The ancient market town of Woodbridge was once a major ship building town providing ships for the English fleet fighting the Spanish Armada in 1588 and today there are still many boats in the river, some working but the majority leisure craft.

Just a few miles from the sea at Bawdsey smuggling boats would have travelled up the Deben Estuary to land their bounty in Woodbridge or beyond. Below is an extract from Smuggling in the British Isles: a History by Richard Platt For more detail visit his website www.smuggling.co.uk

The River Deben that laps at the doorstep of Woodbridge was well-used by the smuggling fraternity, though not always with complete success: at Woodbridge Haven in 1739 a smuggler's cutter was stranded by the tide and the preventive services were able to seize brandy and tea. With extraordinary cheek, the smugglers not only raised affidavits for the recovery of their goods, but also contrived to have the master of the grounded cutter that they were using to ferry in the goods press-ganged into serving on HMS Boyne. This of course prevented him testifying against the smugglers.

Martlesham Creek, just a couple of mile from Woodbridge, was used as a waterway for transport of small boat-loads of contraband. Phillip Meadows, rector of Great Bealings, was reputed to have cooperated with the smugglers by leaving his stables unlocked, with the chaise and harness ready. Since the owner of the chaise was so well respected locally — and effectively above suspicion — the smugglers were thus able to travel around the district quite freely, and used the chaise to collect cargoes ferried up Martlesham Creek.

Click here for an introduction to the history of smuggling in Suffolk.