Yoxford
Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB), Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a Britten opera. The name 'Yoxford' comes from Old English "geoc-ford" meaning 'yoke ford' probably indicating that the ford was wide enough for a yoke of oxen to pass through. Location and governance. Yoxford, some north-east of London and north-east of Ipswich, is surrounded by the parkland of three country houses, in an area known as the Garden of Suffolk. It takes  its name from a ford across the nearby River Yox, where oxen could pass. The village includes the junction of the A12 trunk road and the A1120. Before 1 April 2019, its electoral ward in the Suffolk Coastal district bore the same name, but the village is now within the enlarged ward of Yoxford and Kelsale, in the East Suffolk district. At the 2011 census, the previous ward's population was 1901. Facilities and sights. The Church of St Peter has a 15th-century Perpendicular-style exterior, but is mainly Victorian inside. However, it possesses a number of 15th–17th-century  monumental brasses, which are displayed on the walls. The finely carved font dates from the early 15th century and the pulpit from the 17th century. The church parish belongs to the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. Up to about 1830, the village came under the Blything Hundred. On the edge of the village is Cockfield Hall, once the old home of the Blois family. The village is known for its antique shops. It also has a general store, a restaurant and a village hall. Benjamin Britten and librettist Eric Crozier are believed to have adapted the name of Yoxford  to create the fictional town of Loxford, which provides the setting for Britten's opera, "Albert Herring". Education. Yoxford and Peasenhall Primary School caters for children aged 3–11. The school has an Early Year Centre, purpose-built for pupils aged from 3–6. The school works in partnership with Middleton Primary School in Middleton, Suffolk and Southwold Primary School in Southwold, Suffolk, the three making up Yox Valley Partnership of Schools. Hospitality. Yoxford's two pubs are the "Griffin Inn", a medieval house that reopened in 2013, and "The King's Head". The "Griffin Inn" offers accommodation, as does the 18th -century Satis House. This is sometimes described wrongly as the original for the Satis House in Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations". In fact the book describes Restoration House in Rochester, Kent, referred to as "satis" by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Yoxford's Satis House was known as plain Yoxford House until well after the novel appeared, as old Ordnance Survey maps confirm. Every year on the first Sunday after Easter, a competition is held for eating brawn, known locally as pork cheese. A Brawn Queen is picked from the village and her first ceremonial task as Queen is to  cut the cheese. Public transport. The village is served by Darsham railway station on the East Suffolk Line, one mile (1.6 km) away. The line offers hourly weekday services (two-hourly on Sundays) between Ipswich, with connections to London, and Lowestoft, with connections to Norwich. It is also served by four weekday buses a day between Aldeburgh and Halesworth and a once-daily Monday-to-Friday service between Leiston and Framlingham. There is also demand-responsive transport for disabled passengers. Notable residents. In order of birth: