Vibrant little villages and farming communities, steeped in history – nestled in the gentle river valleys and dotted around Halesworth’s fertile rural uplands.
Discover Halesworth and its villages – an area that’s easily accessible, yet off the beaten track and still so very authentic. Served by town and village train stations at Halesworth, Brampton and Darsham and only a short country detour from Suffolk’s main coast road, how can all this be so tantalisingly close to the must-visit beaches of Southwold, Walberswick, Dunwich? What a fantastic place to live or retreat!
Just nine miles from Suffolk’s heritage coast, market town and transportation hub Halesworth nestles in the Blyth river valley. It’s surrounded by rich farmland and picturesque little villages – rural community clusters which go back more than just centuries, according to local finds.
The relationship between market town and outlying villages is a truly time-honoured story of interdependence.
Halesworth industries from making linen cloth to malting and brewing, looked to the land for its raw materials. Farmers and small holders brought their produce and livestock to market. Banks and business flourished. It always was – and is today – a great place to get together, marked by independent trade, time to talk, and a warm and friendly welcome.
Getting About3 miles south of Halesworth
Once on the ‘King’s Highway’ – the trade / pilgrimage route from Dunwich to Bury St Edmunds – Bramfield is full of history and mystery. Look out for the earthworks of its one-time timber palisade castle. Muse at its crinkle-crankle wall and wonder why the church tower stands adrift from thatched 14th century St Andrews. Inside there’s a fine rood screen and traces of a medieval shrine.
Suffolk folk ballads record the Bramfield Oak as a significant landmark for Baron Hugh Bigod when fleeing from the wrath of Henry II. Fact, or fiction? Mighty tree… or ale house?!
Check out Halesworth & District Museum for the remarkable Bramfield hoard of Bronze Age palestave axe heads.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 15 mins.
3 miles west of Halesworth
The village allegedly refers to Cedd’s Stone… perhaps a mysterious glacial rock deposited on the smooth local landscape and since lost in time? But then there are plenty of curious things about this charming Suffolk village.
Walking to the church door is like going up someone’s drive and once inside you’ll find wild men (woodwoses) on the baptismal font. Look out for the beautiful stained glass scenes of Suffolk life by Edith Rope, part of the memorial window (1949).
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 20 mins.
1.5 miles east of Halesworth
St Peter’s Church in Holton has not only a fine 12th century round tower, it’s the tallest in Suffolk – and being sited on a hill, it looks even taller! Discover rare carvings of winged mythical beasts inside and tales of flying legends and poignant wartime memorabilia down the road at the Halesworth (Holton) Airfield Memorial Museum.
River Blyth tributaries run through the pretty village centre – but can you spot Holton’s elusive postmill?
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 10 mins.
Memorials & More3 miles east of Halesworth
Taking its name from the River Blyth, the village ripples with smugglers tales, but there’s no telling whether there is really a secret tunnel between its historic thatched pub and All Saints’ Church. As the land was owned by the local priory at Blythburgh until the Reformation, there was definitely monk-ey business of some sort here!
The church displays a WWI battlefield cross and once there was a shrine to early Queen Etheldreda too. (Spot her on the pub sign across the road!). Her father, King Anna – nephew of Sutton Hoo’s warrior king – was killed down the road at the Battle of Blythburgh in AD 654.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 20 mins
4.5 miles south of Halesworth
Home to the curious, shiny and futuristic Balancing Barn, to wonderful walks towards Wenhaston through Church Farm Nature Reserve and a fab woodland open air theatre, this is a real hidden gem!
With so much to enjoy outside from orchids to Othello, don’t forget to pop into St Peter’s Church. Its defensive Norman tower has some interesting anomalies, courtesy of 16th century benefactors and over-zealous Victorians.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 25 mins
4 miles south east of Halesworth
Wenhaston is located in the Suffolk & Essex Coasts & Heaths National Landscape, an area designated for its outstanding natural beauty.
It is a place of historic treasures too. Finds suggest a Roman settlement here (AD 80- 350) including a trading wharf. But head to St Peter’s Church for a real wonder…
The awesome Brueghelesque faces of an almost intact 16th century ‘Doom’ painting on a mighty scale were only revealed in 1892 when goodly Victorian folk left a white-washed wooden panel from the church outside in the rain! It includes pictures of kings and of demons corralling souls into the great jaws of hell.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 15 mins
2.5 & 3.5 miles south west of Halesworth
A ‘hilly’ village on the River Blyth, Walpole has a pleasant picnic spot of a village green and two churches – both in disguises of sorts.
St Mary’s stands high above the village, complete with steeple and hiding its 12th century self under Victorian ‘renovations’. Walpole ‘Old Chapel’ – a rare and beautifully preserved, early non-conformist church – was created from a domestic farm building in the mid 17th century.
In the nearby village of Cookley, a walk up someone’s garden path is the way to reach St Michael’s church door… A hoard of Roman silver was found here too. Call in at Halesworth & District Museum to find out more.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 15 mins
2 & 2.5 miles north west of Halesworth
Local hemp processed in Wissett for the linen trade, left behind pits full of black residue. Rumours that Wissett folk were mining treacle soon stuck!
Now home to vineyards, Wissett’s valley slopes were once lined with orchards. The name of its valley ridge neighbour, Spexhall, recalls the woodpeckers of the once wooded slopes. Both villages have fine country round-towered churches … but at Spexhall, the ‘historic’ tower is not all it seems…
Make the connection between Halesworth’s town centre wartime memorial and the fields of Wissett, and look out for the Wissett hoards of Bronze Age axe heads in Halesworth & District Museum.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 15 /20 mins
Memorials & More4.5 miles north west of Halesworth
Visit the moated Church of St Michael & St Felix. It’s all that remains of Rumburgh’s medieval priory, a place formerly owned by Norfolk and York abbots, a Count from Brittany and finally Cardinal Wolsey, who robbed it of its riches to fund plans for his ‘Oxford’ college in Ipswich.
In 1086, the Domesday Book records the priory as having 12 monks, 6 pigs’ worth of woodland, 40 acres of land and one plough team. Today, Plough Monday is celebrated by a torchlit procession and traditional Molly dancing and song at the village’s popular real ale pub.
Churches, commons and remote farmsteads punctuate the area north of Rumburgh known as The Saints. A rare, time-honoured, flat landscape with wrap-around skies, it makes great cycling country.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 30 mins
4 miles north east of Halesworth
Whether its an award-winning Racehorse (real ale community-owned pub), its tucked away treasure church or the promise of seeing a dragon which brings you here, you won’t leave disappointed!
The Racehorse got off to a flying start and has long proved to be a firm favourite with locals and visitors alike. The Westhall dragon is easy to spot at Low Common, hugging the chimney at countryside place to stay, Belle Grove. And St Andrew’s Church…?
Decorated with early wall-paintings, a painted rood screen and rare, coloured font, the thatched little church in its own wooded glade has been hailed as Suffolk’s best-kept church secret. Don’t miss the wonderfully preserved Norman faces of man and beasts on the archway from bell tower to nave!
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 25 mins
6 miles south east of Halesworth
A port on the river Blyth, a powerful priory, a station on the Halesworth to Southwold narrow gauge railway line – Blythburgh has a rich history to remember.
Today its mighty medieval church, known as ‘The Ship of the Marshes’ is one of the most famous landmarks for travellers up Suffolk’s A12 road to the coast.
Definitely worth the ramble, bike ride or visit, Holy Trinity has one of England’s finest ‘Angel Roofs’ and is home to Jack o’the clock (you’ll recognise one of his friends on Adnams Southwold beers!). The claw marks reputedly left by Suffolk’s legendary devil dog, Black Shuck, are a must-see too – you’ll find them inside on north door.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 45 mins
6 miles east of Halesworth
The park of long-lost Henham Hall near Blythburgh has hosted a fabulously colourful annual steam fair in September for decades, but is known nationally as home of popular July festival, Latitude.
Latitude at Henham Park near Halesworth attracts thousands from across the UK to enjoy top name global bands and a wide range of arts and cultural experiences at ‘Suffolk’s Glastonbury’.
Staying in and around Halesworth is a great option for those attending Latitude, the rallies or events held at Henham Park, but not wishing to stay on site.
Market town Halesworth is the ideal place to stock up on provisions for events at Henham Park and is home to the railway station closest to the venue.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 45 mins
5 miles south west of Halesworth
A heavenly host of brightly coloured angels, Magna Carta connections and Capability Brown landscapes – charming Huntingfield with its impressive near neighbour, Heveningham Hall, is full of exciting finds.
Is there any truth in right royal Tudor tales about the ‘Queen’s Oak’ near the Gothic folly farmhouse? Could Heveningham Hall’s Georgian façade really be one of the widest in England? And what inspired a Victorian rector’s wife to lie on her back and paint Huntingfield’s church ceiling and angel roof ? The project took years, but the legacy remains one of Suffolk’s most colourful spectacles!
Heveningham Hall (not open to the public) holds regular annual events in its park. Walkers are also welcome to enjoy the public footpaths through its grounds.
Cycle to /from Halesworth Millennium Green: 30 mins
Closest on the Coast
9-10 miles east of Halesworth
Some of Suffolk’s most stylish coastal favourites are in very close reach of Halesworth and its villages.
Stroll along Southwold’s tasteful pier and beach hut-lined prom, or enjoy a paddle and feeling sand between your toes. Home to the famous Adnams brewery, you’ll find many tempting watering holes both here and across the River Blyth at more wild and wonderful Walberswick. Try a spot of crabbing perhaps or walk by the reedbeds, binoculars in hand.
Don’t miss the fab, free and fascinating little museum at Southwold, and at Dunwich too – a once wealthy port town, now almost lost to the sea. Explore the cliff top priory ruins and listen out for the bells of lost churches tolling beneath the waves.