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Brandon, Suffolk

Coordinates: 52°26′51″N 0°37′27″E / 52.4474°N 0.6242°E / 52.4474; 0.6242
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Brandon
Town square
Brandon is located in Suffolk
Brandon
Brandon
Location within Suffolk
Population9,225 (2021 Census)
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBRANDON
Postcode districtIP27
Dialling code01842
PoliceSuffolk
FireSuffolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
WebsiteOfficial website
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°26′51″N 0°37′27″E / 52.4474°N 0.6242°E / 52.4474; 0.6242

Brandon is a town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.[1][2] Brandon is located in the Breckland area of Suffolk in the extreme north-west of the county, close to the adjoining county of Norfolk. It lies between the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, Mildenhall, Downham Market and the city of Ely.[3] The town is almost entirely surrounded by Thetford Forest.[4]

Best known throughout the ages for its flint industry, Brandon was also one of the Brecks-area towns where soldiers trained during World Wars I and II.[5][4] The town has had a sizeable Polish population since the end of the Second World War, when Polish Allied soldiers were resettled under the Polish Resettlement Act of 1947.[6][7]

History

[edit]
Flint houses in Brandon

Brandon, likely "hill where broom grows", has been variously referred to as Brandona, Braundon, Brandones Ferye, Brandon Ferry, Brand, and Bromdum throughout history.[4][8] The earliest known spelling was in the 11th century when the town, gradually expanding up and along the rising ground of the river valley, was called Bromdun.[9] The town was originally developed as a crossing point for the Little Ouse River.[4]

From prehistoric times the area was mined for flint as can be seen at Grime's Graves, a Neolithic flint mining complex.[10] At Staunch Meadow in the 1980s, archaeologists uncovered a Middle Saxon settlement thought to have been active from the mid 7th century to the late 9th century. At least thirty-five buildings were excavated.[5][4] In the Middle Ages, the town had a major rabbit fur industry,[11] which thrived until the 1950s.[12] Brandon was still a major centre for the production of gunflints by the Napoleonic Wars.[4][10][13]

Aircrews of No. 199 Squadron RAF during a briefing at RAF Lakenheath during the Second World War

Brandon's Great Fire occurred on 14 May 1789.[14][15] A fire started at the surgeon's home from either a lightning strike[citation needed] or by hot ash embers being blown onto the thatched roof of a wooden shed by the wind.[16] It quickly spread to the surrounding properties,[citation needed] in part due to the absence of enough able-bodied young men to contain the fire, as many were at a fair day in nearby Thetford.[16] Eleven houses were damaged and 8 of them were completely destroyed.[citation needed] The hardest hit was Francis Diggon, the saddler,[16] who lost all of his property and possessions, costing a total of 381 pounds, 2 shillings.[citation needed]

During both world wars, the Brecks, including Brandon, Thetford, and Elveden, were used as military training grounds, in part due to the easy access from London via rail. Under the Polish Resettlement Act of 1947, displaced Polish men who fought for the Allies and their families were permitted to live in resettlement camps, where they were given industry training. Once finished, many of these families permanently settled in the Brecks area.[6] The US Army Air Force's 3rd Air Division set up a makeshift base, Camp Blainey, in Brandon for the duration of World War II.[17] Some Polish families displaced during the war chose to remain in Brandon and surrounding areas, where they had been living in displacement camps, when they found they were unable to return home.[7] In 1968, the Greater London Council began developing public housing in Brandon, resulting in further expansion of the town.[4] Brandon is adjacent to RAF Lakenheath, a Royal Air Force station in use since World War I.[18][19] American families also lived in and around the town during the Cold War.[citation needed]

Community

[edit]
Town sign for Brandon
Brandon Country Park

The Domesday Book records that the Manor of Brandon in 1086 had 25 households;[5][11] by 1251, the population had increased to 39 households.[5] As of the 2021 census, there was a population of 9,225 people, up from 9,145 in 2011 and 8,256 in 2001. The median age in 2021 was 44.[18][2]

Brandon Town Community FC has squads for community members ages five and up. The squads regularly compete in more than four leagues, including Ipswich & Suffolk Youth League, Norfolk Youth Combine League, Norfolk Women's, and Norfolk Youth Combined U15.[20][21] The town football squad was previously the Brandon Lads and Lasses AFC.[22] Brandon also has a lawn bowls club, Brandon Town Bowling Club, which was founded in 1949 and plays outdoors in the summer.[23]

The town is home to Brandon Country Park[24] and is a short distance from High Lodge which hosts musical gigs in the summer.[25] In 2014 the volunteer group Brandon in Bloom, later Brandon in Bloom CIC, was established to green up the open spaces around the town.[citation needed] In 2018 the group entered Anglia in Bloom for the first time and was awarded Silver Gilt and Best New Comer, followed by Gold in 2019. Bloom judging ceased during the lockdown period and upon restarting in 2022 Brandon managed Gold and Best in Class for the Jubilee Display, Gold for Best Garden for special needs with their Friendly Bench and George St Rose garden; and Best Town.[26] In 2023, they won seven accolades and were chosen to represent Anglia in Britain in Bloom in the town category, for which they won Gold.[27]

In 1810 resident Joseph Smedley was hiring a building for use as a theatre at a cost of five Guineas.[28] Brandon's first permanent cinema was brought to the town by Stanley Lingwood in 1917 after he was pensioned out of the Army due to a severe hand wound sustained at the Somme. He purchased the cinema from Shropshire and erected it between the family home, Avenue House, and the Church Institute, along Victoria Avenue. It was a wooden building, which he called the Electric Palace,[29] and it stayed in his possession until December 1933. At that time, he sold it to a King's Lynn businessman[citation needed] named Ben Culey, who had a cinema in neighbouring Thetford. Six months after Culey purchased the cinema it burnt to the ground. In February 1935 he opened another cinema on the site, which he named AVENUE. This new cinema was state of the art with the very latest projector, sound and acoustics.[30] It proved very popular during the Second World War.[citation needed] He sold the theatre to Breckland Cinemas Ltd. in 1965 and by 1966 the building was half-cinema, half-bingo hall. The building became vacant in 2007 and was demolished in 2021.[31][32]

Education and religion

[edit]
Church of St Peter, a Grade I building with medieval origins

As of 2024, Brandon has four schools: three primary, Forest Academy, Glade Academy, and Weeting Church of England Primary School; and one High School, Breckland School. There is also a children's centre, Brandon Family Hub, run by the Suffolk County Council.[33][34]

There are six churches in Brandon: Ascension Church, Brandon Church of Christ, Brandon Baptist Church, Brandon Methodist Church, Church of St Peter and St Thomas of Canterbury.[35] The Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed building of medieval origin and was restored in 1873.[36][4]

Media

[edit]

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from either the Tacolneston or Sandy Heath TV transmitters.[37][38] It is also possible to receive reception from the Belmont TV transmitter which broadcasts BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and ITV Yorkshire.[39]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Suffolk,[40] Heart East, Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk,[citation needed] and RWSfm, a community-based station which broadcast from Bury St Edmunds.[41]

The town is served by the local newspaper, The Thetford and Brandon Times, which publishes on Wednesdays. [42]

Transport

[edit]
Brandon railway station

Brandon is situated on the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road and serves as the main route between King's Lynn and London.[4][43] It often suffers severe congestion[44][4] due to large amounts of commuter traffic, holiday traffic travelling to the Norfolk Coast and[citation needed] HGVs.[45] Several bus routes pass through the town as well. Regular bus services operate from Brandon to the neighbouring towns of Bury St. Edmunds, Mildenhall and Thetford. There are also infrequent services (at school and shopping times) to Downham Market, King's Lynn and Norwich.[46][47]

As of February 2023 there is typically one train per hour to Norwich and one to Stansted Airport via Cambridge, operated by Greater Anglia.[48] Brandon railway station has an hourly service to Cambridge and Ely to the West and to Thetford and Norwich in the East.[49]

Flowing in an easterly direction, the Little Ouse river is navigable through the town.[50]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2001 Census: Key Statistics: Parish Headcounts: Area: Brandon CP (Parish)". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 October 2008.[dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  3. ^ "About Us". Brandon Town Council. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brandon Conservation Area Appraisal (PDF) (Report). Forest Heath District Council. 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Tester, Andrew; Anderson, Sue; Riddle, Ian; Carr, Robert (2014). Staunch Meadow, Brandon, Suffolk: a High Status Middle Saxon Settlement on the Fen Edge. East Anglian Archaeology. Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service. pp. xii, 9, 11. ISBN 978-0-9568747-4-0.
  6. ^ a b Goulding, Peter; Parry, James (2016). Dittner, Liz (ed.). The Military History of the Brecks 1900-1949 (PDF) (Report). The Breckland Society. pp. 13, 29, 43, 44.
  7. ^ a b Begbie, Lucy (24 September 2017). "Polish memorial unveiled in Brandon to honour those who suffered during Second World War". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  8. ^ Mills, David (2011). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. OUP Oxford. p. 72. ISBN 9780199609086.
  9. ^ "Brief History of Brandon in Suffolk". Brandon Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009.
  10. ^ a b Clarke, Rainbird (March 1935). "The Flint-knapping Industry at Brandon". Antiquity. 9 (33): 38–56. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00009959.[page needed]
  11. ^ a b Pocock, David. "Brandon history". Brandon, Suffolk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  12. ^ "History". Brandon Town Council. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Inside the Centre". Brandon Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018.
  14. ^ Appleby, Melinda (23 September 2017). "Brandon in Fire & Flint". Melinda Appleby. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Homepage". Brandon Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009.[not specific enough to verify]
  16. ^ a b c Goulden, Glenda (31 October 2010). East Anglian Disasters. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781783032594.
  17. ^ "Elveden Hall". American Air Museum. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  18. ^ a b "Brandon in Suffolk (East of England)". CityPopulation.de. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Timeline Part 5". Lakenheath Heritage. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Homepage". Brandon Town Community FC. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Clubs in Brandon". Brandon Town Council. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  22. ^ Turner, Kieran (1 March 2007). ""Anyone can play football!"". BBC. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Brandon Town Bowling Club - IP27 0JB". BoatShoesUK. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Brandon Country Park". Woodland Trust. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  25. ^ "High Lodge Forest Centre". Visit East of England. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  26. ^ Hurst, Kevin (14 February 2023). "Brandon in Bloom 'to show the rest of the UK' after becoming finalist in Britain in Bloom competition". Suffolk News. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  27. ^ Hurst, Kevin (21 September 2023). "Brandon in Bloom take six golds and a silver at Anglia in Bloom awards". Suffolk News. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  28. ^ Neil R Wright (2016). Treading the Boards : Actors and theatres in Georgian Lincolnshire. SLHA. p. 69.
  29. ^ Norton, Darren (October 2022). "July 1918..." (PDF). Brandon At War. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  30. ^ "A short history of Brandon and... the 'AVENUE' cinema". Brandon Town Council. March 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  31. ^ "Avenue Cinema". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  32. ^ "Brandon Bingo Hall Finally Set For Demolition". Bingo Daily. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  33. ^ "Establishments matching "Brandon"". Get Information about Schools, British government. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Get in touch with Family Hubs". Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  35. ^ "Brandon (Suffolk)". Find a Church. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  36. ^ Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST PETER, Brandon (1037592)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  37. ^ "Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  38. ^ "Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  39. ^ "Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  40. ^ "Leisure - Communication". InfoLink, Suffolk. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  41. ^ "RWSfm". Retrieved 22 December 2023.[not specific enough to verify]
  42. ^ "The Thetford and Brandon Times". British Papers. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  43. ^ County A to Z Atlas, Street & Road maps Norfolk, Page 227 &231 ISBN 978-1-84348-614-5
  44. ^ Cawley, Laurence (26 December 2010). "Brandon: Bypass plan action call". Eat Anglian Times. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  45. ^ Papworth, Andrew (13 June 2019). "A11 dualling has 'made our lives a misery'". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  46. ^ "Brandon, Suffolk". bustimes.org. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  47. ^ "Brandon Station Onward Travel Information" (PDF). National Rail. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  48. ^ "Train timetable Valid from 11 December 2022 Cambridge to Ely, Peterborough and Norwich" (PDF). Greater Anglia. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  49. ^ "Homepage". National Rail.[not specific enough to verify]
  50. ^ "Little Ouse or Brandon River". Jim Shead. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
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