Stanford Training Area SSSI

The Stanford Training Area (STANTA), originally known as the Stanford Battle Area, is a British Army training area situated in the English county of Norfolk. The area is approximately 30,000 acres (120 km2) in size; it is some 7 miles (11 km) north of the town of Thetford and 25 miles (40 km) south-west of the city of Norwich.[1] The site is run by the Mission Ready Training Centre (MRTC).

Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a landscape region it is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that lies mostly in the south of the county of Norfolk but also in the north of Suffolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna, it lies to the east of another unusual habitat, the Fens, and to the south west of the Broads. The typical tree of this area is the Scots pine. Breckland is one of the driest areas in England. The area of Breckland has been substantially reduced in the twentieth century by the impact of modern farming and the creation in 1914 of Thetford Forest. However substantial areas have been preserved, not least by the presence of the British Army on the Stanford Battle Area. During the Prehistoric period Breckland was mined for flint, evidence for which can be found at Grimes Graves just outside Thetford in Norfolk. The word 'Breck' is medieval and was defined as being an area of heathland broken up for cultivation before being allowed to retreat back into wilderness. Up until 200 years ago, much of it consisted of open heathland. The Brecks today are a tourist attraction as well as an area of scientific and geographical interest. The Breckland landscape region has given its name to Breckland District, a local government district that contains most of Norfolk's portion of the Breckland. Part of West Suffolk district cover the Suffolk portion. The Great Eastern Pingo Trail is 8 miles of tracks and paths exploring the eastern edge of the Breckland area. The trail takes in the commons at the villages of Thompson and Stow Bedon, and heathland at Breckles and Great Hockham. Thompson Water, an artificial lake, and the woodland at Thompson Carr also form part of the walk. The name of the trail comes from the former Great Eastern Railway and the large number of pingo ponds found in the area. Pingo ponds or kettle lakes are formed from collapsed mound of earth-covered ice, called pingos, formed when the ice-sheets retreated. The trail may be accessed as a detour from the Peddars Way long-distance footpath. It is a Local Nature Reserve.

Stanford is a deserted village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated 7+1⁄2 miles (12 km) north of the town of Thetford and 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the city of Norwich.The name of the village derives from Old English and means "stony ford".The village became deserted when it was taken over by the British Army during the Second World War as part of the Stanford Battle Area, an infantry training area that is still in use. The village and most of the parish are within a restricted area and access is not allowed without special permission from the Army.The parish church of All Saints, like the other surviving churches within the training area, is fitted with blast-proof sheeting to protect the structure, and wire fencing surrounds the church and churchyard to protect from military manoeuvres.The civil parish has an area of 5.26 sq mi (13.6 km2) and in the 2001 census had a population of eight in four households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Croxton.

Buckenham Tofts (or Buckenham Parva; Little Buckenham) is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Stanford, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England, situated about 7 miles north of Thetford, and since 1942 situated within the Stanford Training Area, a 30,000-acre military training ground closed to the public. It was situated about one mile south of the small village of Langford, with its Church of St Andrew, and about one mile west of Stanford, with its All Saints' Church and one mile north of West Tofts, with its Church of St Mary, all deserted and demolished villages. None of these settlements (except West Tofts) are shown on modern maps but are simply replaced by "Danger Area" in red capital letters. In 1931 the parish had a population of 60. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Stanford.It is situated within Breckland heath, a large area of dry sandy soil unsuited to agriculture. The parish church of Buckenham Tofts, dedicated to St Andrew, was demolished centuries ago and stood to the immediate north of Buckenham Tofts Hall, the now-demolished manor house, as is evidenced by a graveyard which was discovered in that location. The parishioners, few as they were, used nearby St Mary's Church, West Tofts, one mile to the south, where survive 18th-century monuments to the Partridge family of Buckenham Tofts. In 1738 the Norfolk historian Blomefield stated of Buckenham Tofts "there is nothing remaining of this old village, but the Hall, and the miller's house". The ancient manor house was rebuilt in 1803 by the Petre family in the Georgian style and on a grand scale, was sold with the large estate in 1904 and was finally demolished by the army in 1946, having suffered major damage from military training exercises and shelling. In the early 21st century the remains of the manor house were described as follows: "a grassy platform of raised ground and beside a short line of dilapidated stone steps. The raised ground made a sort of elevated lawn, large enough for a tennis court or two, and the steps went to the top of the platform, and then went nowhere."

West Tofts is a deserted village located in civil parish of Lynford in the English county of Norfolk. The village became deserted when it was taken over by the British Army during the Second World War as part of the Stanford Battle Area, an infantry training area that is still in use today. The village and most of the parish are within a prohibited area and access is not allowed without special permission from the Army.[1]

Langford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ickburgh, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. The village is in the Norfolk battle training area of the Ministry of Defence which is an area with restricted entry. Langford is about nine miles south of the town of Swaffham. In 1931 the parish had a population of 34.

Old Bodney Camp is a 32.8-hectare (81-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Little Cressingham in Norfolk. It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area.This area of heath is maintained by rabbit grazing. It has some areas of grassland and others dominated by lichen and moss. There are two nationally rare moths, Noctua orbona and Scopula rubiginata, which are almost confined to the Breckland region.The site is private land with no public access.

Threxton All Saints is a round-tower church at Threxton Hill, situated east of the village of Little Cressingham and west of the town of Watton in the English county of Norfolk. The church is medieval with a late 13th-century tower as well as a 14th-century octagonal font, and remnants of medieval stained glass in at least one window. The building is a Grade I listed building and retains some wall decorations which survived the Reformation after being partitioned as part of a mausoleum, and were uncovered during the late 20th century.

Royal Air Force Bodney or more simply RAF Bodney is a former Royal Air Force Station located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Watton, Norfolk, England. Originally built as an RAF Bomber Command airfield during 1939-1940, Bodney was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces in the summer of 1943. Placed under the jurisdiction of VIII Fighter Command of Eighth Air Force, it was primarily the home of the 352d Fighter Group, the "Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney". The unit briefly moved to Belgium in January 1945 due to the Battle of the Bulge, although it returned in April. It was closed after the 352d returned to the United States in November.

Bodney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hilborough, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 70.

Croxton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, north of Thetford. It covers an area of 18.96 km2 (7.32 sq mi) and had a population of 416 in 176 households at the 2001 census, including Stanford and increasing to a population of 445 in 187 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland.

Merton is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 5.94 km2 (2.29 sq mi) and had a population of 113 in 50 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 133 in 56 households at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland. The villages name means 'Pool farm/settlement'.Merton Hall is the home of Lord Walsingham. Its church, St Peter's, is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk and is a Grade I listed building.