Raydon

Holton St Mary is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located on the B1070 around five miles south-west of Ipswich and half a mile from the A12 (which forms the parish's south-east boundary), it is part of Babergh district. The western end of the parish is part of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Higham meadow nature reserve. It was the birthplace of the 13 times British flat racing Champion Jockey, Nat Flatman.

Raydon Wood railway station was a station in Suffolk, on a short branch line from Bentley Junction to Hadleigh. There was a goods shed on a passing loop which included a small siding on the south side of the station at the Bentley end.Together with Capel it was extensively used for handling supplies in World War II for a nearby United States Army Air Forces base, later known as RAF Raydon. The line opened in 1847 and closed to passenger traffic in 1932, with freight services lingering on until 1965. The station building still stands, in disrepair and unused next to CPL Distribution, a coal merchant's depot. It is unknown who owns the Station Building but it is boarded up and not part of CPL Distribution

Railway Walk, Hadleigh is an 11.6 hectare Local Nature Reserve which runs for 2 miles along the route of the former Hadleigh railway south-east from Hadleigh in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by Babergh District Council.The walk starts at the original station building in Hadleigh, which is now a private house. The route runs along a relatively level path, some of it on embankment and some in cutting. Most of it is bordered by trees. The path ends at the former Raydon Wood station, the trackbed south from that point not being open to the public. There is parking for about 5 or 6 cars at Raydon Wood, making it possible to walk from there to Hadleigh and return, a 4-mile round trip.

Wenham Magna, also known as Great Wenham, is a village and a civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk in eastern England. The parish also contains the hamlets of Gipsy Row, Vauxhall and Wenham Hill. In 2005 it had a population of 150, increasing to 185 at the 2011 Census.Wenham Magna is the birthplace of Matthew Hopkins, the infamous witchfinder general. His father, James Hopkins, was vicar of St John's Church and the family held land in the area. James Hopkins appears to have been popular with his parishioners, one of whom left him money to purchase bibles for his children.

Layham is a small village and a civil parish in southern Suffolk, England, situated between the town of Hadleigh and the neighbouring village of Raydon. The civil parish contains the villages of Upper Layham and Lower Layham, separated by the River Brett. It is part of the Babergh district and falls within the South Suffolk parliamentary constituency. It has a church, St Andrews, and a public house, The Queen's Head, which are both situated in Lower Layham. More information on these and other aspects of Layham appear on the Parish Council's web site.

Upper Layham is a village on the B1070 road, in the civil parish of Layham, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. Upper Layham has a post office and a pub. It is located to the east of the smaller village of Lower Layham. However, pedestrians/cyclists travelling from Upper Layham can use the footbridge by Layham Mill to cross the river Brett, and follow the path and lane leading to the Village Hall and St. Andrews Church.

Lower Layham is a small village in the civil parish of Layham, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The village contains St.Andrew's Church (Layham parish church) and a pub, The Queen's Head. The village is separated from Upper Layham by the River Brett.

Higham is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located on the eastern bank of the River Brett (which defines the parish's western boundary), around 400 metres (440 yd) north of the point at which it joins the River Stour, it is part of Babergh district. In 2005 it had a population of 140, including Shelley and increasing to 203 at the census 2011.The village itself is a designated conservation area, whilst the entire parish is located within the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It also contains Rowley Grove, a nature reserve classed as Ancient Woodland and a point to point racecourse which is home to the Waveney Harriers.

Benton End is a Grade II* listed sixteenth-century house located on the outskirts of the market town of Hadleigh in Suffolk, England. From 1939 to 1982 it was home to the artist Cedric Morris, who ran the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in the house, and in the garden grew a significant botanical collection.

Shelley is a small village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located on the west bank of the River Brett around three miles south of Hadleigh, it is part of Babergh district. The population of the village was only minimal at the 2011 Census and is included in the civil parish of Higham. Most of the parish is within the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Other points of interest are Shelley Hall, a listed building with a protected moat, once owned by the Partridge family, and Snakes Wood, which is classified as Ancient Woodland and serves as a nature reserve. The village is first recorded before the Norman conquest in the S1051 charter of 1000AD in the will of Ælfflæd. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the population of Shelley in 1086 to be 42 households along with 8 cattle, 32 pigs, 200 sheep, 3 other animals, 28 acres of meadow, 1,000 woodland pigs, two mills.Barker writes that there is an unusually long hedge in Shelley made up of coppiced lime trees. He writes that this follows the boundaries of remnants of nineteenth-century clearances of some of the ancient forest. Hedges of this sort are known as assart hedges.Elizabeth Gosnold Tilney, sister of Jamestown colonist and explorer Bartholomew Gosnold, is buried at All Saints' Church, Shelley. An attempt was made to use DNA from her supposed remains to confirm the identity of the body of her brother in Jamestown, but it was inconclusive as it could not be confirmed which body was hers.

The River Brett is a river in Suffolk, England. Its source is in the villages to the north of Lavenham and it flows through Hadleigh to its confluence with the River Stour via Monks Eleigh, Brent Eleigh and Chelsworth.

Maison Talbooth, Dedham in Essex is a building of historical significance. The construction was started in 1846 and completed by 1850. The architect was John Brown from Norwich who has been described as the most successful Norwich architect of the early 19th century. It was the home of many notable residents over the next century and in 1969 was converted into a hotel. It still serves this function today providing accommodation and restaurant facilities.