This important book will be the first in a series of monographs which together will constitute a scholarly but accessible multi-volume history of Suffolk from the earliest times until the present day. Written by leading experts in the field, the series has been designed to fill a striking gap in the area of regional studies. It will draw upon primary as well as secondary material, and by utilising the county’s rich resources to the full, will present Suffolk’s history within a wider regional, national and international context.

Notwithstanding its outstanding resources in terms of archaeology, landscape, material culture and archival evidence, and the prominent part that it has played in shaping the history of south-eastern England, Suffolk remains curiously neglected. There is, for example, no Victoria County History or comparable broad chronological survey for use by local historians and others who wish to extend their knowledge beyond the tourist guide or parish history. Moreover, although a number of valuable theses, articles and monographs have appeared on aspects of Suffolk’s past, no sustained attempt has yet been made to bring much of this specialist research out of the university library to the attention of a wider public.

The series is supported by the School of History and the Centre of East Anglian Studies at the University of East Anglia, and is funded by a bequest made to the School by Miss Ann Ashard Webb, ba, bsc, ma, who died in 1996 at the age of ninety-four. Her aim was to produce a county history that would combine high standards of scholarship with readability, and thus enjoy an appeal both within and beyond the academic community. Miss Webb devoted her career to education, and so was well aware of the need for clarity and accessibility. Having spent many years as a teacher, not least at Haverhill Middle School in Suffolk, she took up a post as senior lecturer at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, where she trained others to teach. As early as 1978 she began discussing with the University of East Anglia the possibility of making an endowment that would facilitate the production of a history of Suffolk.