In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Leiston like this:
LEISTON, a small town and a parish in Blything district, Suffolk. The town stands on the Aldborough railway, 2 miles from the coast, and 4 ESE of Saxmundham; is connected with the extensive manufacturing works of the Messrs. Garrett, and lighted with gas supplied from these works; carries on a manufacture of waterproof roquelaires; and has a post office ‡ under Saxmundham, a railway station with telegraph, a church, three dissenting chapels, a mechanics' institution, a parochial school, and charities £73. ...
Messrs. Garrett's works manufacture agricultural machinery and implements; were established, on a very small scale, in 1788; and have gradually increased to such magnitude as to occupy about 7 acres of ground. and to employ about 600 men. The church stands about ¼ of a mile W of the town; was originally early English; was rebuilt in 1853; and is a handsome edifice of nave, transepts, and chancel, with a tower of flint.—The parish contains also the hamlet of Sizewell; extends to the coast; and comprises 4,500 acres of land, and 140 of water. Real property, £8,813. Pop. in 1851,1,580; in 1861,2,227. Houses, 470. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of Messrs. Garrett's works. Leiston Abbey is the seat of W. Rose, Esq.; Sizewell House is the seat off A. Ogilvie, Esq.; and the Cupola is the seat of Lord Beauclerk. Some new marine villa residences, and a coast-guard station, are at Sizewell-Gap. A premonstratensian canonry was founded on the coast section, in 11 82, by Ralph de Glanville; was rebuilt, on a site about a mile further from the sea, and about ½ a mile from the town, in 1363, by Robert de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk; was destroyed by fire before 1389, and rebuilt in that year; had a church 168 feet long; was given, at the dissolution, to the Duke of Suffolk; and is now represented by massive ivy-clad walls, two lofty pointed windows, and half-enclosed underground cells. A modern farm-house stands among the ruins; and a flower garden occupies the inner area. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £435.* Patron, alternately Christ's Hospital, London, and the Haberdashers' Company, London.
Leiston through time
Leiston is now part of Suffolk Coastal district. Click here for graphs and data of how Suffolk Coastal has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Leiston itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Leiston in Suffolk Coastal | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/705
Date accessed: 24th April 2024
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