Rendlesham
An archaeology project has identified a large settlement of more than 124 acres (50 hectares).
Its name is recorded in Old English about 730 AD as Rendlæsham, which may mean "Homestead belonging to [a man named] Rendel", or it may come from a theorized Old English word *rendel = "little shore".
The Church of St Gregory the Great in Rendlesham is a Grade I listed medieval church. Rendlesham Hall, a large manor house, was demolished in 1949.
Rendlesham Forest, owned by Forestry England, is a 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) mixed woodland with recreation facilities for walkers, cyclists and campers. It is part of the Sandlings Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Rendlesham Forest incident was a series of reported sightings of unexplained pulsing lights off the coast of Orford Ness in December 1980.
During the summer of 2012, scenes of the movie Fast & Furious 6 were filmed on the former RAF Bentwaters airfield.
Governance
An East Suffolk electoral ward called Rendlesham & Orford exists. The former Rendlesham ward included Campsea Ashe and at the 2011 Census had a total population of 3,388.
Notable residents
- Æthelwold of East Anglia Anglo-Saxon King of East Anglia who reigned between c. 654–664
- William Wheatcroft (by 1517 – 1558?), Member of Parliament for Ipswich in 1558
- Leonard Mawe (c. 1552 – 1629), Bishop of Bath and Wells and a Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge and Trinity College, Cambridge.
- Laurence Echard (c. 1670–1730), historian and clergyman
- Anne Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton (1720–1771), aristocrat
- Peter Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham (1761–1808), merchant, banker, and politician. He served as Member of Parliament for Midhurst, Malmesbury, Castle Rising, and Bossiney.
- Frederick Thellusson, 4th Baron Rendlesham (1798–1852), Member of Parliament for East Suffolk
- Frederick Thellusson, 5th Baron Rendlesham (1840–1911), Member of Parliament for East Suffolk
- Edith Austin (1867–1953), professional tennis player
- Michael Bunbury (1946- ), businessman and chairman of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster