Raydon

Introduction

The village lies scattered along the B1070, was recorded in Domesday as "Reindune" or "Reinduna" and appears on John Speed's 1610 map as "Roydon". Raydon Great Wood is an area of ancient woodland and run as a nature reserve by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. One local walk follows the course of the former railway to Hadleigh and old Raydon Wood station buildings can be seen (the Hadleigh-Bentley line opened in 1847 and closed in 1965, with passenger traffic finishing in 1932).

A field south of Sulley's Hill appears on the OS map as "Sodom & Gomorrah". Its exact origin is uncertain, but it was suggested on a Radio Four programme in 2011 that it may be either because the land is particularly barren here or because there was a night in the 1860s when 12 sheep grazing nearby in Higham were all killed by lightning. It had other names in past centuries, but first appeared in this guise on the 1892 OS map as "Sodom Hill".

Raydon Mill dates from some time after the Mediaeval period. It's now residential, but the turbine and two pairs of stones remain.

RAF Raydon was built close to the A12 by 833rd and 862nd Engineer Battalions in late 1942…

Gallery

Acknowledgements

Some historical information from English Heritage's National Monuments Record.

Some details from "Suffolk Airfields in WW2" by Graham Smith.