Boxford is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located around six miles east of Sudbury straddling the River Box and skirted by the Holbrook. The parish includes the hamlets of Calais Street, Hagmore Green and Stone Street. In 2021 the built-up area had a population of 833.^[1] In 2021 the parish had a population of 1403.^[2] The parish borders Assington, Edwardstone, Groton, Kersey, Newton and Polstead.^[3] There are 87 listed buildings in Boxford.^[4] Boxford became a conservation area in 1973.^[5]

Quick Facts Area, Population ...

Boxford
St. Mary's Church, Boxford
Boxford Location within Suffolk
Area	0.5143 km2 (0.1986 sq mi)
Population	833 (2021)
• Density	1,620/km2 (4,200/sq mi)
District	Babergh
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sudbury
Postcode district	CO10
Dialling code	01787 21
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	South Suffolk
Website	www.boxfordsuffolk.com
List of places UK England Suffolk 52.033°N 0.867°E / 52.033; 0.867

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According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is "the ford where box trees grow".^[6] During the Middle Ages, Boxford was a wool town.^[7]

A electoral ward with the same name existed until 2019.^[10] The population of this ward stretched north to Milden with a total population of 2,170.^[11]

Boxford was in the Babergh hundred, from 1894 until 1974 it was in Cosford Rural District in the administrative county of West Suffolk.^[12] In 1974 it became part of Babergh non-metropolitan district in the non-metropolitan county of Suffolk.

As part of the American Bicentennial celebrations the townspeople of Boxford, Massachusetts, visited the villages of Boxford (there are three) in England during 1975 looking for the source of the name of their own village and decided that Boxford in Suffolk was likely to be where the name of their own town came from.

As a result of this the villagers of Boxford, Suffolk, were invited to Boxford, MA, the following summer. This drew attention from the media: the Evening Standard incorporated a photograph of the villagers in a centre-page spread in one of their November 1975 editions, and a TV crew led by Bernard Falk for the BBC Nationwide programme accompanied the villagers when they left for a two-week stay on 23 July 1976. A TWA Boeing 707 was hired which flew the villagers from London Heathrow to Boston Logan, from where they were bussed to Boxford, MA, and dispersed amongst receiving families.^[13][14]

There are two pubs in Boxford: The Fleece, (a 16th-century grade II* listed coaching inn)^[15] and the White Hart. Boxford has a church called St Mary's which is Grade I listed^[16] and a primary school.^[17]

Riddelsdell Brothers was established here in 1900 and is believed to be Europe's oldest recorded working garage.^[18]

Copella fruit juices are made at orchards at Hill Farm on the outskirts of Boxford.

• Robert Coe (1596–1689), early settler of New England.
• John Kingsbury (?–1660), a representative of Dedham, Massachusetts to the Great and General Court in 1647, originally from Boxford.
• Joseph Kingsbury (1600–1676), early settler and selectman in Dedham, Massachusetts.
• Elinor Bellingham-Smith (1906–1988), painter of landscapes and still life.
• Hardiman Scott (1920–1999), journalist, broadcaster and writer. He served as the BBC's first political editor, from 1970 to 1975.