Saxmundham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Saxmundham |
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 St.John the Baptist Church, Saxmundham |
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 Saxmundham
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| Population | 3,644 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TM381632 |
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| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SAXMUNDHAM |
| Postcode district | IP17 |
| Dialling code | 01728 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament |
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Saxmundham ( saks-MUN-dəm) is a market town in Suffolk, England, set in the valley of the River Fromus about 18 miles (29 km) north-east of Ipswich and 5 miles (8 km) west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed by the main A12 road between London and Lowestoft. The town is served by Saxmundham railway station on the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich and Lowestoft.
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Origin
The town's name allegedly derives from the Saxon "Seizmond's Home". The earliest recorded mention of Saxmundham is in the Domesday Book of 1086 which mentions three churches. It has had a market charter since at least 1272 AD and carries on the tradition to this day.
In fiction
Brother Eadulf has become Saxmundham's most famous international fictional character. He appears in the best-selling Sister Fidelma mysteries written by Peter Tremayne (nom de plume of the Celtic scholar and author Peter Beresford Ellis). Brother Eadulf is companion and assistant to Sister Fidelma and often plays a crucial part in resolving the mystery. He is introduced as originally the hereditary gerefa (magistrate) of "Seaxmund's Ham in the land of the South Folk." He attends the famous Synod of Whitby in 664 AD and joins Sister Fidelma in solving a murder of one of the delegates (Absolution by Murder, 1994). He has since appeared in most of the novels and some of the short stories although the Saxmundham area has been used as a setting in only one of the novels; The Haunted Abbot (2002). Tremayne chose Saxmundham as Eadulf's place of origin because of local connections, the nearness of the town to an ancient royal burial site of the East Angles as well as the East Anglian historic connections with Irish Christian missionaries. He has appeared in all but two of the Sister Fidelma series of mystery novels, set in 7th century Ireland.
Notable residents
With a Wikipedia page, in birth order:
- John Shipp (1784–1834), army officer, was born in Saxmundham. His military memoirs were widely read in the 19th century.
- Henry Bright (1810–1873), painter
- Thomas Thurlow (1813–1899), sculptor
- Hamlet Watling (1818–1908), archaeologist, illustrator and schoolmaster
- Bernard Collins (1880–1951), county cricketer, also wrote a book on life after death: Death is Not the End (London: Psychic Press, 1939).
- Buck Read (1880–1970), American basketball coach, was born in Saxmundham.
- Herbert Heyner (1882–1954), baritone, died here.
- Eleanor Berwick (born 1943), wine-grower
- Maggi Hambling (born 1945), artist, has lived in a cottage near Saxmundham since the mid-1980s.
- Sam Miller (born 1962) works as a television director.
- Ray Allen (born 1975), NBA All-Star, spent some childhood years in Saxmundham.
See also
In Spanish: Saxmundham para niños
