Orford, Suffolk

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.

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.

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.

Crag Farm Pit, Sudbourne is a 4.8-hectare (12-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Sudbourne in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This site dates to the early Pliocene, around four million years ago. It is described by Natural England as an important geological site, which has the best exposure of sandwave facies of the Coralline Crag Formation. Fossils of many bryozoan species are present.The site has been filled in and is now a field. It is on private land with no public access.

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.

The Coralline Crag Formation is a geological formation in England. It is a series of marine deposits found near the North Sea coast of Suffolk and characterised by bryozoan and mollusc debris. The deposit, whose onshore occurrence is mainly restricted to the area around Aldeburgh and Orford, is a series of bioclastic calcarenites and silty sands with shell debris, deposited during a short-lived warm period at the start of the Pliocene Epoch of the Neogene Period. Small areas of the rock formation are found in locations such as Boyton and Tattingstone to the south of Orford as well as offshore at Sizewell.Crag is a local word for a shelly sand. Coralline Crag has sometimes been used historically in the Suffolk coast area for building and a number of quarries exist. The tower of St Peter's Church in Chillesford is one of only two built using the rock.

Captain's Wood is a 62 hectare nature reserve in Sudbourne in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.This site has woodland, rough grassland and scrub. A herd of fallow deer helps to keep the land open, and there are also barn owls, buzzards, mature oak trees and many bluebells.There is access from School Road.

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.

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.

Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the mainland by the River Alde, and was formed by longshore drift along the coast. The material of the spit comes from places further north, such as Dunwich. Near the middle point of its length, at the foreland point or 'Ness', once stood Orfordness Lighthouse, demolished in summer 2020 owing to the encroaching sea. In the name of the lighthouse (and the radio transmitting station – see below), 'Orfordness' is written as one word.

Sudbourne is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, located approximately 2 miles (3 km) north of Orford. All Saints' Church dates from the 14th century but was much restored in 1879. It is a grade II* listed building.Between 964 and 975 King Edgar and his wife Ælfthryth granted Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester an estate at Sudbourne on condition that he translated the Rule of Saint Benedict from Latin into Old English.According to Sam Newton, Sudbourne was the location of the almost forgotten Battle of Newmouth between the English and the Danes in the early eleventh century.During World War II Sudbourne and the neighbouring village of Iken were used as a battle training area in advance of the D-Day landings in June 1944. The inhabitants were relocated returning sometime after the war finished.Sudbourne has Captain's Wood, a nature reserve owned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, and Crag Farm Pit which is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk. Sudbourne is also the birthplace of Sir Thomas Rush.