What was the smallest town in England in the 1600's?

Answer 1

The smallest town anywhere depends on how you define "town". Places of only a few hundred inhabitants often had urban characteristics. Past urban populations are usually estimated by assigning a cutoff point, usually 10,000, 5,000 or 2-3,000 (the higher the limit, the easier to assemble data, though the more small towns will be left out).

Some towns (and some places not even remotely urban) had the legal status of boroughs, though many didn't. The smallest borough was probably already Old Sarum, mostly abandoned in the 13th century in favour of nearby New Sarum (now Salisbury), and probably already uninhabited. It (or rather its landowners, who lived elsewhere) would continue regardless to return two members to Parliament until 1832. But borough shouldn't be confused with town: suburbs and most smaller or newer towns weren't boroughs.

Answer 2

In the 1600s, the town of Dunwich in Suffolk was known for its declining population due to coastal erosion. It experienced a significant decrease in size and was considered one of the smallest towns in England at that time.