Brandon is atown andcivil parish in theEnglish county ofSuffolk.^[1][2] Brandon is located in theBreckland area of Suffolk in the extreme north-west of the county, close to the adjoining county ofNorfolk. It lies between the towns ofBury St Edmunds,Thetford,Mildenhall,Downham Market and the city ofEly.^[3] The town is almost entirely surrounded byThetford Forest.^[4]

Brandon
Town square
Brandon Location withinSuffolk
Population	9,225 (2021 Census)
District	West Suffolk
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRANDON
Postcode district	IP27
Dialling code	01842
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	West Suffolk
Website	Official website
List of places UK England Suffolk 52°26′51″N0°37′27″E / 52.4474°N 0.6242°E /52.4474; 0.6242

Best known throughout the ages for itsflint industry, Brandon was also one of theBrecks-area towns where soldiers trained during World Wars I and II.^[5][4] The town has had a sizeable Polish population since the end of the Second World War, when PolishAllied soldiers were resettled under thePolish Resettlement Act of 1947.^[6][7]

Brandon, likely "hill wherebroom grows", has been variously referred to as Brandona, Braundon, Brandones Ferye, Brandon Ferry, Brand, and Bromdum throughout history.^[4][8] The earliest known spelling was in the 11th century when the town, gradually expanding up and along the rising ground of the river valley, was called Bromdun.^[9] The town was originally developed as a crossing point for theLittle Ouse River.^[4]

Fromprehistoric times the area was mined forflint as can be seen atGrime's Graves, aNeolithic flint mining complex.^[10] At Staunch Meadow in the 1980s, archaeologists uncovered aMiddle Saxon settlement thought to have been active from the mid 7th century to the late 9th century. At least thirty-five buildings were excavated.^[5][4] In theMiddle Ages, the town had a majorrabbit fur industry,^[11] which thrived until the 1950s.^[12] Brandon was still a major centre for the production ofgunflints by theNapoleonic Wars.^[4][10][13]

Brandon's Great Fire occurred on 14 May 1789.^[14][15] A fire started at the surgeon's home from either a lightning strike^{[citation needed]} or by hot ash embers being blown onto the thatched roof of a wooden shed by the wind.^[16] It quickly spread to the surrounding properties,^{[citation needed]} in part due to the absence of enough able-bodied young men to contain the fire, as many were at a fair day in nearbyThetford.^[16] Eleven houses were damaged and 8 of them were completely destroyed.^{[citation needed]} The hardest hit was Francis Diggon, thesaddler,^[16] who lost all of his property and possessions, costing a total of 381 pounds, 2 shillings.^{[citation needed]}

During both world wars, theBrecks, including Brandon, Thetford, andElveden, were used as military training grounds, in part due to the easy access from London via rail. Under thePolish Resettlement Act of 1947, displaced Polish men who fought for theAllies and their families werepermitted to live in resettlement camps, where they were given industry training. Once finished, many of these families permanently settled in the Brecks area.^[6] TheUS Army Air Force's3rd Air Division set up a makeshift base, Camp Blainey, in Brandon for the duration of World War II.^[17] Some Polish families displaced during the war chose to remain in Brandon and surrounding areas, where they had been living in displacement camps, when they found they were unable to return home.^[7] In 1968, theGreater London Council began developing public housing in Brandon, resulting in further expansion of the town.^[4] Brandon is adjacent toRAF Lakenheath, aRoyal Air Force station in use since World War I.^[18][19] American families also lived in and around the town during theCold War.^{[citation needed]}

TheDomesday Book records that the Manor of Brandon in 1086 had 25 households;^[5][11] by 1251, the population had increased to 39 households.^[5] As of the 2021 census, there was a population of 9,225 people, up from 9,145 in 2011 and 8,256 in 2001. The median age in 2021 was 44.^[18][2]

Brandon Town Community FC has squads for community members ages five and up. The squads regularly compete in more than four leagues, including Ipswich & Suffolk Youth League, Norfolk Youth Combine League, Norfolk Women's, and Norfolk Youth Combined U15.^[20][21] The town football squad was previously the Brandon Lads and Lasses AFC.^[22] Brandon also has alawn bowls club, Brandon Town Bowling Club, which was founded in 1949 and plays outdoors in the summer.^[23]

The town is home toBrandon Country Park^[24] and is a short distance fromHigh Lodge which hosts musical gigs in the summer.^[25] In 2014 the volunteer group Brandon in Bloom, later Brandon in Bloom CIC, was established to green up the open spaces around the town.^{[citation needed]} In 2018 the group enteredAnglia in Bloom for the first time and was awarded Silver Gilt and Best Newcomer, followed by Gold in 2019. Bloom judging ceased during thelockdown period and upon restarting in 2022 Brandon managed Gold and Best in Class for the Jubilee Display, Gold for Best Garden for special needs with their Friendly Bench and George St Rose garden; and Best Town.^[26] In 2023, they won seven accolades and were chosen to represent Anglia inBritain in Bloom in the town category, for which they won Gold.^[27]

In 1810 resident Joseph Smedley was hiring a building for use as a theatre at a cost of fiveGuineas.^[28] Brandon's first permanent cinema was brought to the town by Stanley Lingwood in 1917 after he was pensioned out of the Army due to a severe hand wound sustained atthe Somme. He purchased the cinema fromShropshire and erected it between the family home, Avenue House, and the Church Institute, along Victoria Avenue. It was a wooden building, which he called the Electric Palace,^[29] and it stayed in his possession until December 1933. At that time, he sold it to aKing's Lynn businessman^{[citation needed]} named Ben Culey, who had a cinema in neighbouringThetford. Six months after Culey purchased the cinema it burnt to the ground. In February 1935 he opened another cinema on the site, which he named AVENUE. This new cinema was state of the art with the very latest projector, sound and acoustics.^[30] It proved very popular during the Second World War.^{[citation needed]} He sold the theatre to Breckland Cinemas Ltd. in 1965 and by 1966 the building was half-cinema, half-bingo hall. The building became vacant in 2007 and was demolished in 2021.^[31][32]

As of 2024, Brandon has four schools: three primary, Forest Academy, Glade Academy, and Weeting Church of England Primary School; and one High School, Breckland School. There is also a children's centre, Brandon Family Hub, run by theSuffolk County Council.^[33][34]

There are six churches in Brandon: Ascension Church, Brandon Church of Christ, Brandon Baptist Church, Brandon Methodist Church, Church of St Peter and St Thomas of Canterbury.^[35] The Church of St Peter is aGrade I listed building of medieval origin and was restored in 1873.^[36][4]

Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC East andITV Anglia. Television signals are received from either theTacolneston orSandy Heath TV transmitters.^[37][38] It is also possible to receive reception from theBelmont TV transmitter which broadcastsBBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire andITV Yorkshire.^[39]

Local radio stations areBBC Radio Suffolk,^[40]Heart East,Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk,^{[citation needed]} andRWSfm, a community-based station which broadcast fromBury St Edmunds.^[41]

The town is served by the local newspaper,The Thetford and Brandon Times, which publishes on Wednesdays.^[42]

Brandon is situated on theA1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road and serves as the main route betweenKing's Lynn and London.^[4][43] It often suffers severe congestion^[44][4] due to large amounts of commuter traffic, holiday traffic travelling to the Norfolk Coast and^{[citation needed]}HGVs.^[45] Several bus routes pass through the town as well. Regular bus services operate from Brandon to the neighbouring towns ofBury St. Edmunds,Mildenhall andThetford. There are also infrequent services (at school and shopping times) toDownham Market,King's Lynn andNorwich.^[46][47]

As of February 2023^[update] there is typically one train per hour toNorwich and one toStansted Airport viaCambridge, operated byGreater Anglia.^[48]Brandon railway station has an hourly service toCambridge andEly to the West and to Thetford andNorwich in the East.^[49]

Flowing in an easterly direction, theLittle Ouse river isnavigable through the town.^[50]

• Charles Crawley (1908–1935), cricketer
• Margaret Gentle Harwood (c 1925–2004), educator
• Derek Harrison (born 1959), speedway rider
• Adam Marriott (born 1991), footballer
• Natasha Preston (born 1988), novelist
• Rodney Rought-Rought (1908–1979), cricketer

• Official website