3 Best Sights in Long Melford, East Anglia

This largely 15th-century church, founded by the rich clothiers of Long Melford, stands on a hill at the north end of the village. Close up, the delicate flint flush-work (shaped flints set into a pattern) and huge Perpendicular Gothic windows that take up most of the church's walls have great impact, especially because the nave is 150 feet long. The Clopton Chapel, with an ornate (and incredibly rare) painted medieval ceiling, predates the rest of the church by 150 years. The beautiful Lady Chapel has an unusual cloister; the stone on the wall in the corner is an ancient multiplication table, used when the chapel served as a school in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Tours can be arranged in advance; email [email protected] for more details and to make reservations.

A wide moat surrounds this redbrick Tudor manor house with tall chimneys and domed turrets. Built between 1520 and 1550, it was heavily restored inside after a fire in the early 19th century. On some weekends, costumed "servants" and "farmworkers" perform reenactments of Tudor life or life during World War II. There are also evening events, such as open-air theater performances. Check the website for notice of the spring lambing days. The house and farm are a half mile north of Long Melford Green. Always call ahead, as this place has notoriously variable opening times and sometimes contradictory listings.

Distinguished from the outside by its turrets and topiaries, Melford Hall is an Elizabethan house with its original banqueting room, a fair number of 18th-century additions, and pleasant gardens. Much of the porcelain and other fine pieces here come from the Santisima Trinidad, a ship loaded with gifts from the emperor of China and bound for Spain that was captured in the 18th century. Children's writer Beatrix Potter, related to the owners, visited often; there's a small collection of Potter memorabilia.