ALDEBURGH (ALDBoRoucH), municipal borough on the coast of Suffolk, England, the terminus of a branch of the London and North Eastern railway, 991m. N.E. of London. Population (1931) 2,480. The district is exposed, but a fine stretch of sand fringes Aldeburgh bay. To the west the river Alde broadens as if into an estuary, but its outflow is prevented by the sand, and it runs south for nearly Tom. parallel with the shore. The sand banks have arrested the encroachments of the sea, which submerged a former site of Aldeburgh.
Aldeburgh (Aldburc) takes its name from the river Alde. There is no pre-Conquest record but at the Domesday survey most of the land was held by Robert Malet, a Norman. In 1155 the manor was granted to the abbey of St. John of Colchester and later to Cardinal Wolsey. In 1567 a Saturday market was granted. In the i6th century Aldeburgh was a place of considerable com mercial importance. The earliest charter is that of 1529. In 1548 it was made a free borough, with a charter of incorporation and a market on Wednesday. Later charters were granted in 1553, 1558 and 1567, by James I. (who granted two annual fairs) in 16o6, and by Charles I., in 1631 and 1637. The fairs and markets became so unimportant that they were discontinued about the middle of the gth century. The town returned two members to parliament in 1572, and continued to do so until the Reform Act of 1832. Frequent disastrous incursions of the sea reduced Aldeburgh to a mere fishing village, but it is now a golfing centre. There are coastguard and lifeboat stations. A small Moot Hall of the i6th century is used for corporation meetings. Slaughden quay on the Alde admits small vessels, and herring and lobster fishing are carried on. Aldeburgh is governed by a mayor, four aldermen and 12 councillors. Area 1,663 acres. It is included in the Woodbridge division of the parliamentary county of east Suffolk.