Secret Bungay

The jewel in Waveney’s crown, Bungay is a small market town in Suffolk that owes its sparkling title to both its rich heritage of historic buildings and its superb setting poised above the lovely water meadows of the River Waveney. Chosen by Roman and then Saxon invaders as an ideal strategic centre, it was dominated after the Norman Conquest by Earl Hugh Bigod, who firmly established its importance by building one of the most powerful castles in the kingdom. The town continued to prosper throughout the medieval period with its extensive river trade, agriculture, and cloth and leather industries. Despite suffering the Black Death, an attack by the notorious Black Dog, and the ‘Great Fire’ of 1688, Bungay bounced back and became such a popular and fashionable resort in the Georgian period that it was nicknamed ‘Little London’. Secret Bungay delves into the town’s hidden past in this interesting approach to its history, exploring the town’s secret and forgotten events.