Borley Church

Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price. Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944. The large Gothic-style rectory had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built. These reports multiplied suddenly in 1929 after the Daily Mirror newspaper published an account of a visit by Price, who wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity. Price's reports prompted a formal study by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), which rejected most of the sightings as either imagined or fabricated and cast doubt on Price's credibility. His claims are now generally discredited by ghost historians. However, neither the SPR's report nor the more recent biography of Price has quelled public interest in these stories, and new books and television documentaries continue to satisfy public fascination with the rectory. A short programme commissioned by the BBC about the alleged manifestations, scheduled to be broadcast in September 1956, was cancelled owing to concerns about a possible legal action by Marianne Foyster, widow of the last rector to live in Borley Rectory. In 1975 the BBC aired a programme entitled The Ghost Hunters that focused on the house and conducted interviews with several psychic researchers, including Peter Underwood. It also featured a late-night psychic investigation of nearby Borley Church.

Borley is a village and civil parish in rural north Essex, England close to the border with Suffolk. It is located near the River Stour. The closest town is Sudbury, Suffolk, approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) southeast of Borley; Sudbury is also the Post Town used by Royal Mail for Borley. The neighbouring parishes are Foxearth, Belchamp Walter and Bulmer.

Foxearth is a village and civil parish on the borders of north Essex and Suffolk in England, between Long Melford and Cavendish. The neighbouring parishes are Borley, Belchamp Walter, Belchamp Otten, Liston and Pentlow.

Brundon is a hamlet in the Babergh district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the River Stour near the town of Sudbury (its post town). For transport there is the A131 road nearby. Brundon was recorded in the Domesday Book as Branduna. Brundon Hall is a grade II* listed 18th century building which stands near the former Brundon water mill.

Bulmer is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 568, increasing to 584 at the 2011 Census. The village is about 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Sudbury in Suffolk. The settlement of Bulmer Tye is located to the south of the village. Mr and Mrs Andrews, the subject of one of the most famous works of the painter Thomas Gainsborough, are buried in the churchyard whilst a memorial to them hangs within the church itself. The village is home to Bulmer Brick and Tile Company.

Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. and went on to win the Eastern Counties League Premier Division five seasons in a row as well as reaching the final of the FA Vase in three successive seasons, records for both competitions. They are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division Central and play at the King's Marsh Stadium in the Ballingdon-Brundon area of Sudbury.

Long Melford Football Club is a football club based in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Affiliated to the Suffolk County FA, they are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at Stoneylands.

Sudbury Common Lands is a 50.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Sudbury in Suffolk. It is owned and managed by the Sudbury Common Lands Charity. This site has ancient wetland with ponds and ditches, and there are locally uncommon species such as flowering rush, tubular water-dropwort and round-fruited rush. There is also grassland which has never been ploughed, and it has diverse grasses and wildflowers. There is access from Melford Road.

Ballingdon is a suburb of the town of Sudbury and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sudbury, in the Babergh district, in Suffolk, England. Once a separate village in the county of Essex. It is the only part of the town to the south of the River Stour. In 1951 the parish had a population of 458. The village developed on the important ancient highway from Braintree and Halstead in Essex to Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds. It grew adjacent to a bridge (today known as Ballingdon Bridge) over the River Stour. It dates back to at least the 13th century, and remains the only crossing of the river for several miles in either direction. Ballingdon and Brundon (which formed the township of Ballingdon-cum-Brundon, then in Essex) were added to the borough of Sudbury (and the county of Suffolk) in 1888 as part of the Local Government Act. Around that time it had a population of 831. In 1972 the owners of Ballingdon Hall, responding to a housing development on adjacent land, had it moved half a mile up Ballingdon Hill on the back of a large transporter; the event was watched by 10,000 people. Ballingdon came to be home to many businesses, evidence of which can be seen in the architecture of the buildings, with large shop windows and other tell-tale signs. This was because before Ballingdon became part of Suffolk it was cheaper to open a business on the Essex side of the river, as no levy had to be paid to Sudbury town council. By 2011 only eight businesses remained open outside the industrial units, just three of them retail outlets. Ballingdon was home to two brickworks, long since vanished, but maps of their locations can be found online. The Allen family operation (on Middleton Road) was the most advanced, and barges made their way up a specially constructed cut from the River Stour, which passed the brickworks and even continued under Middleton Road. The clay was sourced locally, and brick makers were expected to meet a target of 1,000 bricks per day. The hand-making of bricks has long since been superseded by machines, but can still be seen at Bulmer Brick and Tile, who offer tours to schools and adults. Today Ballingdon Street is a conservation area and contains numerous listed buildings. King's Marsh Stadium, home of A.F.C. Sudbury, is located in the area. In September 2018, Ballingdon held its first fete in living memory, raising money for the Eden Rose Coppice. The fete, held on Kone Vale, has also taken place in 2019 and 2022, raising a total of £9,000 in its first three events for local good causes.

Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Sudbury, approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Colchester and 14 miles (23 km) from Bury St Edmunds. It is one of Suffolk's "wool towns" and is a former market town. The parish also includes the hamlets of Bridge Street and Cuckoo Tye. In 2011 the parish had a population of 3918. Its name is derived from the nature of the village's layout (originally concentrated along a 3-mile stretch of a single road) and the Mill ford crossing the Chad Brook (a tributary of the River Stour).

St Bartholemew's Benedictine Priory, Sudbury was a priory in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The priory was established as a monastic grange for the Benedictine monastery at Westminster Abbey in 1115, and was founded by Wulfric, the master or the royal mint at Sudbury. In 1540, the priory was dissolved and granted to the dean and chapter of Westminster, who continued to hold an annual service in the chapel until the mid-19th century. Any surviving buildings from the priory were demolished in 1779, except the chapel and a barn. The chapel, dating from the early 15th century, is a single cell design and has some remnants of the original Perpendicular Gothic window tracery. It is a Grade II* listed building. The barn is built of weatherboard over a wooden frame and has a hipped roof of reed thatch. It is noted as one of the best examples of a medieval barn in Suffolk. The barn was demolished after a fire in 2011 and was delisted on 31 October 2023.

The Church of St Gregory, Sudbury is a Church of England parish church, located in the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, England. First mentioned in the 10th century, most of the present building dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. The church famously possesses the head of Archbishop Simon Sudbury, who was beheaded by rebels during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. It is a Grade I listed building.