Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project
nayland houses cut

Significant events in the Stour valley:

1086 - Doomsday book makes references to a mill near East Bergholt

1500 - River Stour diverted to bring more water to Flatford Mill

1705 - An act of Parliament was passed under the reign of Queen Anne to make the Stour navigable form Sudbury to Manningtree

1727 - Thomas Gainsborough born in Sudbury

1776 - John Constable born in East Bergholt

1810-25 - Constable paints most of his Suffolk Scenes

1846 - London to Ipswich railway line opened

1850-70 - Time of prosperous farming

1887 - British Xylonite Company opens factory in Brantham

1890’s - Agricultural depression due to cheap imports

1917 - Corn Production Act guarantees minimum prices

1919 - River Stour drainage Board established

1919 - Sir Alfred Munnings buys Castle House, Dedham

1928 - Water abstraction from the Stour

1930 - The last barge uses the Stour as far as Dedham

1938 - Dedham Vale Society formed

1939 - Agricultural production encouraged for the war effort

1943 - National Trust acquire Flatford Mill

1947 - Agricultural Act provides basis for increased agricultural production

1950’s - Bryant and May encourage planting of hybrid poplars for production of match wood

1960’s - Dutch Elm Disease begins to decimate a large population of mature trees

1964 - Overspill development proposed for Dedham

1965 - Dual carriageway (A12) driven through the valley

1968 - Local Authority report on the protection of the Dedham Vale

1968 - River Stour Trust formed

1970 - Dedham Vale designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

1971 - Cattawade barrage finished to control sea water

1981 - Dedham Vale Landscape Project begun

1985 - Fen bridge replaced

1987 - Set aside scheme introduced

1987 - Gale hits area causing the loss of many trees

1992 - Dedham Vale & Stour Valley Project publishes first management plan for the valley

2000 - Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) introduces provisions for improved funding and protection of AONBs

2002 - New Bridge across Stour links Essex and Suffolk at Bures

2004 - Launch of Dedham Vale and Stour Valley Management Strategy as required by the (CroW Act 2000)