The Library, Market Hill, Sudbury - 01787 881320 sudburytic@suburytowncouncil.co.uk

Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Sudbury, approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Colchester and 14 miles (23 km) from Bury St Edmunds. It is one of Suffolk's "wool towns" and is a former market town. The parish also includes the hamlets of Bridge Street and Cuckoo Tye.

Its name is derived from the nature of the village's layout (originally concentrated along a 3-mile stretch of a single road) and the Mill ford crossing the Chad Brook (a tributary of the River Stour).

The size and architecture of Holy Trinity Church make it unusual for a village parish church, and it was the only church in Suffolk to receive five stars in Simon Jenkins' book "England's Thousand Best Churches". The church dates from the reign of Edward the Confessor; it was then substantially rebuilt between 1467 and 1497 by John Clopton of Kentwell Hall. It is one of the richest "wool churches" in East Anglia and is noted for its flushwork, Clopton chantry chapel and the Lady Chapel at the east end, as well as one of the finest collections of medieval stained-glass of any village church in England. Edmund Blunden, the World War I poet, is buried in the churchyard. Next to the church is the Hospital of the Holy and Blessed Trinity, an almshouse founded by William Cordell in 1573 and restored in 1847.

The village contains two stately homes, Kentwell Hall and Melford Hall, both visited by Queen Elizabeth I, and all built from the proceeds of the wool trade in the Middle Ages. Kentwell Hall and Holy Trinity Church were financed by the Clopton family, in particular by John Clopton. Both Kentwell Hall and Melford Hall are open to the general public, with Melford Hall being a National Trust property.

The village has 100 listed buildings, including many of the inns that were built along its main street. The village's history is recorded in the Long Melford Heritage Centre, and contains finds uncovered in the July 2011 Long Melford Dig. There are also displays of old photographs, and ancient finds from the village, including a collection of locally found Roman artefacts.

Melford Hall is a stately home in the village of Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Since 1786 it has been the seat of the Parker Baronets and is still lived in by the Hyde Parker family. Since 1960 it has been owned by the National Trust.

The hall was mostly constructed in the 16th century, incorporating parts of a medieval building held by the abbots of Bury St Edmunds which had been in use since before 1065. It has similar roots to nearby Kentwell Hall.

It passed from the abbots during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was later granted by Queen Mary to Sir William Cordell. From Cordell it passed via his sister to Thomas and Mary Savage before being sold back into another male Cordell line.

James Howell described the hall and garden in the times of Elizabeth Savage, Countess Rivers in a letter in 1619.

During the Stour Valley Riots of 1642 the house was attacked and damaged by an anti-Catholic crowd. In 1786 it was sold to Sir Harry Parker, 6th Baronet, son of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet.

Beatrix Potter was a cousin of the family and was a frequent visitor to the hall from the 1890s onwards.

One wing of the hall was gutted by fire in February 1942 but rebuilt after World War II, retaining the external Tudor brickwork with 1950s interior design.

The hall was first opened to the public in 1955 by Ulla, Lady Hyde Parker. In 1960 it passed to the National Trust. It is generally open on weekend afternoons in April and October, and on afternoons from Wednesday to Sunday during May to September.