Church of St Margaret, Breckles

Stow Bedon is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stow Bedon and Breckles, in the Breckland district of the English county of Norfolk. Stow Bedon adjoins the hamlet of Lower Stow Bedon, although the two are often considered to be one village. In the south of the parish is the village of Breckles. In 2011 the merged parish had a population of 290. The village’s name means 'Place'. The village was held by John di Bidun in the 13th century. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions both Stow Bedon (together with Caston) and Breckles. The Inclosure Act mentions Stow Bedon as a 'Free Village' and mentions how the village "maintained an independent spirit". Further records show that during Queen Victoria's Jubilee, instead of the traditional roasting of an ox, Stow Bedon only roasted a pig. Kelly's Directory for 1883 records that Stow Bedon had a population of 324 with a total of 35 dwellings. It has been assumed in recent times, however, that the true number of houses during this period would have been greater. The village church dates from the 14th century and is dedicated to St Botolph; it is a Grade II* listed building. The south and west of the area is a separate ecclesiastical parish, and its church, St Margaret's at Breckles, is Grade I listed. A station at Stow Bedon, on the Thetford & Watton Railway, opened in October 1869 and closed with the line in June 1964. The Great Eastern Pingo Trail, a 13-kilometre circular walk, starts and finishes in the village. Parking is on the A1075, in the former railway station yard. The village fete is held annually in June, and St Botolph's church holds a flower festival. Stow Bedon is closely connected to the towns of Watton, Attleborough and Thetford.

Wayland is an area in the district of Breckland within the English county of Norfolk. It is situated approximately 20 miles west of Norwich. The area is a historic Hundred, and was originally called Wanelunt, or Waneland. It centres on the town of Watton, and encompasses the villages of Ashill, Carbrooke, Caston, Great Cressingham, Great Hockham, Griston, Little Cressingham with Threxton, Merton, Ovington, Saham Toney, Scoulton, Stow Bedon with Breckles, and Thompson. The area is crossed by Peddars Way, a 46-mile footpath that follows the route of a Roman road, and is the location of Wayland Wood, famed as the setting for the Babes in the Wood legend. Wayland has a local newspaper and many local businesses. The Chamber of Commerce also maintains an information directory of local organisations contact details.

Shropham Hall is an early Georgian country house in Shropham in the county of Norfolk. It was completed by 1729 for John Barker, later High Sheriff of Norfolk. It was later the home of Sir Edward Grogan, 2nd Baronet. The hall is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.

Hockham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 13.36 km2 (5.16 sq mi) and had a population of 620 in 252 households at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland. The district's 2007/08 estimate suggests that the population had risen to 645. At the 2011 Census the population was measured at 603 only in 259 households. The parish is sometimes referred to as Great Hockham, the main village, though there is evidence that suggests that the village of Little Hockham is now deserted.

Great Hockham is a village in the English county of Norfolk within the civil parish of Hockham, though the distinction between village and parish may now be moot as there is evidence to suggest that the other village in the parish, Little Hockham, consists only of a farmhouse. The village lies 8 miles (13 km) north east of Thetford and 24 miles (39 km) by road south west from Norwich. It is served by Holy Trinity church in the Benefice of Wayland Group.

Wayland Rural District was a rural district in Norfolk, England from 1894 to 1974.It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Wayland rural sanitary district, taking its name from the ancient Wayland hundred. It lay in the central southern part of the county. In 1902 it took in the northern part of the disbanded Guiltcross Rural District, and in 1935 the eastern section of the disbanded Thetford Rural District (much of which had also been transferred from Guiltcross RD). In 1974, the district was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, and became part of the Breckland district.

Caston is a village and civil parish in the English of Norfolk.

Stow Bedon railway station is a closed station in Stow Bedon, Norfolk. It was initially opened in 1869 by the Great Eastern Railway network and became London and North Eastern Railway in 1923. It became British Railways in 1948 who closed the station in 1964.

Rocklands is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk which encompasses the villages of Rockland All Saints and Rockland St Peter. It covers an area of 10.97 km2 (4.24 sq mi) and had a population of 702 in 282 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 722 in 279 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland.

Shropham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 11.12 km2 (4.29 sq mi) and had a population of 351 in 155 households at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland. Its main attraction is the Grade I listed Church of St Peter and St Paul, built in flint in the Perpendicular style. Shropham Hall is an early Georgian country house; it was completed by 1729 for John Barker, later High Sheriff of Norfolk. The village is listed in the Domesday Book under the name Scerpham. Historically the hundred of Shropham included many further parishes.

Thompson Water, Carr and Common is a 154.7-hectare (382-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Thetford in Norfolk. Most of it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as Thompson Common. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is crossed by the Great Eastern Pingo Trail Local Nature Reserve. This grassland site in the valley of a tributary of the River Wissey has a number of pingos, damp and water filled depressions formed by the melting of ice at the end of the last glaciation. It also has a lake called Thompson Water which, together with its surrounding reedswamp, is important for breeding birds. The site is open to the public.

Cranberry Rough is an 81.1-hectare (200-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the parish of Hockham, east of Attleborough in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and the Great Eastern Pingo Trail, which is a Local Nature Reserve, goes through the site. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area. The area is the site of a former lake known as Hockham Mere, which was drained and dried up by the middle of the 18th century. It has swamp woodland, grassland, tall fen and a network of ditches and pools, with a diverse range of wetland plants and insects, especially butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. Large areas are covered with sphagnum mosses. Its biogenic sediments contain a late-Devensian & Holocene pollen record.