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Beccles in Suffolk County England History and GeographyBECCLES, a market town and parish in the hundred of WANGFORD, county of SUFFOLK, 44 miles (E.N.E.) from Bury-St. Edmund's, and 110 (N.E. by N.) from London, containing 3493 inhabitants. This town, which suffered greatly from fire in 1586, is pleasantly situated on the river Waveney, by which it is bounded on the north and west. It consists of several spacious streets, diverging from the market-place, well paved and lighted; the houses, in general, are handsome and well built, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. The environs, which abound with pleasing scenery, afford agreeable walks; and the theatre, a neat and well arranged edifice, is occasionally used as an assembly room: races are held annually, on a fine course near the town, on which there are two handsome and commodious stands. The trade is principally in corn and malt, which is carried on to a considerable extent: the river Waveney is navigable from Yarmouth, and a design is now in progress for connecting it, by means of Leething lake, with the sea at Lowestoft. The market is on Saturday, chiefly for corn: the fairs are on Whit-Monday for cattle, and October 2d for horses and pedlary; there are also statute fairs. Adjoining the town is a common, upwards of one thousand four hundred acres in extent, affording, under certain regulations, free pasturage for cattle. Under a charter of incorporation, granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1584, a portreeve, steward, twelve principal, and twenty-four inferior burgesses, are elected; the portreeve is appointed annually, by rotation, from among the principal burgesses. None of the members of the corporation exercise magisterial authority, the town being wholly within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a quarterly court of session for the district. The town hall is a commodious building, and the gaol has recently been enlarged and improved. The living is a rectory, with the vicarage of St. Mary Endgate (the church of which is in ruins), in the archdeaconry of Suffolk, and diocese of Norwich; the rectory is rated in the king's books at £21. 12. 3½., and the vicarage at £7. 6. 8. The Earl of Gosford was patron in 1823. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a spacious and elegant structure in the later style of English architecture; the porch is a fine specimen of beautiful design and elaborate execution, and the interior is appropriately ornamented: the tower, which is detached from the main building, is highly enriched with sculpture: the church-yard, commands an interesting and extensive view. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Methodists. A grammar school was founded in 1774, and endowed by the Rev. Dr. Fauconberge, a native of the town, with an estate in the parish of Corton, producing about £200 per annum; it is under the control of the Bishop of Norwich, the Archdeacon of Suffolk, and the Rector of Beccles, who appoint the master: there are at present no scholars on the foundation, nor is there any place appropriated as a school-room for gratuitous instruction. Dr. Routh, the learned President of Magdalene College, Oxford, received the rudiments of his education at this place. A free school was founded in 1631, and endowed with one hundred acres of land, by Sir John Leman, Knt., Alderman of London, for the instruction of fortyeight boys in reading, writing, and arithmetic; and a National school, in which one hundred and twenty children of both sexes are instructed, is supported by subscription. An ancient hospital for lepers, of uncertain foundation, with a chapel dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, was granted, in 1676, to the corporation of Beccles for the benefit of the poor. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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