Suffolk has but one breed of cattle which is peculiar to it. It is a polled tweed, of which the cows are in great repute, and justly so. The oxen have not been much attended to, as most of the bull-calves are fatted for the butchers or sent toward Esaex and London for that purpose. The Suffolk farm-horses are noted for their docility and steadiness. Suffolk pigs are perhaps, on the whole, the most profitable breed in England. They aro well-shaped, short-legged, mostly white, with short upright ears, and the porkers of this breed are excellent. Suffolk has no indigenous breed of sheep ; the South down and a cross of this breed with the Leicester and Cotswold are very common.
Dirisians, Towns. de.—The county is divided into twenty hundreds, as follows, bosidea the liberty of the borough of Ipswich :—Black bourn, Ilartimmere, lioxne, and Wangfon1, north ; Mutford and Loth Ineland, north-east ; Blything and Plomesgate, coat ; Colneis, Carlford, and Wilford, south-twat ; Samford, south ; Babergh, south-west; ltisbridge, west; Lackfurd, north-west ; and Bearnere and Claydon, Coeford, Lees, Stow, Thedwestry, Thingoe, and Thredling, central.
Suffolk contains the two county and borough towns of 'Irswien and BURT Sr. EDMUNDS, the parliamentary borough of Era, the ex parliamentary boroughs of Aunionocon, or Mmmals, Dunwich, Oilman, and SUDBURY, and tho market-towns of Bseetss, Bums; Clare, Debenharn, Fuautiscuau, HADLE10111, IIALLSWODT11, LAVEN. IIAM, LOWESTOFT, XILDICSMALL, NEWMARKET, SAXIIMDdhAM, SOUTH.
. • wotn, &rowslartscr, Stradbroke. and Woonatunos; with the ex market-towns of ifitnEsroNit, Blythburgh, II itesdale, BA INDON, Haverhill (partly in Essex), Ixworth, Men:Horsham, Needham-Market, Nayland, and Woolpit. The places printed in small capitals are described under their respective titles ; of the rest we subjoin an account.
Clare, population of the parish 1769 in 1351, about 18 miles S.S.W. from Bury St. Edmunds, is situated on the left bank of the river Stour. The streets are wide, but the houaes generally are of mean appearance. There is a corn-exchange of modern erection. The church, a fine large building, was recently repaired, and a new gallery added. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents; also an Infant school. On the south side of the town are the vestiges of an old castle, and the remains of a priory of regular canons of St. Augustine. The market is on Monday for corn, and there are two small yearly fairs.
I arerhill, population of the parish 2535, of which number 257 wera in Essex, is about 16 miles S.W. from Bury St. Edmunds. Haverhill consists chiefly of one street, wide, but lined with poor houses, along the road from Colchester to Cambridge. Besides the parish church, which is an ancient edifice, there are places of worship for Independ ents, Baptists, and Quakers, a National school, a Charity school, and a savings bank. Half a mile north-west of the town once stood castle, of which there are now no remains. A weekly market and two annual fairs are held. A particular kind of stout twilled cotton, called drabbet, is made at Haverhill.
Saxmundham, population 1130 in 1851, is about 21 miles N.E. from Ipswich, on the road to Yarmouth. The town lies in a valley, through which, at the back of the houses, on the east side of the street, runs a small brook, a feeder of the Alde. The church is a neat building just out of the town. The Independents have a place of worship, and there are National schools. The market is on Thursday; there are two yearly fairs.
The following places had markets, which have been discontinued :— Blythburgh, population HIS (of whom 511 were in Blything Union workhouse) in 1851, is on the right bank of the Blyth, 30 miles N.E.
from Ipswich. It was in the middle ages an important fishing and trading town. Sessions for the division were held here, and there was a jail, of which some portions remained till the middle of the last century. The church is of perpendicular character ; the length of it is 127 feet, the width above 5i feet. Some portions of painted glass are in the windows. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel. There arc remains of a priory for the canons of St. Augustine. Botesdale, population 626, is about 15 miles N.E. from Bury, on the road to Norwich by Scope. With the village of nickingall Inferior it forms a street of more than a mile long. A market was formerly held at Botesdale on Thursday. There is a fair on Holy Thursday for cattle, pedlery, &c. The chapel at Botesdale has some good portions of perpendicular architecture. The Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists have chapels, and there is a National school. Debenhom, population of the parish 1653 in 1351, is about 13 miles N. from Ipswich, on the river Dawn, here a mere brook. From its situation on a declivity the town is clean, but the houses are generally poor. The church is a handsome edifice, and the market-house is a tolerably good building. There are a place of worship for Independents, National and Free schools, and a reading society. The market was held on Friday. There is one fair yearly. Dunwich, population 291, is on the coast, about 23 miles N.B. from Ipswich. Whilst East Anglia subsisted as a separate kingdom, Dunwich was a place of importance, and the seat of the first East Anglian bishopric, which was subsequently fixed at Norwich. In the civil war of John the townsmen adhered to the king, who had befriended the town, and granted it a charter of incorporation. They contributed several vessels and many men to the king's naval service in the French wars of Edward I. and III. In the war of the Roses they embraced the Yorkist party ; and this, by inducing Henry VII. to incorporate the rival town of Southwold, contributed to the decay of the place. The chief cause of this decay however was the encroachment of the sea, which not only ruined the port, but washed away the greater part of the town. Besides the ruins of All Saints church (the ouly one remaining of seven churches which Dunwich once possessed), there are the remains of a Gray Friars house, and of the chapel of St. James's hospital. The present church was built iu 1830. The village has a yearly fair. Some sprats and her rings are caught and cured here. The borough was disfranchised by the Reform Act. Ixworth, population 1189, is about 7 miles N.E. from Bury. There was anciently a priory for the regular canons of St. Augustine founded about 1100. The parish church is a small ancient building. The Wesleyan Methodists and Baptists have chapels, and there are National and Infant schools. There are soma remains of the priory, but the greater part of its site is n my occupied by a modern mansion called Ixworth Abbey. 21Iencllesham, population 1442, is about 15 miles N. by W. from Ipswich. The village extends about three miles along the road. The market has long been given up. The church is a handsome building, and there are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists, Independents, and Baptists. A yearly fair is held on the 2nd and 3rd of October. An ancient silver crown of 60 ounces weight was found here near the close of the 17th century : it was supposed to have belonged to one of the East Anglian kings.