When people describe this place as ‘Constable country’, it’s no bragging in the Suffolk village of Brantham. John Constable not only painted the altarpiece at St Michael’s Church, he married the rector’s daughter and produced his most famous work, The Hay Wain, at Flatford Mill, an hour’s walk up the River Stour.
But there has been little talk of Constable in recent weeks. Visitors are now referring to another cultural landmark, which is angering Brantham residents.
“We’re not Midsomer. What’s happened here is completely outside our experience,” says district councillor Alastair McCraw, dismissing any comparison with the equally picturesque but serial killing setting of ITV drama series Midsomer Murders.
Yes, Brantham is a pretty, rural town (dare I say ‘quiet’, though that may be due to the scorching heat when I arrive), but it remains absolutely shocked and horrified by the type of crime that has recently landed it in the headlines.
“The last murder here took place over 150 years ago and people are still talking about it,” McCraw said. “We are now a community united in solidarity with a family who have lost a much-loved mother and grandmother.”
Anita Rose, 57, was killed near St Michael’s Church in Brantham. She died in hospital from head and facial injuries.
It has been almost four weeks since Anita Rose, 57, left her home at dawn, at 5am, to take her springer spaniel, Bruce, for his morning walk. She never returned. An hour and a half later, she was found unconscious by a cyclist on a public footpath near Rectory Lane (which leads to the church where Constable painted Christ and the Children). Bruce, unharmed, stood loyally by his lover’s side.
As night fell, police confirmed they were investigating an “attempted murder.” Four days later, the case was tragically upgraded to “murder” when Rose died in hospital from head and facial injuries. However, three arrests and more than 630 police interviews later, residents of Brantham (population: 3,500) are as baffled and worried as ever.
In fact, the cause of death has not even been officially determined, as the autopsy report remains inconclusive and is pending “further testing.” Until then, no funeral can be held and the grieving family is left in limbo.
Two men, a 45-year-old from Ipswich and another in his 20s from the same village, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Both have been released on bail on condition that the younger man does not return to Brantham or neighbouring Manningtree until a further hearing in October.
A 37-year-old woman was also released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen goods. Neighbours have seen police experts dressed in white overalls turning a house near the church upside down. Police have also used phone data to establish and publicise the route of Anita’s last walk.
The search continues for her missing pink rain jacket, with new photographs released yesterday, as well as an image of her black wallet-style phone case featuring a crown and gold studs.
Suffolk Police are “urging people to refrain from speculating about the incident” but Brantham residents cannot be blamed for doing just that.
There were initially fears that poor Anita could be used as some sort of catalyst for street violence, as happened after the horrific murders in Southport five days after her death. Social media trolls wasted no time in stoking the fire.
Some, including far-right activist Tommy Robinson, spread rumours that Anita had been murdered by two Somali migrants. These unfounded lies prompted a swift and unusual intervention by the police, who declared such rumours to be “a dangerous piece of disinformation”.
Suffolk was spared any subsequent civil disorder, while national media attention focused on violence elsewhere.
That hasn’t stopped Brantham residents from asking more genuine and legitimate questions, though. As Councillor McCraw notes: “People still need to walk their dogs.” But where? And when? It also raises the broader question of how a hitherto happy and harmonious community is supposed to move on and return to normal when, so far, there is no prospect of any kind of closure – least of all for Anita’s family.
For now, it is clear that, although there is nothing like panic in these parts, people are quietly changing their way of life. Foot traffic has certainly decreased along the roads and horse paths, both among residents and those for miles around for whom the paths between the village, the Bull at Brantham pub and the Stour estuary have long been a popular circuit.
Anita had left her house at dawn, at 5 am, to take her springer spaniel, Bruce, for his morning walk.
Robert Hardman visits the spot where Anita was found unconscious by a cyclist on a public footpath near Rectory Lane
“Normally you’d see a lot of walkers here, and certainly more than the dog owners in the area,” says the Rev Chris Willis, rector of St Michael’s. “But I’ve noticed there are fewer people out walking now and more people walking in pairs.”
However, Anita’s death has highlighted the strength of community spirit. “We are a quiet, country community, but not a community of strangers,” he adds. Although he did not know Anita, who is believed to have moved to the village with her partner, Richard, and one of their six children a few years ago, he says many people have come to the church to “reflect” and light a candle in her memory.
I walk from the church along Rectory Lane, which gradually transforms from road to path and then footpath as the copse of trees gives way to open fields. The tranquillity is only broken by the occasional honk of a train on the main line from London to Norwich. A small bunch of flowers and cards rests against a fence.
“We’ll miss you on our morning walks,” reads one card signed “Honey and Holly.” One or the other is supposed to be the golden Labrador in the accompanying photograph. The canine connection runs deep in this case.
Over the course of a couple of hours on these trails, I meet a handful of people, and they are all here with dogs. Deanna and Mark Pyke, both retired, have driven up from Ipswich to walk their Chihuahuas. “I like the views and he likes the trains,” Deanna jokes, adding that she wouldn’t come back here alone.
I finally arrive at the spot where Anita was found. The police report describes it matter-of-factly as “next to the sewage treatment plant and the railway line.” It looks like an unsightly industrial area, but it isn’t. However, it is in a leafy dip off the road leading down to the river.
The railway embankment running along the top is so steep that a train passenger would find it difficult to look down. It is also not visible from the surrounding fields. Only the empty sewage treatment plant has a view. If someone had to lurk for any reason, this would be as good a place as any.
Further down the path goes over a fence and crosses the main line. Walkers have to look left and right and move quickly over the tracks. Hence all that sound of train horns. This is a key part of the route along the north bank of the Stour. Police have also issued appeals for all local train stations to be notified, just in case any morning commuters have seen anything strange.
After walking for an hour, I meet a gentleman who prefers not to give his name (he is an off-duty civil servant) who is exercising his two Labradors. “You have to try to keep things in perspective and remember that this is a quiet place, with all the clichés of village life – a quiet place where you can leave your keys in the car or not lock your house, etc.,” he says.
“But then you realise you just want to be more cautious. Usually my wife or my daughter would go out and walk the dogs, but now I just say, ‘I’ll do it.'”
Like many others in the area, it has not escaped his notice that both murder suspects are out on bail and that the results of the autopsy have not yet been determined. All of which contributes to the general feeling that the trail has finally gone cold.
Suffolk Police simply note that “where bail is imposed, it may be granted with restrictions where it is proportionate and necessary to do so” and that “a person’s status in an investigation may change as the case develops”.
However, everyone I meet seems to have great sympathy for the police. It does not seem that the police are diverting their attention from this particular matter.
At the other end of the village, I drop into the leisure centre, home of The Imps, Brantham Athletic football club. Managing director Tony Hall tells me that the police have maintained a regular presence. “It’s reassuring to see them,” he says, “but you can see a lot more people walking in twos and threes now.”
Later, I meet accountant Lauren Groves, born and bred in Brantham. She has finally returned to walking her dog, Paddy, along Rectory Lane for the first time since Anita’s death. “You get to a point where you think, ‘Will I never walk this route again?’
“I didn’t know Anita by name and I don’t think she lived in the area for that long. But I used to see her quite a lot on her walks and she was always very friendly, a really lovely woman. She walked her dog a lot, maybe three times a day for two hours each time. My mother would often stop and talk to her. They had a good chat a few days before Anita died and she was very happy and cheerful.” All of which only makes this terrible story all the more baffling and peculiar.
Brantham’s two pubs are closed today. But at the waterside cafe in Constable Park, next to the River Stour, my barmaid, Remi, is doing her best to keep things in perspective. “You have to hope this was just an isolated tragedy,” she says. “I used to live in Kilburn, in north London. I’d say I still feel a lot safer here.”
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