Pre - 1000AD

3500 - 1700 BC - Colonisation of the area by Neolithic farmers.

500 BC - Brandon man is still using stone (flint) tools, despite the advent of the 'Iron Age'.

600 - 700 - North Germans and Scandinavians settle into the region. (Angles)

1000 - 1099

1045 - Edward the Confessor gives Brandon to the Monastery of Ely.

1067 - It is reputed that William I held his court in Brandon before going on to attack Hereward.

1086 - The Doomsday Book mentions a church in Brandon, though this probably pre-dates the present church.

1100 - 1199

1200 - 1299

1300 -1399

1400 - 1499

1445 - The new Lord Mayor of London is Simon Eyre, a native of Brandon.

1485, 22nd August - William Brandon dies at the Battle of Bosworth, Leicestershire.

1500 - 1599

1514 - Charles Brandon, son of William Brandon, born (1484), is created Duke of Suffolk.

1515 - Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk marries Mary Tudor, recent widow of Louis XII of France and sister of Henry VIII.

1523 - Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk leads an invading army into France.

1536 - Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, leads troops against rebels in the Pilgrimage of Grace.

1544 -Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, leads an invasion of France (1544).

1545, 22nd August - Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk dies in Surrey and is interned at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England. One of his grandchildren, from his first marriage, is deemed for infamy, Lady Jane Grey.

1600 -1699

1640 - The wooden bridge near the Ram is repaired at a cost of £40.

1645 - Charles Gerard is created Baron Gerard of Brandon.

1665 - 1670 - A sandstorm took place that almost engulfed Brandon. Some houses were in fact buried and the river silted up with sand for 3 miles though it was still passable.

1679 -Charles Gerard is created Viscount Brandon and Earl of Macclesfield. But these titles become extinct after the death of his second son in 1702.

1700 -1799

1789 - The Fire of Brandon. The fire destroyed thatched cottages in an area of what is now the High Street.

1800 -1899

1801 - Population reaches 1,148.

1816 - The Brandon Riots. On 16th May a crowd of about 200 gather on the Market Hill. Their demand was for cheap bread. Armed with sharpened sticks and a banner proclaiming "Bread or Blood", they destroyed several houses and threatened to march to London.

1838 - Tradition of flint-knapping becomes almost obsolete.

1841 - Population reaches 2,002.

1845 - First railway line through Brandon. Work on the line started at Ely and Norwich and met up at Brandon.

1868 - The Gas Works is erected.

1871 - An outbreak of smallpox causes many deaths after it was brought into the town by an infected tramp.

1873 - The church is restored at a cost of £2,100.

Late 19th Century - Fairs held every year on February 14th, June 11th and November 11th; with a cattle fair at Broomhill, on the Norfolk side of the river, on July 7th.

1900 -1939

1915 -1917 - The Great War, also known as the First World War. Many Brandon men are killed, a Roll of Honour can be found [here].

1922 - The Forestry Commission begins buying land around Brandon for tree planting. The Commission is created due to a concern that trees for wooden props needed for the First World War were in very short supply. 3,149 acres at Elveden Hall.

1923 - 4,944 acres at Downham Hall (Santon Downham) bought by the Forestry Commission.

1924 - 6,208 acres at Lynford. 1,570 acres at Methwold.

1926 - Forestry Commission acquires the Weeting estate.

1939 - Outbreak of World War 2.