Suffolk uk

Suffolk was part of the kingdom of East Anglia which was settled by the Angles in the 5th century.

Suffolk was divided into separate Quarter Sessions divisions. These were originally four in number, reduced to two in 1860: the eastern division being administered from Ipswich and the western from Bury St Edmunds. The two divisions were made separate administrative counties as East Suffolk and West Suffolk under the Local Government Act 1888, with Ipswich becoming a county borough. A few Essex parishes were also added to Suffolk; Ballingdon-with-Brundon, and parts of Haverhill and Kedington.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, East Suffolk, West Suffolk and Ipswich were merged to form a unified county of Suffolk on April 1, 1974. This was divided into several local government districts: Babergh, Forest Heath, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal, Waveney. This also saw a further part of land near Great Yarmouth become part of Norfolk. As introduced into Parliament, the Local Government Bill would have included Newmarket and Haverhill into Cambridgeshire, with it being compensated by the inclusion of Colchester from Essex: these proposals were ultimately decided against.

In 2007 the Department for Communities and Local Government referred Ipswich Borough Council's bid to become a new unitary authority to the Boundary Committee.^[3][4] The Boundary Committee consulted local bodies and reported in favour of the proposal. It was not, however, approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

In 2008, the Boundary Committee's review of local government throughout Suffolk (and Norfolk)^[5]resulted in a recommendation for an enlarged Ipswich and Felixstowe unitary authority, with the remainder of Suffolk (minus Lowestoft, to be annexed to Norfolk) forming another unitary. Suffolk County Council would then cease to exist.

This proposal is highly controversial and has found little or no acceptance in Suffolk outside the area of Ipswich. If the status quo is not to continue, the more generally preferred and expressed option for Suffolk is that of three unitaries; namely Ipswich (probably incorporating some surrounding areas), East Suffolk and West Suffolk. The consultation period closed on 26th September 2008, with final recommendations to Government by 31st December, 2008. Thereafter,a decision will be made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. As of August 2008, the future organisation of the County remains uncertain; although it is likely that Ipswich will in some form become a unitary in 2010.

West Suffolk is, like nearby East Cambridgeshire, renowned for archaeological finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Bronze Age artefacts have been found in the area between Mildenhall and West Row, in Eriswell and in Lakenheath^[6]. Many bronze objects, such as swords, spear-heads, arrows, axes, palstaves, knives, daggers, rapiers, armour, decorative equipment (in particular for horses) and fragments of sheet bronze, are entrusted to the Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds. Other finds include traces of cremations and barrows.