Ellingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for either Ella's homestead or village or a settlement with an abundance of eels.

In the late Nineteenth Century, Ellingham Mill was the site of the grim discovery of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Harlev of Beccles in the River Waveney, the official inquest ruled that the deaths were the result of suicide.

Ellingham was also the site of the discovery of mid-Seventeenth Century firearm[5] with a pillbox being installed on the bridge crossing the River Waveney during the Second World War.

[8] St. Mary's has good examples of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century stained glass depicting the Annunciation, Christ the Shepherd and the Parable of the Sower with St. Mary's tower in the background, installed by Reginald Bell with further depictions of the Adoration of the Magi by Charles Eamer Kempe and Naomi and Ruth by Ward and Hughes.

[9] Ellingham Hall is an Eighteenth Century manor house built in the Georgian style and was first inhabited Rev.