The History of Raydon
Raydon is recorded in the Doomsday Book as " a village of little consequence” and indeed for many centuries that
was precisely what it was. On old maps it is recorded as Reydon St Mary.
A feudal agro-economy, presided over by Thomas and Elizabeth Reydon in the fifteenth century, it pottered along
contentedly, coping with drought, flood, famine, glut, pestilence and plague, its rural peace was rudely disturbed by
the Civil War in 1642.
Parliamentary visitor William Dowsing arrived at the village church when he "brake down a crucifix and twelve
superstitious pictures and a popish inscription." The pictures were probably stained glass.
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Raydon like this;
A village and a parish in Samford district, Suffolk. The village stands 1½ mile S of the Hadleigh railway, and 3 S E of
Hadleigh; and has a r. station. The parish comprises 2, 335 acres; and its post town is Hadleigh, under Ipswich. Real
property, £3,801. Pop., 561. Houses, 128. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to Mrs.Cripps.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £554.* Patron, the Rev. J. W. Tomkin. The church is good.
In 1884 the first Salvation Army service was held in Raydon and in time the village became a Salvationist stronghold
and could field a brass band of 24 or more bandsmen and women who were reputed to be one of the best small
bands in the Army!
Taken 1920
In 1924, the band was invited to play at the Army’s flagship centre in Oxford Street in London, where they marched
through the streets. An event which remained a talking point in Raydon for many years! Perhaps in London too!
After nearly 100 years as a major influence in Raydon, The Salvation Army waned to the point where it ceased to
operate in the village in November 1981.
In 1846 the Eastern Union Railway Company opened a railway line between Ipswich and Colchester. The chairman of
the company, Mr J Cobbold (of brewing fame) then set up a company to construct a branch line from Bentley to
Raydon to Hadleigh. The work was sub-contracted out for the sum of £75,000 and was completed within the year.
How things have improved today!
The growing motorbus services gradually put the railways under such commercial pressure that in 1932 the
passenger service ceased on this branch line. The goods service continued with 2 trains a day until the outbreak of
the Second World War when the railway was extensively used to construct and supply the new underground
ammunition store in Hadleigh. The railway also transported rubble from blitzed London houses to be used as hardcore
in the construction of Raydon Airfield by the Americans.
Prior to 1875, village children were taught in a tiny schoolroom, which today serves as a sitting-room. In 1875, a new
school was built comprising 2 teaching rooms and a house for the head teacher, combined, with bucket toilets outside.
Water came from a well behind the school.
By 1930, the school had to be enlarged to cope with the numbers of children. As war approached and the men folk
were called up the children were allowed to stay away from school to help on the farms or in the orchards, a very
popular move!
In 1986, a new infant’s school was built at Stratford St Mary and a bus laid on, and as a consequence the Raydon
School was closed and sold off in 2 parts, one to become a private house and the other to become a Village Hall.
Within living memory the village has been served by a variety of shops, a post office, 2 pubs (The Fox and The
Chequers) a blacksmith and a pork butcher, all of which have sadly closed leaving Raydon a dormitory village.
Some thirsty villagers in 2000 decided to construct a sports and social club on the playing field using an old Dutch
sectional building as a chassis, and the end result is very comfortable and resembles a proper old English pavilion,
complete with bell tower and clock and veranda.
The biggest impact on Raydon was the outbreak of WW2. The school was reinforced with RSJ’s to make a bomb
shelter; the Raydon Home Guard wisely commandeered the Chequers pub as their HQ. A photograph taken at the
time shows the Home Guard to be 47 strong, Oh, why should England tremble!
Taken circa1985
Shelley Hall was taken over and filled with Land Girls, to the delight of the remaining menfolk!
But by far and away the biggest trauma was the arrival of 833rd and 862nd Engineer Battalions in 1942 to construct
an A standard bomber airfield on the plateau overlooking Hadleigh. It was designated as USAAF STATION 157
RAYDON
Locals remember the village street being constantly full of trucks on the move. The road was not metalled in those
days and quickly became a sea of mud so deep that the house fronts were completely covered in it.
Farms and houses were requisitioned and dynamited, changing the look of the village forever. To this day, it is said
that the Yanks did more damage to Raydon than Hitler ever did!
A very modern bungalow built at Notley just before the war, and blown up by the Yanks!
This was one of the last airfields of its type to be constructed in the war and was, in the event, never used by
bombers, although the very first plane to land was a battle damaged B17 Flying Fortress who gratefully crash-landed
at the first airfield he came to. What shame the concrete runway was still soft!
The 357th Fighter Group first occupied it in November 1943 and they were only the second group in England to be
equipped with the new P51 Mustang. One pilot with the 357th was a Lt. Charles ‘Chuck’ Yeager, who later achieved
fame by flying the X-15 through the sound barrier and also becoming the first man in space!
In January 1944, the 358th Fighter Group replaced them at Raydon with their Thunderbolts while the 357th moved to
Leiston.
Click here for WWII British Resistance archive – our local Heroes
In April 1944 the 358th were sent to the south coast, Raydon airfield came under the command of the Eighth Air Force
and the 353th Fighter Group from Metfield moved in with their Thunderbolts.
The 353rd‘s trademark was the colorful yellow and black checkerboard on the engine cowlings, and they were
commanded by the charismatic Colonel Glenn Duncan. He demonstrated the ability of Americans to appreciate irony
when, ordered by top brass to rename his aircraft, which he had christened "Flying Death!" They feared recriminations
if ever the plane was shot down intact. He sarcastically renamed it "Dove of Peace"! Political correctness even then!
In October 1944, the 353rd were re-equipped with P51 Mustangs which gave them the range to escort the bombers
over to Germany and back. About this time Raydon was known colloquially as "Bomb Alley" due to the number of
German V-1 "Doodlebug" flying bombs which flew directly overhead on their way to London. One blew up as it went
over and the engine narrowly missed the bomb dump in Raydon Great Wood.
Raydon Airfield reverted to RAF Fighter Command on 20 December 1945 although it was not used again and the
station was closed on 8 August 1958 and in 1960-62 the land was sold back to local farmers. Some of the buildings
and hangers were retained by the Home Office for storage until they were given up in the 80’s. These buildings are
now a small industrial park and remain largely unaltered in appearance. Much of the concrete runways and peri-tracks
containing all that London blitz rubble were dug up and recycled into the base of the new A12 road.
Not every change to village life has met with universal approval!
And so Raydon remains much as it was, a sleepy little Suffolk village of little consequence, with the exception of one
evening in October 1989 when an illegal rave was held on the site of the old airfield in Raydon, follow this link for more
information BBC Look East live here. We still cope with drought and flood, famine and glut although pestilence and
plague are less of a problem these days. It’s still an agro-economy but not so feudal, and less dependant on it with all
manner of diverse and interesting little businesses secreted away in sheds, barns and back rooms.
We keep ourselves to ourselves.
We like it that way.