Alde–Ore Estuary

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chillesford is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the B1084 road which runs east to west. Chillesford is 3 miles northwest of the small town of Orford. It is 5 miles southwest of Aldeburgh and 6 miles south of Saxmundham. Population of around 120 and 60 houses. At the 2011 Census the population is included in the civil parish of Butley The village was recorded in Domesday as Cesefortda.In 1258, Thomas Weyland bought the Manor of Chillesford. Amy Bantoff used to run the village shop, which is now closed. Mr. Pratt ran the local farm. Chillesford has a pub, The Froize Inn (east end of B1084), which used to be two cottages. A church (west end of B1084 – OS grid TM3852) has a tower and various other local buildings are made from local red crag bricks. The old brickyard was where a 20m skeleton of a whale was also once found. Pedlars Lane (heads north from the centre of the village) to Tunstall Chapel. Mill Lane (heads south and then south-west) which leads to Butley.

Chillesford Church Pit is a 1.1-hectare (2.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Chillesford, 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.This site has deposits dating to the Early Pleistocene Bramertonian Stage, around 2.4 to 1.8 million years ago. Fossils of molluscs and pollen indicate a temperate climate dating to the Chillesford Crag formation. The Chillesford Clay and Chillesford Crag are parts for the Norwich Crag Formation.The site is private land with no public access.

The Butley River or Butley Creek is a tributary of the River Ore in the English county of Suffolk. The river has its source in the Rendlesham Forest area to the east of Eyke. The river is tidal from its confluence with the Ore at Boyton as far inland as Butley Mills and almost to the village of Chillesford. A water mill was first recorded at Butley Mills in 1530. The river was also used for the transport of goods but by 1948 had become too silted to allow either use.The river is located within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. An RSPB reserve, Boyton Marshes, is situated at the mouth of the river on an area of salt marsh. A registered charity, the Alde & Ore Association, exists to "preserve and protect for the public benefit the Alde, Ore and Butley Creek rivers and their banks from Shingle Street to their tidal limits".The river is crossed by the Butley Ferry during the summer period. This provides a link between Orford and Boyton and Butley for pedestrians and cyclists along the Suffolk Coast Path.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.