Brandon, Suffolk

Brandon is a town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. Brandon is located in the Breckland area of Suffolk in the extreme north-west of the county, close to the adjoining county of Norfolk. It lies between the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, Mildenhall, Downham Market and the city of Ely. The town is almost entirely surrounded by Thetford Forest.

Best known throughout the ages for its flint industry, Brandon was also one of the Brecks-area towns where soldiers trained during World Wars I and II. The town has had a sizeable Polish population since the end of the Second World War, when Polish Allied soldiers were resettled under the Polish Resettlement Act of 1947.

History

Brandon, likely "hill where broom grows", has been variously referred to as Brandona, Braundon, Brandones Ferye, Brandon Ferry, Brand, and Bromdum throughout history. The earliest known spelling was in the 11th century when the town, gradually expanding up and along the rising ground of the river valley, was called Bromdun. The town was originally developed as a crossing point for the Little Ouse River.

From prehistoric times the area was mined for flint as can be seen at Grime's Graves, a Neolithic flint mining complex. At Staunch Meadow in the 1980s, archaeologists uncovered a Middle Saxon settlement thought to have been active from the mid 7th century to the late 9th century.