Rockland St Mary

Hellington is a hamlet and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. In the 2001 census, it contained 24 households and a population of 69.It is centred on a crossroads 1⁄2 mile (4⁄5 km) south of Rockland St. Mary and around 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) southeast of Norwich. The road north leads to Rockland St. Mary, south leads to the church and to Hellington Corner on the A146. East and west from the crossroads are both no through roads. East leads to Hellington Hall, a Grade II Listed 17th-century country house, and Low Common, a Norfolk Wildlife Trust County Wildlife Site. West leads to Holverston.

St John the Baptist's Church is a redundant Anglican church standing to the south of the village of Hellington, Norfolk, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Holverston is a civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England ¾ mile (1¼ km) southeast of Rockland St. Mary. It includes the 16th century Holverston Hall (reached from the A146 between Framingham Pigot and Thurton) and associated barn conversions reached by road from Hellington to the east. In the 2001 census it contained 9 households and a population of 29. All traces of the thatched, round towered church (St. Mary) had disappeared by 1845.

Surlingham is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk situated on the Broads in eastern United Kingdom. It lies approximately 6½ miles (10½ km) south-east of Norwich on the south bank of the River Yare between Bramerton and Rockland St Mary. In the 2001 census it contained 266 households and a population of 637, increasing to 725 at the 2011 census. Although Surlingham is part of South Norfolk District, as in other broadland villages those areas of the village adjacent to the river and broads fall into the executive area of the Broads Authority.

Bramerton is a village in South Norfolk 4¾ miles (7½ km) south-east of Norwich, just north of the main A146 Norwich-Lowestoft road and on the south bank of the River Yare. In the 2001 census it contained 158 households and a population of 350, the population falling to 301 at the 2011 census.

Lesingham House is a country house in Surlingham, Norfolk, England, part of which was supposedly built in 1655.

Surlingham Church Marsh is a small RSPB nature reserve in the Norfolk Broads, England. It is part of Yare Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest Situated north of the village of Surlingham and south of the River Yare, it comprises 68 acres (28 hectares) of mixed wetland habitat including shallow open water, dykes, reed and sedge fen, and small areas of willow carr, as well as deciduous woodland on the southern margin of the reserve. A footpath of about 1¼ miles circumnavigates the reserve from Surlingham Church, down and along the river Yare and a hide overlooks a shallow pool within the reserve. There is a no fishing policy on the river bank within the reserve. Dogs are allowed but should be kept under control. Notable amongst the breeding birds are gadwall, shovellers, and reed, sedge, grasshopper and Cetti's warblers. Marsh harriers are regular visitors and occasionally breed. Migrants include Jack snipe and green sandpiper, and winter visitors include hen harriers and bearded tits. The reserve also supports several species of dragonfly, and a variety of butterflies, various other insects and invertebrates, and many species of wild flower, orchid, and particularly aquatic plants. Purchased in 1984 as a potential habitat for marsh harriers and bitterns, the reserve is now managed mostly for its fen plant communities and the invertebrates which feed off them. Water levels are managed by the use of a sluice gate. A small number of highland cattle summer graze on the fen to improve habitat quality and to assist with the removal of scrub from the fen. The naturalist Ted Ellis is buried at the nearby ruin of St Saviour's church.

Bergh Apton is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Norwich just south of the A146 between Yelverton and Thurton. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 428 in 186 households, the population increasing to 442 at the 2011 Census.

Bramerton Pits is a 0.7-hectare (1.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of the village of Bramerton in Norfolk on the southern banks of the River Yare. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.The site is composed of two disused gravel pits which are important for the study of the Lower Pleistocene. Bramerton Common Pit is the type site of the Norwich Crag Formation and Blakes Pit is the type site of the Bramertonian Stage. Both pits have yielded rich, mainly marine vertebrate fossils.The geological deposits include sands, silts and gravels which have yielded fossils of marine and non-marine mollusca, foraminifera and vertebrates. Studies of fossils from Blake’s Pit have demonstrated changes from temperate (Bramertonian) to cold (Pre-Pastonian) climatic conditions. Bramerton Common Pit has yielded a rich fossil vertebrate fauna including marine fishes and extinct species of gomphothere mastodont, otter and vole. Both sites are nationally important for understanding early Pleistocene environments and faunal changes in Britain. Bramerton Common Pit is adjacent to Bramerton Common near Woods End and Blakes Pit is further east at the end of Hill House Road. There is public access to the site.

Ashby St Mary, historically Ascebei, is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish has an area of 2.03 square kilometres (0.78 sq mi) and in the 2001 census had a population of 297 in 115 households, the population increasing to 316 in 120 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of South Norfolk.The village contains a number of heritage-listed buildings, which include a 13th-century church, a War Memorial, and an early 18th Century Hall, Barn and Garden house.

Rockland Broad is an area of open water, known as a broad, located north east of the village of Rockland St. Mary in the English county of Norfolk. The broad is in the Broads protected area. It comprises an area of approximately 50 acres (200,000 m2) and is surrounded by marshland and tall reed beds. It is linked to the River Yare by two dykes, the Short Dyke and the Fleet Dyke. From the village of Rockland St. Mary the broad can be reached via Rockland Staithe, opposite 'The New Inn'. The main navigable channel links the staithe to the Short Dyke. A footpath also leads from the staithe to an RSPB Bird hide which overlooks both the broad and the adjacent Rockland Marshes. Some parts of the broad are badly silted. In the western part of the broad, known as The Slaughters, lie two Norfolk wherry wrecks. There is also a channel on the western side which links to Wheatfen Broad. The broad has good pike fishing and in 1912 it is said that a fish weighing thirty one and a half pounds was caught. There are also bream, roach, tench and perch.

Claxton Castle in the village of Claxton, Norfolk, is a ruined brick castle some 13 km southeast of Norwich.