Claydon, Suffolk Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:52.1073°N 1.109°W
Official Name:Claydon
Population:2,197
Population Ref:(2011)[1]
Shire District:Mid Suffolk
Region:East of England
Shire County:Suffolk
Constituency Westminster:Bury St Edmunds
Post Town:IPSWICH
Postcode District:IP6
Postcode Area:IP
Os Grid Reference:TM1350
Static Image Name:Claydon - Church of St Peter.jpg
Static Image Caption:Church of St Peter

Claydon is a village just north of Ipswich in Suffolk, England. The meaning of the name is "clay-on-the-hill".

The village gives its name to the hundred of Bosmere-and-Claydon, one of the 21 administrative districts into which Suffolk was divided for administrative purposes between Saxon and Victorian times.[2]

Geography

The countryside around Claydon is set among low-lying hills and lies next to the River Gipping. It is close to the intersection of the A14 and the B1113. Between the A14 and the B1113 (former A45) is the Ipswich to Ely Line.

Amenities

The village has two pubs: The Crown and The Greyhound. There is also a bakers and sandwich bar Freshfills, post office, fish and chip shop, hotel, hairdressers, car dealership and travel agency. It also has a primary school and Claydon High School. There are regular bus connections to Ipswich, Bramford and Stowmarket from the centre of the village.

At the top of the hill on Church Lane can be found the Church of St Peter, which has been partially restored. It is one of the few pre-Norman churches in Suffolk. The interior contains a wooden fan-vaulted ceiling.

Nearby villages include Barham, Bramford, Great Blakenham and the hamlet of Akenham.

Former fuel storage depot

An Air Force distribution depot was constructed around 1939 by Shell-Mex & BP for the Air Ministry. It received fuel by rail and distributed it by road tanker. In the 1970s two new sites were constructed with modern storage tanks and pump-houses. It was connected to the Government Pipeline and Storage System and supplied RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge. The wartime site was sold off in the mid 2000s and later demolished. The other two sites are no longer operational.[3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Civil Parish population 2011. 19 August 2016. Office for National Statistics. Neighbourhood Statistics.
  2. Book: The Place-names of Suffolk. Walter Skeat. 1913.
  3. Tim Whittle: Fuelling the Wars - PLUTO and the Secret Pipeline Network 1936 to 2015 published 2017 p210.