Local Area Information

Sitting directly opposite the unique polygonal tower keep of Orford Castle, Bailey Cottage is ideally located down a side lane in the popular coastal village of Orford. A foodies heaven, the village is home to the renowned Pinneys smokehouse and oysterage, the award-winning Pump Street Bakers and Chocolate Makers, three great village pubs, a riverside café and a licensed village store with deli.

Orford Castle is managed by English Heritage and is well worth a visit with an excellent audio guided tour and museum.

For walkers and wildlife enthusiasts there are miles of riverside, heath and woodland walks on your doorstep. Orford Ness National Nature Reserve is a short boat trip across the harbour to the vast shingle spit - an extraordinary landscape. As a former secret atomic bomb testing site, you can see hares, terns, rare shingle flora amongst the abandoned twentieth century military history. RSPB Havergate Island is another short boat trip from Orford harbour, and is good for spotting avocets as well as many other resident and seasonal birds. RSPB MInsmere is also a short drive away and is one of the RSPB's flagship reserves.

Explore the river’s history and wildlife by boat aboard Regardless or with Suffolk River Trips, or for a real treat, indulge in a river cruise restaurant aboard The Lady Florence. There’s also a sailing club at the harbour.

For art and music enthusiasts, just a short drive away is Snape Maltings world renowned concert hall. The Maltings complex is home to an array of boutiques, galleries, arts centres, cafes, restaurants and grand performance spaces. A few miles beyond here is the popular coastal town of Aldeburgh.

A short drive away is Sutton Hoo which is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts was discovered. The site is important in establishing the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia as well as illuminating the Anglo-Saxons during a period which lacks historical documentation. Owned by The National Trust this is a fascinating place to visit with an excellent museum and exhibition.