Coordinates: 52°05′37″N 1°19′04″E / 52.0935°N 1.3179°E
| Woodbridge | |
 Woodbridge, with Woodbridge Tide Mill in the background |
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  Woodbridge
Woodbridge shown within Suffolk |
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| Population | 10,956 (2001 Census) |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Suffolk Coastal |
| Shire county | Suffolk |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WOODBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | IP12 |
| Dialling code | 01394 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Suffolk Coastal |
| List of places: UK • England • Suffolk | |
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480 although this seems larger due to the number of surrounding villages. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with Mussidan in France.
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History
The earliest record of Woodbridge is in the mid 10th century when it was acquired by St. Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, who made it a part of the endowment of the monastery he helped to refound at Ely, Cambridgeshire in AD 970.[citation needed] Woodbridge did not acquire its own monastery until about 1193, when a small priory of Austin canons was founded by Ernald Rufus.
It has been a centre for boat-building, rope-making and sail-making since the Middle Ages. Edward III and Sir Francis Drake had Elizabethan era fighting ships built in Woodbridge.
Around the town there are various buildings from the Tudor, Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras. The town has a tide mill in working order, one of only 2 in the UK and one of the earliest — a mill was first recorded on this site in 1170, operated by the Augustinian canons. In 1536, it passed to King Henry VIII. In 1564, Queen Elizabeth I granted the mill to Thomas Seckford. In 1577 he founded Woodbridge School and the Seckford Almshouses, for the poor of Woodbridge. Two windmills survive, Buttrum's Mill, and Tricker's Mill. The former is open to the public.
Sutton Hoo, a group of low grassy mounds famous for turning up Anglo-Saxon treasure of one of the earliest English kings, Rædwald, overlooks Woodbridge from the eastern bank of the River Deben.
The so-called Rendlesham Forest incident took place in nearby Rendlesham Forest in 1980. Unexplained lights were seen in the sky close to RAF Woodbridge, a United States Airforce base, and there were claims that a UFO had landed in the forest. The incident continues to interest ufologists and vigorous debates take place between those who believe that an alien spacecraft landed there and the sceptics who offer alternative explanations.
Woodbridge has its own brass band, the Woodbridge Excelsior Band, which was formed in 1846 and is the oldest community brass band in East Anglia.
There is a museum devoted to the Suffolk Punch, a breed of heavy working horse, in the Shire Hall on the Market Hill.
Local folklore has it that the route from the river to the top of Drybridge Hill (via Church Street, the Market Hill and Seckford Street) is the hill which was marched up by the Grand Old Duke of York in the popular nursery rhyme[citation needed]
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Famous residents
- Thomas Clarkson, campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade lived in Playford, near Woodbridge
- John Clarkson, abolitionist, buried in St Mary's Church
- Edward FitzGerald, translator of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Thomas Churchyard, painter
- Bernard Barton, Quaker poet
- Brian Eno, musician with Roxy Music
- Charlie Simpson from Busted and Fightstar
- Sir Ian Jacob, Director-General of the BBC
- Brian Capron, actor who portrayed Richard Hillman in Coronation Street from 2001-2003
- Nicholas Pandolfi, actor playing Matthew in Grange Hill 1985 & BBC Broadcaster
- Nate James, singer and MOBO winner
- Thomas Seckford, official at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
See also
External links
- Attractions in and around Woodbridge
- Fossil Collecting at Alderton near Woodbridge
- Visit Woodbridge
- Another Visit Woodbridge site
- Woodbridge Town Guide - shops, businesses, maps
- History of Woodbridge
- Tide Mill
- Woodbridge School website
- Farlingaye High School's website
- The Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident
- Woodbridge Excelsior Brass Band
- Woodbridge Salvation Army Corps
- Woodbridge Rugby Club
- Woodbridge community radio
- St Mary's Church of England Primary School
- Woodbidge Suffolk Scenes Photography
- Woodbridge Town Information
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