In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Long Melford like this:
MELFORD (LONG), a village and a parish in Sudbury district, Suffolk. The village stands on an affluent of the river Stour, near its influx to the Stour at the boundary with Essex, and adjacent to Melford r. station, 3 miles NNW of Sudbury; is nearly a mile long, from N to S, and surrounded by a beautiful and richly cultivated country; is a seat of petty sessions, and of a court-baron; was formerly a market-town; and has a post office‡ under Sudbury, two hotels, a church, an Independent chapel, two small endowed schools, a national school built in 1860 at a cost of £1,300, a British school, a literary institute, an endowed hospital, other charities £45, s large cattle fair on Whit-Thursday, and a pleasure and pedlery fair on Whit-Tuesday and Whit-Wednesday. ...
The church-is later English; consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, with porch and tower; contains several ancient brasses, and several monuments to the Martyns and others; and was restored in 1869, at a cost of about £3,000. The literary institute was opened in 1849, and contains a reading-room and lecture-room. The hospital was founded in 1580, by Sir William Cordell; is for a warden, 12 poor men, and 2 poor women; and has an endowed income of £851. The British school was built in 1862, and is connected with the Independent chapel.—The parish comprises 5,185 acres. Real pro perty, £12,092. Pop. in 1851,2,587; in 1861,2,870. Houses, 632. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of horse-hair and cocoa-nut fibre manufacture, and from the establishment of an iron foundry. The manor belonged anciently to Bury abbey. Melford Hall is a fine Tudor brick mansion, with four small round towers in front; belonged formerly to the Savages and the Cordells; belongs now to Sir William Parker, Bart.; and is the residence of Lord Alfred Paget. Melford Place is an ancient mansion; belonged once to the Martyns; passed to the Spaldings; and belongs now to H. Westropp, Esq. Kentwell Hall is the seat of Capt. E. R. S. Bence. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £830. Patron, the Rev. J. Martyn. Abbot Reeve, or John de Melford, and Bishop Johnson, w ere natives.
Long Melford through time
Long Melford is now part of Babergh district. Click here for graphs and data of how Babergh has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Long Melford itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Long Melford, in Babergh and Suffolk | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/7493
Date accessed: 23rd April 2024
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