Lowestoft
Lowestoft (/ˈloʊ(ɪ)stɒft, ˈloʊstəf/ LOH-(ih)-stoft, LOH-stəf) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.[2] As the most easterly UK settlement, it is 110 miles (177 km) north-east of London, 38 miles (61 km) north-east of Ipswich and 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Norwich, and the main town in its district. The estimated population in the built-up area exceeds 70,000.[1] Its development grew with the fishing industry and as a seaside resort with wide sandy beaches. As fishing declined, oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea in the 1960s took over. While these too have declined, Lowestoft is becoming a regional centre of the renewable energy industry.
Lowestoft
Governance[edit]
Lowestoft is the major settlement in the East Suffolk district. It lost its status as a municipal borough in 1974, but retained a ceremonial mayor elected annually by its district councillors and acting as charter trustees until 2017.[18] Suffolk County Council is the county authority. A civil parish of Lowestoft was created on 1 April 2017, governed by Lowestoft Town Council, which elects a town mayor annually.[19][20]
The town is part of the Waveney parliamentary constituency, represented at Westminster by the Conservative Peter Aldous. Former MPs include Bob Blizzard, David Porter and Jim Prior, a cabinet minister and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the Thatcher governments. Prior also represented the earlier constituency of Lowestoft. For European Union elections, Lowestoft lay in the East of England constituency.
Before 1 April 2019, Lowestoft as part of Waveney District Council was divided into ten electoral wards, with Carlton Colville treated as a separate electoral area. Harbour, Kirkley, Normanston, Pakefield, St Margarets and Whitton wards elected three councillors each, and Carlton, Gunton and Corton, Oulton and Oulton Broad wards two.[21] Of the 48 council seats in the district, 26 represented wards within Lowestoft and 3 Carlton Colville. In 2010 the council changed to a system of all seats being elected every four years.[22]
On 1 April 2019, governance arrangements for Lowestoft changed with the merger of Waveney and Suffolk Coastal District Councils to form a new district council of East Suffolk. Elections were held on 2 May 2019 for the six new Lowestoft wards. The seats, 14 in all, are allocated to Carlton and Whitton (2), Gunton and St. Margarets (2), Harbour and Normanston (3), Kirkley and Pakefield (3), Lothingland (1), and Oulton Broad (3). There are also changes to wards adjacent to Lowestoft.[23] After the inaugural 2019 East Suffolk District Council election of 2 May, eight of the 14 Lowestoft seats over the six new wards went to the Conservatives and six to Labour.
On Suffolk County Council, Lowestoft and its district are represented by eight councillors, split equally between four divisions: Gunton, Lowestoft South, Oulton and Pakefield.[24] For county council elections, held every four years, Pakefield division includes Carlton Colville. After the 2017 election, seven of Lowestoft's county councillors represented the Conservatives and one Labour. In 2018, one Conservative councillor left the party and became an Independent.[25][26]
Demography[edit]
Lowestoft is Suffolk's second largest town after Ipswich, with an estimated population of 58,560 in 2010.[37][38] The wider urban area, brought the estimated population of the built-up area to 73,755 in 2018 from 68,850 at the 2001 census.[39] The towns wider urban area includes the suburbs and villages of Carlton Colville, Gunton, Pakefield, Oulton, Oulton Broad and Kirkley. Other outlying villages in the urban area include Blundeston, Corton, Gisleham, Kessingland and Somerleyton.
About 10 per cent of the area population at the 2001 census was aged 75 or over and 20 per cent under 16.[38] In general the population of several wards is slightly skewed towards the elderly. The population is mainly classed as "white", with minority ethnicities making up 1.4 per cent, compared with 8.7 per cent nationally.[40][41][42][43][44][45]
At the 2001 census there were 27,777 households, giving an average household size of 2.40.[38] In total 8,430 (30 per cent) were classified as one-person households, while 26 per cent included children aged 15 or under.[38] The proportion of households without a private car was 29 per cent, whilst 22 per cent had two or more. In housing tenure, 72 per cent of homes were owner-occupied.[38]
Landmarks[edit]
Ness Point[edit]
Ness Point, the most easterly location in the United Kingdom, is located in the town close to a 126-metre wind turbine, known locally as Gulliver.[104] At the time it was completed it was the country's tallest.[105]
At the most easterly point is a large compass rose, the Euroscope, set in the ground to give the direction and distance to various cities in Europe.[106]
Sparrows Nest[edit]
Belle Vue Park (Sparrows Nest) is the site of the Royal Naval Patrol Service memorial. The central depot for the service was in Lowestoft when it was mobilised in August 1939, on a site known as Sparrow's Nest, adjacent to the memorial. The memorial has the names of the 2,385 members of the service who died in World War II.[17] Prior to this, it was the site of the "North Battery", which stood on the cliff and was constructed in around 1782.It was a four sided bastion set back from the cliff edge, housing four 18-pounder canon, with a guardhouse and magazine to the rear. All traces are now gone, minus two cannons with are now mounted around the memorial.[107]
Education[edit]
Lowestoft has several primary and high schools, including four 11–16 high schools: Benjamin Britten Academy, Ormiston Denes Academy, East Point Academy and Pakefield High School.[121] After reorganisation, all eight middle schools in the town closed in 2011 and Pakefield High School opened.[122] Post-16 education is provided at Lowestoft Sixth Form College, which opened in September 2011 as part of the reorganisation, and at East Coast College (Lowestoft Campus), which offers a range of academic and vocational courses.
East Coast College (Lowestoft Campus) provides some higher education courses through an affiliation to the University of Suffolk.[123] Degrees were initially validated by the University of East Anglia and the University of Essex[124] but are now validated by the University of Suffolk. The college also has courses in boat building and some to support the offshore and maritime industries that are major employers in the town.[125] Other adult education courses are run by the County Council from a base at the town library.[126]
Sport and leisure[edit]
Lowestoft's sport clubs and facilities include Lowestoft Town Football Club at Crown Meadow and Kirkley & Pakefield Football Club at Walmer Road. Lowestoft Cricket Club plays at the Denes Oval sport ground.[127] Other sport clubs include Waveney Gymnastics club[128] and Rookery Park Golf Club.[129]
Lowestoft and Yarmouth rugby football club[130] also has its Gunton Park home based in Lowestoft. Founded in 1879, it is one of the oldest rugby union clubs in England.
East Coast Hockey Club[131] is the town's field hockey side formed in 2019 as a result of a merger between Lowestoft Railway Hockey Club and Lowestoft Ladies Hockey Club. They play their home matches at East Point Academy.
The town's main leisure centre, the Waterlane Leisure Centre, was redeveloped at a cost of £8 million in 2010–2011.[132][133] Facilities include a gym and climbing wall as well as a 25-metre swimming pool with a movable floor.[132][134] Lowestoft has a number of parks and recreation grounds.[135]
The Broads national park extends to Lowestoft on Oulton Broad. Water activities and boat tours can be taken here. Powerboat racing takes place throughout the summer, mainly on Thursday evenings.[136] Fixtures are organised by the Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club and can attract up to 1500 spectators.[136][137] The Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club has its club house in Lowestoft harbour.[138]
Notable people[edit]
The Elizabethan pamphleteer Thomas Nashe, a father of modern journalism and a primary source for the literary milieux of William Shakespeare, was born in Lowestoft in 1567.[139] Robert Potter, poet and translator of Greek drama, was Vicar of Lowestoft until 1804. The 19th-century writer and traveller George Borrow lived at Oulton Broad for many years and wrote most of his books there. Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Alderson also lived at Oulton Broad, on a houseboat, and died in 1927 at the since-demolished Royal Hotel in Lowestoft, where he had been staying for his last month.[140]
Admiral Sir John Ashby, who commanded HMS Victory at the Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue in 1692, grew up in Suffolk and is buried in Lowestoft. A memorial is sited in St Margaret's Church. Admiral Sir Thomas Allin, a commander at the Battle of Lowestoft on 13 June 1665 was awarded a knighthood on 24 June and appointed an Admiral of the Blue squadron. He lived in a family house in High Street until his victories enabled him to move to a grander country residence, Somerleyton Hall. Vice Admiral James Dacres fought in wars against America in the 19th century and was born in the town. Claud Castleton VC of the Australian Army was born in Kirkley and Captain Thomas Crisp V.C., Royal Navy officer, was born in the town – one of the town's main roads is named after him. Robert William Hook, coxswain at the RNLI in Lowestoft from 1853 to 1883 and who has been credited with saving more than 600 lives in his career, with Lowestoft RNLI and with private companies. He was born in Lowestoft, lived and worked there all his life, and is buried in Lowestoft Cemetery.
Sir Samuel Morton Peto, bought Somerleyton Hall in 1843 and has one of the town's main roads named after him. He was influential in developing the town's railway links and harbour. Sir Christopher Cockerell, inventor of the hovercraft, lived at Oulton Broad, and tested craft in Somerleyton at Fritton Lake. The astronomer Fiammetta Wilson was born in the town in 1864, with a birth name of Helen Francis Worthington. Economist Sir Dennis Holme Robertson was born in Lowestoft in 1890. He was educated on a scholarship at Eton, and read Classics and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge before teaching at Cambridge University, working closely with Keynes. The philanthropist Howard Hollingsworth, co-founder of Bourne & Hollingsworth Department Store, visited Lowestoft in 1908 and later bought and renovated the burnt-out Briar Clyffe House and grounds on Gunton Cliff.[141] He became a Lowestoft benefactor, and on the death of his friend Nicholas Everitt, bought his estate at Oulton Broad and gave it to Lowestoft for a public park.[142] He was made the first Freeman of the Borough of Lowestoft in 1929.[141] Roland Aubrey Leighton, fiancé of Vera Brittain, immortalised in her WW1 autobiography Testament of Youth, lived with his family at Heather Cliff on Gunton Cliff.
The composer Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft in 1913. He has been called "without a doubt the greatest English classical composer of the last century"[143] and "the only person of real celebrity to have emerged from darkest Lowestoft."[144] The Benjamin Britten High School and a small town shopping centre are named after him. The artist Mark Burrell (born in Lowestoft in 1957) has a studio in the town and often features Lowestoft's landmarks and local people in his paintings. He is a leading member of the North Sea Magical Realists.
The children's author and illustrator Michael Foreman, born in 1938, spent his childhood in Pakefield, where his mother kept a grocer's shop.[144] He went to Pakefield Primary School, and played on Hilly Green – stories of which are recorded in his book War Boy. The author and illustrator James Mayhew lived in the town and studied at Lowestoft School of Art. Photographer George Davison was also born in Lowestoft. Jayne-Marie Barker, author of the Inspector Allen mysteries, grew up at Oulton Broad and has used Lowestoft as an inspiration for her books.[145] Author Mark Dawson was born in the town.
The comedian and actor Karl Theobald was born in Lowestoft, as were BBC Radio 4 newsreader and television presenter Zeb Soanes and DJ and BBC radio presenter Tim Westwood. Historian and author Ivan Bunn was born in Kirkley and still resides in Lowestoft. Three founder members of The Darkness rock band were educated in Kirkley (Namely Justin Hawkins, his brother Dan Hawkins and Ed Graham.) Some of their songs feature local landmarks or stories such as “Black Shuck”.[144] Lil' Chris featured in Channel 4's Rock School, filmed at Kirkley high school (now East Point Academy) and went on to a musical career. Leanne Mitchell, winner of the first The Voice UK series, lives in the town.[146]
Sports people associated with Lowestoft include the England football captain Terry Butcher, who was educated there, and Peter Wright, a Darts World Champion who spent formative years there. Others include former Ipswich Town goalkeeper Laurie Sivell, Norwich City defenders Paul Haylock and Daryl Sutch, former football player and manager Richard Money, New York Mets pitcher Les Rohr and Olympic Bronze medal-winning middleweight boxer Anthony Ogogo.