Sudbury.-- mun. bor. and market town with ry. sta., partly in Essex but chiefly in Suffolk, on river Stour, 16 miles S. of Bury St Edmunds and 21 miles W. of Ipswich, 1459 ac., pop. 6584; P.O., T.O., 3 Banks, 1 newspaper. Market-day, Thursday. Sudbury (a corruption of Southborough) was formerly one of the most considerable places in the eastern counties. After the Conquest it became the seat of several religious establishments; and it was one of the towns selected by Edward III. for the settlement of the Flemings, with a view to the introduction of the woollen cloth mfr. Mfrs. of silk, velvet, and cocoa-nut matting, and extensive lime and brick works, give employment to the inhabitants. The river has been rendered navigable for barges up to the town, and there is a considerable trade in coal and agricultural produce. Gainsborough (1727-1788), the painter, was a native. Sudbury was made a mun. bor. by Queen Elizabeth; it was formerly a parl. bor., but was disfranchised in 1843.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))