Sweffling

Introduction

A small and dispersed settlement on a tiny tributary of the river Alde, called the Gull. The village appears on John Speed's 1610 map as "Swesflinge".

The village was once described by Wilfred Pickles as "the Monte Carlo of the East", when he visited nearby Saxmundham to broadcast an edition of "Have a Go". Apparently because there was a single bright light in the village.

The church contains a history room cum mini-museum. There's also a privately-run museum in the village.

The village name, as may be guessed from the sign, refers to swifts.

Mill Road marks the location of three mills; a post mill dating from about 1795, which stopped working in 1935 , another built about 1780 which worked until 1911 and a third moved to this location in about 1780.

Curiously, the parish name is spelled with a single "f" rather than the two by which the village is known.

Gallery

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Acknowledgements

Some historical information from English Heritage's National Monuments Record.

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