Acton, Suffolk
Coordinates: 52°04′15″N 0°45′40″E / 52.07071°N 0.76102°E
| Acton | |
 All Saints church, Acton |
|
 Acton
Acton shown within Suffolk |
|
| Population | 1,780 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | TL893449 |
| District | Babergh |
| Shire county | Suffolk |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SUDBURY |
| Postcode district | CO10 |
| Dialling code | 01787 |
| Police | Suffolk |
| Fire | Suffolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | South Suffolk |
| List of places: UK • England • Suffolk | |
Acton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. The parish also includes the hamlets of Cuckoo Tye and Newman's Green. According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the name is Village by the Oaks.
The Domesday Book records the population of Acton in 1086 to be 83. All Saints is the local church.
Between 2001 and 2002 the Reliant Robin, the United Kingdom's best known three-wheel car, was produced in the village's industrial estate.
Contents |
[edit] Notable former residents
William Jennens was known as the "Acton Miser." Jennens made his money loaning money to gamblers and was Britain's richest man at the time of his death, though he outlived his nominated executors and beneficiaries under his will. The case was litigated throughout the early 19th century until the whole estate (worth c. £2 million) had disappeared in legal fees. The case of Jennens v Jennens formed part of the inspiration for the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case at the centre of the plot of Bleak House by Charles Dickens.[2]
Another Acton resident, Catherine Foster, was believed to be the last woman to be hanged at Bury St Edmunds, in 1847. At the age of 17 she poisoned her husband by putting arsenic in his dumplings.[citation needed]
[edit] Population change
| Population growth in Acton from 1801 to 1891 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1881 | 1891 | ||
| Population | 461 | 470 | 555 | 565 | 555 | 539 | 579 | 619 | ||
| Source: A Vision of Britain Through Time[3] | ||||||||||
| Population growth in Acton from 1901 to 2001 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 2001 | |||
| Population | 593 | 541 | 447 | 496 | 673 | 603 | 1,800 | |||
| Source: A Vision of Britain Through Time[3] | ||||||||||
[edit] References
- ^ Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk Suffolk County Council
- ^ "All Saints, Acton". www.suffolkchurches.co.uk. http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/acton.html. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ a b "A Vision of Britain Through Time". University of Portsmouth & others. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10249399&c_id=10001043&add=N. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
[edit] External links
Media related to Acton, Suffolk at Wikimedia Commons
