Dedham's History

Although there is some evidence of Bronze Age, Iron Age

and Roman presence in the vicinity, the first known

settlement at Dedham is the Saxon manor recorded in

Domesday Book. From Norman times this was held by

absentee French landlords until, in the fourteenth century, it

reverted to the Crown. By the end of the fifteenth century,

when wealthy clothiers financed the building of the present

church, Dedham had become a thriving industrial town.

During the seventeenth century the wool trade was in

serious decline but the town's importance as a centre for

local trade was increased by its ecclesiastical significance. A

lectureship had been set up around 1577 to preach the

'pure' word of God in this Puritan area and the lecture

coinciding with the weekly market drew audiences from

miles around. The Grammar School, where the celebrated

painter John Constable was later a pupil, was founded at

about the same time. This established Dedham's

educational reputation and for the next four centuries its

various schools contributed greatly to the town's prosperity.

In the eighteenth century both the Grammar and English

(elementary) Schools were rebuilt in the then fashionable

red brick, many of the late medieval timber-framed houses

were refronted and the community acquired its own new

Assembly Rooms, However by the closing years of the

nineteenth century the market town had dwindled to a

village and was once again in decline when the first visitors

and day trippers began to arrive, attracted to the landscape

which had become famous as 'Constable's Country'. Its

special qualities were recognized when it was designated

an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1969. Tourism

continued to increase throughout the twentieth century,

especially with the arrival of mass car ownership from the

1950s onwards.

Lucy Archer asserts the moral right to be identified as the

author of this work.

This brief history is from the DEDHAM Visitors' Guide

a publication by Loom House, Dedham, Essex, in aid of the

Dedham Visitors' Guide Trust. It can be bought at the

Bookshop, the Deli, the Tea Rooms and the Craft Centre for

£2.50 or by post from the publisher plus p&p.