Suffolk
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- For other uses, see Suffolk (disambiguation).
| Suffolk | |
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| Geography | |
| Status: | Ceremonial & Administrative County |
| Region: | East of England |
| Area: - Total - Admin. council | Ranked 8th 3,801 km² Ranked 7th |
| Admin HQ: | Ipswich |
| ISO 3166-2: | GB-SFK |
| ONS code: | 42 |
| NUTS 3: | UKH14 |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2003 est.) - Density - Admin. council | Ranked 32nd 678,074 178 / km² Ranked 14th |
| Ethnicity: | 97.2% White |
| Politics | |
| Suffolk County Council http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk/ | |
| Executive: | Conservative |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Bob Blizzard, John Gummer, Michael Lord, Chris Mole, David Ruffley, Richard Spring, Tim Yeo | |
| Districts | |
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SuffolkNumbered.png Image:SuffolkNumbered.png | |
Suffolk (pronounced 'suffuk') is a large traditional and administrative county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. It has borders with 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, at Template:Coor dms and other important towns are Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds.
The county is low-lying with few hills, and is largely wetland habitat and arable land. The Suffolk Broads area is part of The Broads National Park, and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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History
Main article: History of Suffolk
Suffolk was part of the kingdom of East Anglia which was settled by the Angles in the 5th century.
From 1889 to 1974, Suffolk was split into two administrative counties, East Suffolk and West Suffolk, with East Suffolk's council based in Ipswich, and West Suffolk's in Bury St Edmunds.
Geology, landscape and ecology
Much of Suffolk is low-lying on Eocene sand and clays. These rocks are relatively unresistant and on the coast are eroded rapidly. Coastal defences have been used to protect several towns, but several cliff-top houses have been lost to coastal erosion in the past.
The west of the county lies on more resistant Cretaceous Chalk. This chalk is the north-eastern extreme of the Southern England Chalk Formation that stretches from Dorset in the south west to Dover in the south east. The Chalk is less easily eroded so forms the only significant hills in the county. The highest point of the county is Great Wood Hill, the highest point of the Newmarket Ridge, near the village of Rede which reaches 128m (420ft).
Demographics
The Census 2001 Suffolk recorded a population of 668,548. Between 1981 and 2001 the population of the county grew by 13%, with the district of Mid Suffolk growing fastest at 25%. The population growth is due largely to migration rather than natural increase. There is a very low population between the ages of 15 and 29 as the county has few large towns and universities, though the 15 to 29 population in Ipswich is average. There is a larger population over the age of 35, and a larger than average retired population.
Cities, towns and villages
The agreed upon number of established communities in Suffolk varies greatly because of the large number of the all but non-existent hamlets which may consist of just a single farm and a deconsecrated church: remnants of wealthy communities, some dating back to the early days of the Christian era. Suffolk encompasses one of the most ancient regions of the UK: A monastery in Bury St. Edmunds founded in 630AD, plotting of the Magna Carta in 1215; the oldest documented structural element of a still inhabited dwelling in Britain found in Clare.
This comparatively recent evidence is but a coda to the widespread settlement in the region shown by earlier archaeological evidence of Mesolithic man as far back as c.7000BC, (Grimes Graves, Norfolk - a 5000 y/o flint mine) with Roman settlements Lakenheath, Long Melford, later Bronze and Saxon settlements. Sutton Hoo: burial ground of the Anglo-Saxon pagan kings of East Anglia.
For a full list of settlements see the List of places in Suffolk.
Places of interest
- Aldeburgh Festival
- Breweries: Adnams and Greene King
- Clare Castle
- Dedham Vale
- East Anglia Transport Museum
- Framlingham Castle
- Leiston Abbey
- Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
- Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum
- Orford Ness
- Otter Trust
- RSPB Stour Estuary
- Saxtead Green Post Mill
- Snape Maltings
- Southwold Lighthouse
- Sue Ryder Foundation Museum
- Suffolk Broads
- Suffolk Coast and Heaths Path
- Suffolk Heritage Coast
- Sutton Hoo
- The Broads National Park
Suffolk_Landscape.jpg
External links
- Suffolk County Council (http://www.suffolk.gov.uk)
- BBC Suffolk (http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk)
- 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica: Suffolk (http://85.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SU/SUFFOLK.htm)
References
- Suffolk County Council, Census 2001 results (http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk/e-and-t/documents/2001Censusresults.pdf) (PDF)
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