Aldeburgh, Suffolk Family History Guide

Alternative names: Aldborough

Parish church: St. Peter and St. Paul

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1558
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1698

Nonconformists include: Particular Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Hazlewood
Iken
Sudbourne
Aldringham with Thorpe

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ALDBOROUGH, or Aldeburgh, a seaport town, a parish, and a subdistrict in the district of Plomesgate, Suffolk.

The town stands at the terminus of a branch of the Eastern Union railway, 7 miles SE of Saxmundham, and 94¾ NE of London. It occupies a pleasant site in Slanghdon Valley, on the river Alde, between Aldborough bay and Aldborough mere, overlooked by a steep hill, which commands a fine prospect.

The beach adjacent to it consists of fine firm sand, slopes gradually to the sea, and is well suited for bathing. A shoal in the vicinity, 2 miles long, called Aldborough Knape, canses strong breakers in easterly winds. The sea has made great encroachments on the shore within the last two centuries.

The town has become an esteemed watering-place; and though containing many old houses, chiefly inhabited by fishermen, has also handsome new ones, and villas, for the accommodation of fashionable visitors.

The parish church, on the summit of the hill, is perpendicular English; was resently restored; has a tower with an octagonal turret; contains six brasses and a Tudor pulpit: and presents a good landmark to mariners.

There are two dissenting chapels, a public library, and a national school.

The town hall is a half-timbered edifice, restored in 1853. The town was made a borough by Elizabeth; and it sent two members to parliament till disfranchised by the act of 1832. It has a post office under Saxmundham; and it formerly had a market and two fairs.

Herring and lobster fishing are carried on; corn and wool are exported; and coal and timber are imported. About 40 vessels, of aggregately about 1,800 tons, belong to the port. Crabbe, the poet, was a native. The title of Viscount Aldborough was borne by an ancestor of F. J. V. Wentworth, Esq., the proprietor of the manor.

The parish comprises 1,782 acres of land and 50 of water. Real property, £6,136. Pop., 1,721. Houses, 391.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £383. Patron, F. J. V. Wentworth, Esq. Charities, £40.

The subdistrict includes eight parishes. Acres, 12,946. Pop., 4,049. Houses, 925.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].