Flatford

 Flatford is a hamlet on the southern edge of the parish of East Bergholt in Suffolk. The parish is just over 3000 acres and was established in Anglo Saxon times. It was divided into four manors with Old Hall Manor the principal manor containing part of Flatford hamlet. It is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1084 as the royal parish of ‘Bercolt’, it being held as the personal property of the king. East Suffolk is mainly an agricultural area and, until the mid 16^th century, was very involved with cloth making.

Flatford is  an area of outstanding natural beauty, famous for its historical connections with John Constable RA. Constable was born in nearby East Bergholt. He spent his childhood in Suffolk where his father owned Flatford Water Mill, East Bergholt Windmill and two sea-going barges transporting goods between Mistley Wharf and London. On this website you can find out more about John Constable and his life at Flatford as a child and young man. You can learn about his parents, brothers and sisters, how he struggled as an artist, how he fell in love, his large family and tragic death of his young wife. In a letter to his close friend John Fisher, Constable said ‘I should paint my own places best’. John Constable knew Flatford in the Dedham Vale best.

Discover John Constable’s places through his paintings of his childhood home including:

• Flatford Mill – Grade 1 listed watermill
  • Before the Constables
  • Under the Constables
  • After the Constables 
• Willy Lott’s House – Grade 1 listed building
• Valley Farm – Grade 1 listed building
• Bridge Cottage – Grade 2 listed building

Constable’s most famous landscape is The Haywain which depicts horses and a vehicle crossing the mill pond at Flatford Mill with Willy Lott’s House in full view. The landscapes Constable painted are much the same today as they were then, unspoiled and beautifully maintained by a variety of organisations including the National Trust, River Stour Trust, the Field Studies Council, RSPB and the Environment Agency.