Bacton, Suffolk

Bacton is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of Stowmarket. The village appeared as 'Bachetuna' in the Domesday Book and the area appears to have been settled at least since Roman times.

Bacton village sign with Village Hall in background

Bacton
Bacton Location within Suffolk
Population	1,228 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	TM0567
District	Mid Suffolk
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	STOWMARKET
Postcode district	IP14
Dialling code	01449
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Needham Market

At the centre of the village is the Twelfth Century church of St Mary the Virgin, featuring a medieval wall painting. Nearby is a doctors' surgery, a primary school Bacton Primary, and an under-fives preschool, but Bacton Middle School closed in 2015 as the local authority abandoned the three-tier education system. Housing in the village is a mixture of many well-preserved centuries-old listed buildings including the 18th century Grade II* listed Bacton Manor, alongside newer individual and estate-type properties with a large proportion of bungalows. During the last thirty years there has been little new development other than occasional infill construction, but several new housing developments have now been applied for and some already approved; up to 300 new houses may be built in the next few years with a potential to almost double the population.

Community facilities include a village hall built at the end of the nineteenth century, and community groups include a bowls club, Bacton United football club with a large number of teams, Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies and Rainbows and various other clubs and societies. There's also a 16th C public house, the Bull at Bacton with a restaurant area and regular live music.

For a village of only around 1200 people, Bacton is surprisingly well served by businesses. In the heart of the village is Shop Green with a Londis general store and post office, and a petrol and service station for car sales, servicing and repairs (Lamberts Service Station). On the Northern outskirts of the village is a new-car dealership (Jefferies), and within its showroom a shop selling country clothing and Steiff collectable teddybears; also on the site is the brewery shop of the Humber Doucy Brewing Company, located elsewhere in the village. Further along the B1113 and still in Bacton is Finbow's Yard, a small trading estate which is home to a range of businesses including car sales, furniture store, white goods dealer and repairer, hairdressers, the Heart of Suffolk Distillery (home of Betty's Gin) and a large hardware store and builders merchants, with its builders yard across the road in Cotton, alongside Emzo's gift shop & coffee shop.

The Great Eastern Main Line railway between London and Norwich runs through the east end of the village, but Finningham railway station and its goods yard, which was situated in Bacton, was closed in the Beeching cuts of the sixties and only the station building remains, now a private house. However rail access to London via the nearby town of Stowmarket in 80 minutes has encouraged an influx of townies into what was previously a very localised community. The village has enjoyed a regular bus service till now but this is soon to be cut to a minimum or removed altogether, forcing people without cars to rely on taxis or very limited community transport. Larger modern housing exists alongside typical Suffolk cottage type property.

The parish of Bacton includes the village, the adjoining hamlet of Earl's Green and the outlying settlements of Bacton Green, Canham's Green, Cow Green and Ford's Green. Together with Tailor's Green and Shop Green within Bacton village, the parish has seven registered village greens. A Parish Plan was produced in 2009.

Outside the Londis shop there is a small pond which can freely be fished for goldfish, roach, koi and mirror carp. The koi average around five pounds, while there is allegedly a large mirror carp of twenty pounds in the pond.

The village hall is located just across the road from the church and is a regular meeting place for the village's Brownies and Rainbows. The Pre-School group has its own adjacent premises. The church also has a community room with kitchen facilities used by some village groups.

Bacton United '89 FC opened their new facilities in July 2010 at Brickwall meadow on Broad Road. There are two adult sized pitches, a junior pitch and a clubhouse. The adult first team, reserves and 'A' team all play in the Suffolk & Ipswich football league and share the use of the main pitches. There are also several junior teams of all age groups playing at Brickwall meadow and other local pitches. The 1st Team at Bacton won the Suffolk Junior Cup in both 2010-11 season and more recently in 2017. The clubhouse is another location available for hire for social occasions, with a well-equipped bar.