One of our oldest buildings is St Stephens Chapel which dates back to 1218 when it was dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Even further back than that, history tells us on Christmas Day 855, Bishop Humbert of Elmham anointed a 14-year-old boy as King of the East Angles. The boy was Edmund, the chosen heir of King Offa, and his coronation was documented at `Burva`.

The chronicler Galfridus de Fontibus also described the coronation as having taken place at "Bures", which is an ancient royal hill. It is the general belief that this was the lonely hilltop, where St Stephen's Chapel now stands.

The centre of the village has many old historic buildings, some dating from the 16th and 17th century. Currently we have registered 75 listed buildings.

During the Victorian era, Bures was an Industrial village, completely self sufficient.

We had our own Tannery, Maltings, Brickworks, Workhouse, Abattoir, Gas Works, Electricity Generator and many other small industries. To keep the workers from suffering from de-hydration we had 8 Public Houses !

Before the coming of the railway in 1849 the transportation of heavy goods such as Bures bricks and malt was undertaken by barge (lighter) along the River Stour down to Mistley. This was immortalised by the paintings of John Constable with his portraits of Flatford Dry Dock and the White Horse etc

As time progressed, the railway had gained a foothold in speed and reliability, consequently the slow river traffic fell into decline and stopped in the early 1900`s

The rail line in its prime, connected Marks Tey to Sudbury and onward to Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds.

Unfortunately, even the railway wasn`t safe, the transportation of goods collapsed as they were diverted away to road haulage and Dr Beechings axe fell during the 1960`s. Fortunately for us, the section between Sudbury, Bures and Marks Tey was left intact, where today it links up with the main line inter-city services to London, Liverpool Street.

Like all villages, we have seen considerable change since those days. Today every plot of land is being developed to satisfy the incoming commuting public. One positive effect has seen the railway line rapidly grow in passenger numbers, which has resulted in millions being spent on upgrading the rail track as well as the introduction of modern rolling stock.

We can offer two Nature Reserves, Arger Fen a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the adjacent Spouses Vale owned by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Back in the 1950`s we boasted something like 50 retailers within the two parishes, which included the pubs, a Co-Op store, Barclays Bank, Blacksmiths and a multitude of small shops providing everything you could possibly require without leaving the village.

Sadly, like many villages, we have seen a decline of those shops over the years and we now only currently support two retailers and a Post Office.

During 2006, the web site took part in a major research project for the popular BBC TV series “Who do you think you are”. The programme in question featured Barbara Windsor (EastEnders fame) whose descendants came from Bures. It culminated in three months research and about one minute of air time !

If you wish to know more about our village visit the web site at:-

This documents the history of the village from circa 1900 up to the present day, currently offering around 200 pages of information which has been gathered over the past five years from local residents.