Blue Plaques

For many years, the Woodbridge & Melton Society has commemorated notable residents of the towns by a system of blue plaques installed on properties where they lived. The main criteria for this are that people should have been notable nationally in their field, have lived for a significant period of their lives in Woodbridge or Melton and have been dead for at least 20 years. 

The Society invites members and non-members to assist in its Blue Plaque scheme. You can do this by nominating candidates for a Blue Plaque together with reasons why they should be considered. The reasons should relate to the criteria mentioned above. Several possible candidates have already been suggested, viz. Lilian Jane Redstone (1885-1955) – archivist; Enid Blyton (1897-1968) – children’s writer; Anne Knight (1792-1860) – children’s writer; and Francis Light (1740-1794) – explorer. If anyone has information, documentation or suggestions that could assist us in considering these nominations, please do contact us.

New Blue Plaque for Margaret Rope

On Wednesday 15 March 2023 the Society marked its award of a Blue Plaque to Margaret Agnes Rope (1882-1953), the stained-glass artist and nun, who lived and worked in the Carmelite convent in Church St, Woodbridge from 1923-38. The plaque is in the courtyard of 9A Church St which was the entrance for members of the public attending mass at the convent.

Guests included lay members of the successor Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham, Norfolk; the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass and other experts on stained-glass; the Church of the Holy Family and St Michael in Kesgrave – which has several windows by Margaret Rope; locally elected officials; local heritage organisations; and residents of buildings that once formed part of the convent complex.

Caroline Swash spoke about her grandfather Henry Payne, Margaret Rope’s teacher at the Birmingham Municipal School of Art, and why Margaret Rope is considered such an important stained-glass artist. Garry Humphreys, a Church St resident, then described in detail the origins and expansion of the convent and dispelled the notion that ‘no trace of the convent now exists’.

The guests were then invited to see the plaque in situ before attending a tea reception at The Bull Inn on the Market Hill. We would like to thank: the Town Council for their grant and for providing the venue for the event; Mullins Dowse Architects for their help with the Listed Building Planning Application; and the Bull Inn for the tea reception.

Existing Blue Plaques

Bernard Barton (1784-1849)

Barton's Cottage, Cumberland Street

Bernard Barton was a lyric poet, best remembered for his correspondence with many of the leading literary figures of his day and for his close friendship with Edward FitzGerald. He is buried in the Quaker burial ground in Turn Lane, off Church Street.

Thomas Churchyard (1798-1865)

Marston House, 6 Cumberland Street

Thomas Churchyard, a distinguished lawyer who worked at the Suffolk Assizes, was a talented amateur artist of the English landscape school, to which John Constable also belonged. "The variety and freshness of his works put him amongst the most attractive....of English landscape painters of the time." (DoNB).

John Clarkson (1764-1828)

4 Church Street

John Clarkson was the younger brother and active supporter of Thomas Clarkson, the leading campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade. He is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Woodbridge.

Edward FitzGerald (1808-1883)

The Little Grange, Pytches Road

Edward FitzGerald, writer, scholar and translator, is undoubtedly the most famous of the literary figures who lived in Woodbridge during the 19th century. His greatest fame derives from his translation and imaginative adaptation of a collection of 11th century Persian quatrains known as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. He is buried in the churchyard at Boulge, two miles north of Woodbridge.

Norman Heatley (1911-2004)

Orchard House, 99 The Thoroughfare

The discovery of penicillin is rightly attributed to Alexander Fleming in 1928, but he was unable to isolate the active ingredient. This was achieved in 1940 when Professor Howard Florey assembled a team in Oxford that included the young Cambridge graduate Norman Heatley. He was born in Orchard House and lived there during his school and university years. 

Sir Ian Jacob (1899-1993)

The Red House, 44 Cumberland Street

Sir Ian Jacob was a military adviser to the British Government during the Second World War and, later, Director-General of the BBC. After retiring from the BBC in 1960 he prepared the Ismay-Jacob Report on the organisation of UK defence.

Isaac Johnson (1754-1835)

7 Market Hill

Isaac Johnson was a surveyor and topographical artist whose work gives us an invaluable record of the East Anglian countryside two hundred years ago. He died, while still working, at Aldeburgh and is buried in an unmarked grave at St Mary's church behind the house where he lived.

Roger Notcutt (1869-1938)

Notcutts Head Office, Cumberland Street

A pioneer in the horticultural industry, Roger Notcutt started the family nursery business in Woodbridge in 1897. The company won a Gold Medal at the Royal Horticultural Society's first Chelsea Show in 1913. Roger was a leading member of the RHS, President of the Ipswich and East of England Horticultural Society, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and a Woodbridge Councillor and Mayor. 

Edith Pretty (1883-1942)

Tranmer House, Sutton Hoo

In 1937, Edith Pretty instigated and funded the archaeological investigations at Sutton Hoo, as well as providing lodgings and a wage for archaeologist Basil Brown. In 1939, Pretty donated the finds to the nation - this remains the largest gift made to the British Museum during a donor's lifetime. During the 1930s, Pretty also sat as a local magistrate. Both BBC Suffolk and East Anglian Daily Times covered the Blue Plaque unveiling event on Friday 19 August 2022.

Thomas Seckford (1515-1587)

Abbey School, Church Street

Thomas Seckford was a distinguished lawyer who served for 27 years as a Master of the Court of Requests of Queen Elizabeth 1. He was Woodbridge's greatest public benefactor and bequeathed many fine buildings to the town, including the Shire Hall, an almshouse for 13 poor men and a handsome hospital endowed with land he owned in Clerkenwell, London. He is buried in a chapel on the north side of St Mary's Church.