The old quayside is to the south of Sudbury town centre and was built for the barges that bought goods upstream from Flatford and the sea ports of Manningtree and Mistley at the head of the Stour estuary. These ports were as far inland as sea going vessels could get. These boats, called Thames barges, traded with London and other Thames estuary ports from Suffolk and North Essex. They carried hay and corn to London and brought stone, cement and manure back.

The manure generated by the large numbers of horses used in transport and cattle in dairies that were housed in central London in Victorian times. The flat land of the flood-plain was ideal to dredge to create docks and quays next to the gravel river terraces needed to build the warehouses and industrial buildings seen in this picture and on which the town is built.

The medieval development of Sudbury was as a monastic settlement and the site of the monastery, now the cricket ground, can be seen in the top left of this photograph.