Darsham is a village in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England. It is located approximately north-east of

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed ...

. The village is bypassed by the A12 and is served by Darsham railway station, which is approximately one mile away from the village centre, on the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

East Suffolk Line. The name of the village of Darsham derives from Deores Ham — home of the deer. This name is borne out by early reference to local roadways as chaseways. There was hunting in this area as late as the 18th century. Darsham is a mixed community with six farms. The village still has a pub, The Fox, however over the past few years the village has lost its school, shop and post office. The garage on the A12, now primarily a petrol station, has a cafe and a shop. There is also a farm shop, a handmade tile factory, a pottery, a builder, an irrigation contractor, seed and feed merchants and a cafe, a private nursing home and a plant nursery with a shop and restaurant.

History

The village gave its name to the

Ham class minesweeper The Ham class was a class of inshore minesweepers (IMS), known as the Type 1, of the British Royal Navy. The class was designed to operate in the shallow water of rivers and estuaries. All of the ships in the class are named for British place na ...

HMS ''Darsham''. In WW2, Darsham was the site of RAF High Street, situated just off the A144 road to Bramfield and

Halesworth Halesworth is a market town, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in north-eastern Suffolk, England. The population stood at 4,726 in the 2011 Census. It lies south-west of Lowestoft, on a tribut ...

, an early radar station part of

Chain Home Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal early warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the off ...

which originated at Bawdsey Manor, in

. The High Street radar station had "Type 1 radar", 4 (Receive towers) of 240 ft made from wood and five (Transmit towers) of 360 ft made of steel. The wood towers stood in a close formation. The site later became a fireworks factory. Further down the A12 towards Lowestoft there are a row of cottages, Optney Cottages, that used to be the Darsham Coaching Inn.

Darsham Marshes Nature Reserve

Darsham Marshes is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

located south of the village. The reserve is in size and is owned and managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust.Darsham Marshes
Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2013-05-29. The reserve consists of areas of marshland, meadow and fen land along the Minsmere River and is designated as a County Wildlife Site.

References

External links

Picture of Darsham 'pylons' in WW2
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk