Bungay At Work: People And Industries Through The Years
by Christopher Reeve /
2018 / English / EPUB
5.1 MB Download
The small market town of Bungay, situated close to the River
Waveney on the Norfolk-Suffolk border, has been continuously
settled by Iron Age, Roman and Saxon communities. The town
achieved considerable prominence and prosperity when the wealthy
Bigod family, Earls of Norfolk, established a castle fortress
here in c.1165. By the eighteenth century it had grown into a
thriving market town and became known as ‘Little London’. The
river navigation increased with the supply of timber, coals,
malt, and dairy products to British troops during the Napoleonic
Wars. Brewing became an increasingly important trade and in the
nineteenth century a local printing business flourished,
benefitting from innovations in technology and the production of
affordable Bibles. In 1877 it was taken over by the London firm
of Clay’s, and continues today as one of the world’s largest
producers of books. A silk factory provided work for 300
employees. Rail goods and passenger transport commenced in 1860,
but had partly an adverse effect, encouraging locals to shop in
the larger towns and by the early twentieth century agricultural
depression brought economic decline. With the outbreak of War and
conscription, pubs also suffered and many closed. Only 11 of the
original 33 survived at the end of the century. The Waveney
silted up so navigation and contact with the Broads and local
ports ceased. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs
and illustrations,
The small market town of Bungay, situated close to the River
Waveney on the Norfolk-Suffolk border, has been continuously
settled by Iron Age, Roman and Saxon communities. The town
achieved considerable prominence and prosperity when the wealthy
Bigod family, Earls of Norfolk, established a castle fortress
here in c.1165. By the eighteenth century it had grown into a
thriving market town and became known as ‘Little London’. The
river navigation increased with the supply of timber, coals,
malt, and dairy products to British troops during the Napoleonic
Wars. Brewing became an increasingly important trade and in the
nineteenth century a local printing business flourished,
benefitting from innovations in technology and the production of
affordable Bibles. In 1877 it was taken over by the London firm
of Clay’s, and continues today as one of the world’s largest
producers of books. A silk factory provided work for 300
employees. Rail goods and passenger transport commenced in 1860,
but had partly an adverse effect, encouraging locals to shop in
the larger towns and by the early twentieth century agricultural
depression brought economic decline. With the outbreak of War and
conscription, pubs also suffered and many closed. Only 11 of the
original 33 survived at the end of the century. The Waveney
silted up so navigation and contact with the Broads and local
ports ceased. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs
and illustrations,Bungay At Work
Bungay At Work explores the life of
this East Anglian town and its people, from its pre-Industrial
beginnings, through two world wars and into the twenty-first
century as Bungay reinvents itself as a tourist destination.
explores the life of
this East Anglian town and its people, from its pre-Industrial
beginnings, through two world wars and into the twenty-first
century as Bungay reinvents itself as a tourist destination.