It
is only possible within this website to offer a shortened
version of the history of Beccles, but it will serve to show
much of the character that has made the town truly one of
the broadland wonders.
Beccles
derived its name from two parts of its present name. Beck,
meaning by the stream, and leas, meadow by the stream. Many
will claim that it was the Romans who discovered the small
hamlet of what was to be Beccles as they sailed up River,
and settled by the stream. There is however a distinct lack
of evidence for this claim. Records show that the ancient
monks at Bury St Edmunds owned Beccles in the year 960, and
that the people of Beccles panicked when Henry VIII th dissolved
the monastery in the 1500's. The towns folk sent a William
Rede to London to obtain the lordship of the manor for the
people of Beccles in 1540, and in 1605 the charter was further
confirmed by James the 1st.
The
magnificent St Michaels Church dates back to 1369 when the
large Gothic building was constructed, and at various stages
as the burial ground became over laden, a second site was
opened in 1823 in Blyburgate near to Kilbrack, this was further
changed when the present cemetery was commissioned in London
Road in 1855. There were formerly two parishes however, St
Michaels, and St Mary's engate. The church of St Mary was
demolished by Elizabeth the 1st.
In
1586 a fire destroyed more than eight houses in the town centre
area, the value of this property was over £20k, which
was in that day an enormous sum of money.
A
free school was established in the town in 1631 by Sir John
Leman, where today the towns most excellent Museum stands.
This was the beginnings of the present Sir John Leman School,
which was established in 1941.
There
was also a Beccles College in Ballygate which opened in 1877,
which moved to Ashmans Hall in 1929. During its time the college
owned by Mrs Hockley taught surveying, and industrial skills.
It was a boys college, with a high percentage of French students
in the 1920's and early 30's. The original site became the
Regal Cinema, ( formerly the Beccles Cinema Company).
The
town hall dates back to 1726, and in its early times held
Quarter and petty sessions, later becoming a council chamber.
In the 1790's the Gaol, or 'House of Correction' for Beccles
was established in Newgate Street, on the corner of Gaol lane.
The Gaol consisted of rooms for 18 males, and 6 females for
short term periods. A tread-mill was in position for corrective
action.
In
1837 a Gas Works was built in Pound Road by James Malam. The
gasometer of 10,000 cubic feet, could supply 108 street lamps.
In
1831 an act of parliament was passed to deepen the River waveney
to Lowestoft to enable the Wherry's better navigation, but
this was short lived due to the arrival of the Railway.
In
1844 it was recorded that Beccles was a well built and improving
Market Town.
In
the 1870's Reed Crisp became the towns printer, later William
Moore joined him and built in Newgate where William Clowes
now stands. William Moore had a relationship with Reed Crisps
daughter, then once he became a partner left her for another
lady.
In
the early 1860's the Railway had arrived at the town, and
naturally the beginnings of today's Station Road were formed.
It
is further recorded that in the early 1900's, the whole Quayside
of Beccles was filled with wooden logs, this site run by a
Samuel Darby, who lived in the Hermitage, was the start of
the famous Darby's wood yard.
In
1912 a large fire destroyed the Gosford Road maltings, this
devastated a proportion of the employment in the town for
some time to come.
During
the war years Beccles escaped relatively lightly, although
in 1940 Kilbrack was bombed, and two members of the tricker
family lost their lives, a number of houses were damaged.
Other bombing raids hit Kemps Lane in 1944.
Beccles
was an agricultural town during Victorian times, and a number
of Maltings existed. Bridge Street, Newgate, and Blyburgate
all had Maltings. The well known Greens Malting which stood
in St Georges Road was originally a windmill.
