Dedham: The Heart of Constable Country
Dedham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Colchester, Essex, situated on the south bank of the River Stour, which forms the natural border between Essex and Suffolk. It lies approximately 4 miles west of Manningtree and 7 miles northeast of Colchester.
The village is recorded in the Domesday Book and was, through much of the late medieval period, a prosperous centre of the wool and cloth trade. The wealth generated by this industry funded the building of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, begun in 1492, whose massive Caen stone and flint tower remains a defining landmark of the surrounding valley. Elizabeth I founded Dedham Grammar School in 1575, attracting prosperous families to the village. In 1582–1587, the Dedham Classis — a clandestine Presbyterian group — was active in the area, and in 1635 a group of dissenters emigrated from Dedham to found the town of Dedham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, now part of the Boston metropolitan area.
Dedham is most celebrated as the home village of John Constable (1776–1837), one of England's greatest landscape painters. Though born in nearby East Bergholt, Constable attended Dedham Grammar School and walked daily along the River Stour, whose meadows inspired many of his most celebrated works. The Dedham Vale was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1969. The village is also associated with Sir Alfred Munnings (1878–1959), equestrian painter and President of the Royal Academy, whose home — Castle House — is now the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum, housing the world's largest collection of his work.
Points of interest: - Population: Approx. 1,800 inhabitants (ward 2011 census: 2,943). - Distance: 4 miles west of Manningtree; 7 miles northeast of Colchester. - Attractions: St Mary's Church (1492), Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum, Dedham Art & Craft Centre, River Stour walks, Flatford Mill (National Trust, 1 mile downstream).