SUFFOLK, a county of England. Its name is contracted from Southfolk, so called from its situation in regard to Norfolk. It is bounded on the west by Cambridgehire; on the south by Essex, from which it is parted by the river Stour; on the east, by the German ocean; and on the north by Norfolk, separated from it by the lesser Ouse and the Waverley. It is upwards of 40 miles in length; about 25, at a medium, in breadth; and 156 in circumference. It contains 22 hundreds, 32 market-towns, 275 parishes, upwards of 34,000 houses, and more than 200,000 inhabitants. The whole is divided into two parts; viz. the liberty of St Edmund, and the Geldable; the former of which contain the west parts of the county, and the other the east; and there is a grand jury for each at the assizes. The air is reckoned as wholesome and pleasant as any in the kingdom; nor is it otherwise upon the sea coast, which is dry and sandy, and free
from salt-marshes. The soil, except to the west and upon the sea-coast, is very rich, being a compound of clay and marle. Towards the sea there are large heaths and tracts of sand; but these produce hemp, rye, and pease, and feed great flocks of sheep. About Newmarket, the soil is much the same; but in high Suffolk or the woodlands, besides wood, there are very rich pastures, where abundance of cattle are fed. In other parts of the county, as about Bury, there is plenty of corn. As this county is noted for the richness of its pastures, so is it for butter and cheese, especially the former, which is said to be extraordinary fine; so that being packed up in firkins, it is sold for all uses both by sea and land, and conveyed to many parts of England, especially to London. The inland parts of the county are well supplied with wood for fuel, and those upon the sea-coast with coals from Newcastle. The manufactures of the county are chiefly woolen and linen cloth. It lies in the diocese of Norwich; has two archdeacons, viz. of Sudbury and Suffolk; gives title of earl to a branch of the Howards; sends two members to parliament for the county; and two for each of the following places, Ipswich, Dunwich, Orford, Aldborough, Sudbury, Eye, and St Edmund's-Bury. The county is extremely well watered by the following rivers, which either traverse its borders or run across into the German ocean, viz. the Lesser Ouse, the Waverley, the Blythe, the Deben, the Orwell or Gripping, and the Stour.