pye School which is federated with Ravensmere Infants School (5–8). Children from the town also attend primary school in Worlingham as well as surrounding villages.Suffolk infoLink
Retrieved 31 October 2020.

Leisure

The annual Beccles Carnival and Family Fun weekend is held during the third weekend in August, which includes the popular Duck Race on the River Waveney. The town's local newspaper is the weekly Beccles & Bungay Journal, formed in 1933. Two Scout Association groups, 2nd Beccles and 5th Beccles operate in the town, as do

Girlguiding Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a cha ...

groups. Beccles Sea Cadets and Beccles Royal Marines Cadets run Training Ship Brave and the town is also home to 759 (Beccles) Air Cadets. Beccles' main football team is

Beccles Town F.C. Beccles Town Football Club is an English football club based in Beccles, Suffolk. They are nicknamed 'The Wherrymen', because Beccles was once a busy trading town on the River Waveney. The club is affiliated to the Suffolk County FA and are cur ...

, established in 1919. As of the 2022–13 season, they are members of the

Anglian Combination The Anglian Combination (known as the Hadley & Ottaway Anglian Combination under the terms of a sponsorship deal) is an English football league that operates in the East Anglia area. The league specifically covers Norfolk and northern Suffolk wi ...

Premier Division. Beccles also has a football team called Beccles Caxton F.C., with 'Caxton' being a name commonly found in Beccles, including the social club the 'Caxton Club', the pub the 'Caxton Arms' and the street 'Caxton Road'. Ellough Park Raceway is south-east of Beccles on the site of the old

airfield. It is a local centre for kart racing.

Notable people

* Claude Auchinleck, general in India and North Africa during the Second World War; *

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...

, retired journalist and newsreader; *

Tim Buck Timothy Buck (January 6, 1891 – March 11, 1973) was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada (known as the Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 to 1959) from 1929 until 1962. Together with Ernst Thälmann of Germany, Maurice Tho ...

, General Secretary of the

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...

between 1929 and 1962 *

Hester Burton Hester Burton (6 December 1913 – 17 September 2000) was an English writer, mainly of historical fiction for children and young adults. She received the Carnegie Medal for her 1963 novel '' Time of Trial,'' which like many of her books was il ...

, author of children's historical fiction, whose father served as Mayor three times. * Jordan Catchpole, British Paralympic swimmer. He won gold at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paraly ...

* Grantly Dick-Read (1890-1959),

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

and a leading advocate of natural childbirth. * William Fiske, goalkeeper for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

, broadcaster * Charles Hartley, educationist and the Principal of

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

Dorothy Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (née Crowfoot; 12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning British chemist who advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules, which became essential fo ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner; * Chris Martin, forward for

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

/ref> *

William Aldis Wright William Aldis Wright (1 August 183119 May 1914), was an English writer and editor. Wright was son of George Wright, a Baptist minister in Beccles, Suffolk. He was educated at Beccles Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gradua ...

, writer, editor and philologist

References

External links

* {{Authority control Market towns in Suffolk Towns in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District