BUNGAY has been named in a list of the top 50 towns in the country.It is an unofficial list with only the top 10 in order of choice, but is there alongside such places at Arundel in Sussex, Moreton-in-the-Marsh in Gloucester, Richmond, Oundle and Cheltenham - and the accolade has been welcomed by the town's leaders.

BUNGAY has been named in a list of the top 50 towns in the country.

It is an unofficial list with only the top 10 in order of choice, but is there alongside such places at Arundel in Sussex, Moreton-in-the-Marsh in Gloucester, Richmond, Oundle and Cheltenham - and the accolade has been welcomed by the town's leaders.

The list has been compiled by the Daily Telegraph in its property supplement, published on Saturday, which says “Britain's finest country towns sparkle like precious stones in the property market; beacons of prosperity, enterprise and aspiration.

“They are the settings for some of our most unusual shops, our greatest novels, our agricultural highs and lows. They are the heartbeat of the countryside.”

And the votes have come from estates agents up and down the country. For the “long list of the 50 finest,” which includes Bungay, the daily paper canvassed more than 100 agents and picked the brains of experts around the country, and also consulted books on English towns by architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor.

Bungay's place in the list was well deserved, according to Town Reeve Martin Evans this week.

“It seems even a national newspaper has picked us up as being among the best 50 towns to live in - but we knew that. This can only be good for tourism, and let's continue to build on it.”

Mr Evans said Bungay's heritage and its proximity to the coast and Broads, and handy large towns helped to make it a thriving small market town, and it was safe.

He has been in Bungay nine years and he said: “As one gets to settle in one realises how active local societies and organisations are. There is something for everybody.”

The Mayor, John Groom said the accolade was good news for Bungay and puts it on the map.

“The more people that hear about us, the better it is for shops and tourism,” he said. “This area of the country is looked on as a nice place to live, quiet but reasonably accessible. House prices are not horrendous and it is fairly commutable.”

The Telegraph's criteria for its list were that towns had to be shaped by history, dominated by a castle, abbey or a spectacular natural backdrop. Each has to be master of its own outstanding landscape, a place where specialist shops have not been obliterated by chain stores.

“It has to have a handsome church or market square that serves as a focal point. It may tinkle with money, smart frock shops and foodie specialists, and be a place where sports clubs and poetry groups thrive. Although it may have a large supermarket, it will be self-sufficient in banks, doctors and local stores. It will be padded with pretty Georgian or Victorian houses - a neatly wrapped package to delight the eye.”

Clearly it feels Bungay meets those criteria.

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