Butley River

Gedgrave Hall Pit is a 0.65-hectare (1.6-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gedgrave, south of Saxmundham in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.The site consists to two pits dating to the early Pliocene Coralline Crag Formation. The smaller pit has many well-preserved mollusc fossils, whereas those in the larger pit are highly abraded and poorly preserved.It is situated some 500 metres from the similar site: Richmond Farm Pit. The site is on private land with no public access.

Gedgrave is a civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk in eastern England. In 2005, its population was 30. Gedgrave once had a church called St Andrews. The village is part of a joint parish council with Orford. Gedgrave gives its name to the Gedgravian Stage of the Pliocene Epoch in British geological stratigraphy. The Sites of Special Scientific Interest Gedgrave Hall Pit and Richmond Farm Pit are situated close by.

Havergate Island is the only island in the county of Suffolk, England. It is found at the confluence of the River Ore and the Butley River near the village of Orford. It is a marshy nature reserve run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and is known for its population of pied avocets and terns. It is part of the ecologically important Alde-Ore Estuary and has protected conservation status as part of a national nature reserve, SSSI, SAC, SPA, Ramsar Site and is also a part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. The island, which is 2 miles (3.2 km) long and 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) across at its widest point and covers 267 acres (1.08 km2), lies in the Alder and Ore estuary and is protected from the North Sea by the shingle spit of Orford Ness. It is bounded by the river channels known locally as The Gull, Lower Gull and The Narrows.

Richmond Farm Pit, Gedgrave is a 0.57-hectare (1.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Orford in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This pit shows the Coralline Crag Formation of the Pliocene. It is described by Natural England as especially notable for its excellent exposure of the sandwave facies of the Coralline Crag, but it has very few fossils, which have been transported elsewhere.It is situated some 500 metres from the similar site Gedgrave Hall Pit. The site is on private land with no public access.

Alde–Ore Estuary is a 2,534 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches along the Suffolk coast between Aldeburgh and Bawdsey, and also includes parts of the Alde, Ore and Butley Rivers. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It includes two Geological Conservation Review sites, "Orfordness and Shingle Street" and "The Cliff, Gedgrave", and two nature reserves managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Alde Mudflats and Simpson's Saltings. The coastal part of the site is Orfordness-Havergate, a National Nature Reserve, and Orford Ness is managed by the National Trust, while Havergate Island is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.Natural England describes the scientific interests of the site as "outstanding and diverse". Habitats include grassland, fresh water, ditches, reedbeds, saltmarsh, mudflats, brackish lagoons, and the second largest and best preserved area of vegetated shingle in Britain. The birdlife is nationally important, and there are several rare spiders. Gedgrave Cliff has fossiliferous strata dating to the early Pliocene Coralline Crag Formation.

Simpson's Saltings is a 25 hectare nature reserve on the Suffolk coast east of Hollesley. It is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and part of the Alde-Ore Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest, Ramsar internationally important wetland site, Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and Grade I Nature Conservation Review site,The Saltings are described by the Trust as "one of the county’s most important coastal sites for its wealth of uncommon coastal and saltmarsh plants." There are also rare lichens. Habitats include intertidal mud, estuary creeks, saltmarsh, compacted sand and shingle.There is no public access but the site can be viewed from the sea wall.

Orford Castle is a castle in Orford in the English county of Suffolk, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Ipswich, with views over Orford Ness. It was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II of England to consolidate royal power in the region. The well-preserved keep, described by historian R. Allen Brown as "one of the most remarkable keeps in England", is of a unique design and probably based on Byzantine architecture. The keep stands within the earth-bank remains of the castle's outer fortifications.

Boyton is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about eight miles east of Woodbridge, and close to Orford Ness. Boyton is a small village in South East England and is part of the heritage coast. In the Domesday Book of 1086 Boyton was recorded under the name "Bohtuna". The village has a number of facilities within the surrounding area, for instance Hollesley primary school, a village primary school for children aged 4–11 years. Boyton village hall is becoming a focus for new village activities, and HM Prison Hollesley Bay is also located not far from the village centre. In the 1870s Boyton was described by John Marius Wilson as: "a parish in Woodbridge district, Suffolk; on the river Alde, near Hollesley bay, 4 miles WSW of Orford, and 7 SE of Melton r. station."According to statistics from the 2011 census, Boyton had a population of 147. The village name 'Boyton' can be translated to "farmstead of the boys or servants".

Sudbourne Park Pit is a 1.1-hectare (2.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Orford and Chillesford in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This is described by Natural England as an important site for the study of the fauna of the Coralline Crag Formation, dating to the early Pliocene, around five million years ago. The fossils are plentiful and diverse, especially bivalves and molluscs.There is access from a footpath between Chillesford and Orford.

Orford is a village in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is 9 miles (14 km) east of Woodbridge.

The Church of St Bartholomew is the parish church of the town of Orford, England. A medieval church, dating from the fourteenth century, with reconstructions in the nineteenth and twentieth century, it is a Grade I listed building. In addition to its listing, the church is notable as the location for the first performances of four of the works of the composer Benjamin Britten: Noye's Fludde, Curlew River, The Burning Fiery Furnace and The Prodigal Son.

Butley Priory, sometimes called Butley Abbey, was a religious house of Canons regular (Augustinians, Black canons) in Butley, Suffolk, dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary. It was founded in 1171 by Ranulf de Glanville (c. 1112-1190), Chief Justiciar to King Henry II (1180-1189), and was the sister foundation to Ranulf's house of White canons (Premonstratensians) at Leiston Abbey, a few miles to the north, founded c. 1183. Butley Priory was suppressed in 1538. Although only minor fragments of the priory church and some masonry of the convent survive at Abbey Farm, the underground archaeology was expertly investigated and interpreted in 1931-33, shedding much light on the lost buildings and their development. The remaining glory of the priory is its 14th-century Gatehouse, incorporating the former guest quarters. This exceptional building, largely intact, reflects the interests of the manorial patron Guy Ferre the younger (died 1323), Seneschal of Gascony to King Edward II 1308-1309, and was probably built in the priorate of William de Geytone (1311–32). Having fallen into decay after 1538, it was restored to use as a private house about 280 years ago. Near-complete lists of the priors survive from 1171 to 1538, together with foundation deeds, deeds of grant, and records pertaining to the priory's manors, holdings and visitations. In addition there is a Register or Chronicle made in the last decades of the priory, and there are sundry documents concerning its suppression. Its post-Dissolution history has also been investigated. In private ownership in the area of the Suffolk Heritage Coast, the Gatehouse is now a Grade I listed building and is used as a venue for private functions, corporate events or retreats.