Constable Country

Stour Valley

John Constable, was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk, on June 11th 1776, and was the son of Ann and Golding Constable, being the fourth child. His father was a corn merchant who for a time had the tenancy of Flatford Mill. 'Constable Country' as it is commonly called, consists of about twelve square miles of the Stour Valley. Constable described East Bergholt, in a text, accompanying an engraving of the house in which he was born, as follows:-

[it is] pleasantly situated in the most cultivated part of Suffolk, on a part which overlooks the fertile valley of the Stour . . . The beauty of the surrounding scenery, the gentle declivities, the luxuriant meadow flats sprinkled with flocks and herds, and well cultivated uplands the woods and rivers, the numerous scattered villages and churches, with farms and picturesque cottages, all impart to this particular spot an amenity and elegance hardly anywhere else to be found.