WALDRINGFIELD, a parish in the hundred of Carlford, county Suffolk, 4 miles S.E. of Woodbridge, its post town, and 8 from Ipswich. The village is situated on the river Deben. The soil consists of loam near the river, but in other parts is sandy, with a subsoil of sand, crag, and clay, in which coprolites are found. A small trade is carried on in malt, which is shipped from Waldringfield Cliff. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely, value £112. The church is dedicated to All Saints. There is a meeting-house for Anabaptists. The Rev. G. H. Porter is lord of the manor.” From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003
Some material on the Deben as a Waterway – The length of the navigation is about nine miles and a half, and at Woodbridge there are docks for the building of ships and other vessels, besides commodious wharfs and quays; there is also a dock for ship building near Ramsholt, situate about six miles down the river. The tide flows its whole length, and it is free of toll, the principal trade upon it being the import of coal and deals, and the export of the surplus agricultural produce of this part of Suffolk.”
