The Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is popular for weekend cottage breaks and longer stays, especially during the summer. The River Stour winds its way through countryside on the North Essex border towards the North Sea at Harwich. Strangely, the area is not named after the river as one would expect but after the village of Dedham which is in the south east of the area.
View holiday cottages in Dedham Vale
Dedham Vale became a tourist attraction thanks to John Constable
The fascination with the countryside on the Essex Suffolk borders can be greatly attributed to the landscape painter John Constable who proclaimed the beauty of the area and epitomised it in his paintings. People still visit Constable’s birthplace of East Bergholt, Dedham where he attended school and Flatford Mill, his father’s business. These villages and various landmarks comprise Constable Country and it is all contained within Dedham Vale.
Flatford Mill
Flatford Mill is managed by the National Trust and is a lovely place to visit for country strolls and afternoon tea in the café. The Mill still looks the same as it did when Constable painted it a couple of centuries ago. There is a pleasant walk from Flatford Mill, across fields, to the village Of Dedham.
Dedham
Dedham is a charming place to stay and offers the kind of facilities that people look for in a weekend break: shops, pubs, a delicatessen selling luxurious treats, a tea shop, a craft and home décor shop, a parish church and rowing on the River Stour for those lazy Sunday afternoons.
The charm of village in Dedham Vale is mainly due to the age of the buildings; period cottages, mainly colour-washed or thatched line the roads. The roofs of red tiles may be sagging in places. There are lots of half-timbered properties and fascinating architectural features.
Almost every village in Dedham Vale has something of interest. Visitors may notice that the walls of churches are decorated with flints which gives them a distinctive appearance and protection against the elements. Suffolk is famous for the high number of churches found there, mostly funded by the wool and cloth trade of the 18th Century.
If you get the chance, do explore the various towns and villages. It can be a real pleasure to take a walk in Higham, to admire the charm of the housing. More recent homes are red brick but there are still plenty in pastel shades that are plastered and some that feature the local speciality of pargeting, or of creating a mural in the plasterwork.
The countryside on the Essex Suffolk border
Most of the countryside in Dedham Vale is farmland. Ramblers are welcome to use ancient right of way along the edges of fields. There are no steep hills and plenty of narrow lanes. It might be tempting to cycle but those narrow lanes are just a car wide and most people would not want to risk a car hurtling towards them on a blind bend.
Find out more about Dedham Vale and Suffolk
The following pages lead to much more information about the villages of Suffolk and Dedham Vale : www.cottage-holidays-suffolk.co.uk