Some key dates in Beccles history
Beccles is a Market Town with a lot of history. During the medieval period Suffolk was one of the wealthiest counties in the country and Beccles was its third most important town. The following is a list of historic events based on the one displayed in the museum. The events have in some way or another had an impact on the town, some are of a very local nature, others are of national importance. Over time I hope to be able to link many of these dates and titles to articles that tell you more about their importance and impact on the town and its development. To launch the site a few entries have supporting material, they are highlighted, to access them just click on the event.
| 75BC | Trackway built across marsh to the River Waveney |
| 955 | Manor of Beccles given to King Edwy to the monks caring for the shrine of St Edmund at Bury |
| 1066 | Market already established in Beccles |
| 1086 | Domesday Book |
| 1270 | First mention of Leper Hospital at St Mary's |
| 1369 | St Michael's Church built (or maybe rebuilt) |
| 1428 | Seven Beccles people found guilty at heresy trials in Norwich |
| 1455 | South Porch added to St Michael's |
| 1515 | Start of the building of the Bell Tower at St Michael's |
| 1539 | Bury Abbey dissolved |
| 1540 | Fen brought from King Henry VIII by William Rede senior |
| 1542 | William Rede junior buys Manor of Beccles from King Henry VIII |
| 1543 | Town had grant of Fen revoked |
| 1544 | Feoffees inherit the lands of the Guild of the Holy Ghost |
| 1556 | Burning of the three Beccles Martyrs |
| 1577 | St Mary's Church in Endgate taken down. |
| 1584 | Surrender of Fen to Queen Elizabeth I and granting of Royal Charter |
| 1586 | Great Fire of Beccles |
| 1583 | Building of Roos Hall |
| 1605 | James I confirms Royal Charter |
| 1632 | Death of Sir John Leman and founding of a Free School |
| 1640 | Conscripted soldiers at Beccles not paid and unruly. |
| People of Beccles refuse to pay ship money | |
| 1643 | Oliver Cromwell captures Beccles Royalist in Lowestoft. |
| Destruction of paintings and sculptures in St Michael's by William Dowsing | |
| 1673 | St Mary's Hospital Lands given to the town by King Charles II. |
| 1680 | Prison and workhouse built at Beccles |
| 1693 | Smallpox epidemic at Beccles |
| 1699 | Fire destroys 100 Beccles houses |
| 1707 | First mention of London coach |
| 1709 | First mention of Beccles Race course |
| 1710 | Meadows in Beccles Fen enclosed. |
| 1758 | Part of the town is paved |
| 1763 | New peal of ten bells hung in St Michael's Church Tower |
| 1765 | Old Market cross pulled down |
| Town Hall built | |
| 1766 | Banks built along river to prevent Fen flooding |
| 1767 | Opening of Shipmeadow House of Industry |
| 1770 | Fauconberge School established |
| 1771 | 50 Lamps bought to light the Town |
| 1785 | Assembly Rooms (now Public Hall) built |
| 1787 | New prison built |
| 1799 | Town gets its first Fire Engine |
| 1807 | First Police Officer appointed |
| 1812 | Independent Chapel built in Hungate |
| 1822 | Medical Dispensary in Hungate opens |
| 1823 | Blyburgate burial ground consecrated |
| 1832 | River Waveney deepened and Quay built |
| 1835 | Beccles Public library established |
| 1836 | Abolition of corporation of Beccles Fen and election of first Beccles Town Council |
| 1837 | Gasworks built near Quay |
| National School built in Newgate | |
| 1844 | Beccles Theatre closes and building becomes Corn Exchange |
| 1847 | James Hill and Jeremy the shoemaker rewarded for helping suppress a riot |
| 1853 | 100 men needed to clear snow from Beccles streets |
| 1854 | Opening of Beccles Railway (Halesworth to Haddiscoe) |
| 1856 | Steam pump installed on Fen |
| Beccles Working Men's Institute founded | |
| 1857 | Restoration of St Michael's |
| 1859 | Lowestoft and Yarmouth railway line to Ipswich opened |
| 1860 | Baptist Church built |
| 1861 | Development of Station Road |
| 1863 | Waveney Valley Railway opens |
| 1865 | National School built in Ravensmere |
| Quarter sessions moved from Beccles to Ipswich | |
| 1867 | Crisps Maltings built next to Railway station |
| 1868 | Elizabethan Manor House in Newgate demolished |
| Caxton Press built | |
| 1870 | Beccles Waterworks built |
| 1871 | Beccles Soup Kitchen for the poor opens |
| 1873 | First sewage system built |
| 1874 | Hospital in Fair Close built |
| 1884 | Old Bridge replaced by Iron Bridge |
| 1889 | Commissioning of St Benet's |
| 1894 | The new Bathing Place opens in Puddingmoor |
| 1914 | The First World War |
| 1924 | Beccles and District War Memorial Hospital opens |
| 1939 | The Second World War |
| 1972 | Beccles Borough Council buys St Michael's Bell Tower |
| 1973 | Beccles Borough Council abolished, Waveney District Council formed. |
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