Raydon is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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. Located around two miles south-east of Hadleigh, it is part of Babergh district. The parish also includes the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Lower Raydon (west) and The Woodlands (east). It was recorded in Domesday as "Reindune" or "Reinduna" and appears on John Speed's 1610 map as "Roydon". Raydon is based along part of the B1070 named The Street (runs north–south) and St Mary's church is close to the T junction with Woodlands Road in the north of the village. Raydon Mill dates from some time after the Mediaeval period located over a mile west of the village above Lower Raydon. It held some German POWs during the war. It's now residential, but the turbine and two pairs of stones remain. The south and west of the parish, including Lower Raydon, is part of the Dedham Vale AONB. The northern part of the parish contains several

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 ...

s; Raydon Great Wood, Long Wood, Squares Grove and Tom's Wood, all of which are ancient woodland. The abandoned

Hadleigh Railway The Hadleigh Railway was a long single track branch railway line in Suffolk, England, that connected Hadleigh to the main line railway network at Bentley Junction. It was built by the nominally independent Eastern Union and Hadleigh Junction Rai ...

previously ran through the Great Wood, with a station at Raydon Wood. The line is now also a nature reserve. Brett Vale Golf Club is located to the west of the village. Raydon Hall Farm is 1 km northeast from the village and the War Memorial is 1 km further on off Woodlands Road. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

an airfield was built in this area, which was initially known as

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) Station 157, later becoming RAF Raydon. Construction began when American engineers from the 833rd and 862nd battalions arrived in summer 1942. Airfield personnel lived close to Great Wenham.Raydon airfield
Hadleigh website The remaining buildings from the airfield are today part of Notley Enterprise Park. Raydon Hall (TM0529039055) in this area is a Grade II building. Two pubs in the village have closed for many years, Chequers (formerly Horseshoes) and the Fox.

References

External links

Parish council websiteChequers PubRaydon Fox PubWar MemorialRaydon Hall
Villages in Suffolk Babergh District Civil parishes in Suffolk {{suffolk-geo-stub