Stoke College

Stoke-by-Clare is a small village and civil parish in Suffolk located in the valley of the River Stour, about two miles west of Clare.In 1124 Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford, moved the Benedictine Priory that had been established at his castle in Clare to Stoke-by-Clare. The Priory, which was controlled by the monastery of Bec in Normandy, enjoyed by 1291 rents from 17 parishes in Suffolk. During the Hundred Years' War the Prior's revenues were in part diverted to the English crown and in 1415 the Priory was replaced by Stoke College, intended to support a small community of priests and choristers under the patronage of Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, who was also buried here. The village is home to the Elwes Baronetcy which was created in 1660 by King Charles II for Gervase Elwes, Member of Parliament for Sudbury and Suffolk. At the time of the English Reformation, the Dean of the college was Matthew Parker. Under his authority the College became a centre of the 'New Learning' and reforms brought him into conflict with the Priory at Clare. The college was suppressed in 1548 and the estate was purchased by John Cheke and Walter Mildmay. The reputed miser Sir Hervey Elwes lived here in the 18th century and was succeeded by his nephew John Elwes (politician) in 1763. Major-General Edward Loch, 2nd Baron Loch CB CMG MVO DSO, a senior British Army officer, is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist and there is memorial to him within the church. At the 2011 census the population of Stoke-by-Clare was recorded as 512. Its church, St John the Baptist, houses Matthew Parker's pulpit. There are also several unique wall paintings one of which is said to date to the reign of Mary I. Stoke College is now an independent school for 11-18 year olds. The village formerly had a railway station on the Stour Valley Railway.

Stoke railway station was a station that served the village of Stoke-by-Clare in Suffolk, England. It opened in 1865 on the Stour Valley Railway between Sudbury and Cambridge. The station and line closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching cuts.

Ashen is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about 8 km (5.0 mi) east-southeast of Haverhill and is 36 km (22 mi) north from the county town of Chelmsford. The village lies to the south of the River Stour, which here forms the county boundary with Suffolk. The village is in the district of Braintree and the parliamentary constituency of Saffron Walden. The parish is part of the Bumpsteads and Upper Colne parish cluster.According to the 2011 census it had a population of 323.

Royal Air Force Ridgewell or more simply RAF Ridgewell is a former Royal Air Force station located at Ridgewell, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) north west of Halstead, Essex, England. During the Second World War, the airfield was used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force.

Baythorne End is a hamlet in the English county of Essex, England. It is located directly on the border with Suffolk. The hamlet is within the civil parish of Birdbrook and forms a part of the Braintree parliamentary seat. Immediate neighbouring villages include: Ridgewell, Sturmer, Stoke-by-Clare and Wixoe. Notable buildings include Baythorne Mill, Baythorne Hall, which dates from 1341 and the mansion and estate at Baythorne Park. The estate was purchased by George Pyke in 1640, where he built the Baythorne Park mansion some 28 years later. The mansion was somewhat larger than Baythorne Hall. Baythorne Park continued to be owned by the Pyke family for well over 200 years.

Ridgewell is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England, about six miles from Haverhill on the main road between Haverhill and Braintree. Its population was 503 in 216 households in the 2001 census, with mean age 41.35 years, the population increasing to 509 at the 2011 Census. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Ridgewell has a village shop, primary school and two pubs: the White Horse and the King's Head. St Laurence's Church dates from the 14th century and is a grade I listed building.RAF Ridgewell was the base for the USAAF 381st Bomb Group (H) and No. 90 Squadron RAF, part of No. 3 (Bomber) Group, during the Second World War.

Wixoe is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the northern bank of the River Stour, two miles south-east of Haverhill, in 2005 its population was 140. It consists largely of Victorian cottages along a narrow lane. There is a church of 12th-century origin, St Leonard's, much restored in the 1880s. It was recorded in the Domesday Book, at 600 acres one of the smallest parishes in the hundred of Risbridge. There are some 13 listed buildings, including a 19th-century bridge and a water mill.The Great Eastern Railway ran through the village, part of the Stour Valley line from 1865 until its closure in March 1967 under the Beeching 'axe'. The nearest stations were Sturmer to the west and Stoke-by-Clare to the east. The track bed and embankments remain clearly visible.

Whitley railway station was a temporary station on the former Colne Valley and Halstead Railway, three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) to the east of the village of Birdbrook, Essex. It opened in 1862 and closed in October 1863 when it was replaced by Birdbrook station.

Tilbury Juxta Clare is a village and parish in north Essex, England. It is part of the Stour Valley North parish cluster. The church dates back to the 15th century and linked to the De Vere estate at this time. The population quoted includes nearby Ovington.

Birdbrook railway station was located 0.7 miles (1.1 km) to the northeast of the village of Birdbrook, Essex. It was 65 miles 74 chains (106.10 km; 65.93 mi) from London Liverpool Street via Marks Tey. It opened in 1863 as the replacement for Whitley station, and closed in 1962. Former Services

Ovington is a small village in north Essex, England. The village is situated about three miles (5 km) from the village of Clare. It consists of St. Mary's Church, and a few houses. There is the air traffic of Ridgewell Airfield. (Usually gliders and sometimes military training exercises.) The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Tilbury Juxta Clare. The earliest mention of this place is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is mentioned together with Hedingham Castle and listed amongst the lands given to Roger Bigod by the King. The land given to Roger included 24 acres (97,000 m2) of meadow that was (in total) valued at four pounds.

Hundon is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district in Suffolk, England. The village is about 3 miles (5 km) north-west of the small town of Clare, and 7 miles (11 km) from the larger town of Haverhill, and includes a primary school, post office, a village hall, the Rose & Crown public house, and All Saints Parish Church. At the south-west of the parish is the hamlet of Brockley Green which includes two farms and The Plough Inn public house.