Great Bradley in Suffolk, England is a small village between Newmarket and Haverhill at the head of the River Stour on the Suffolk/ Cambridgeshire border.

Great Bradley, main village, 2000 (click on picture for a bigger image)

The name 'Bradley' is derived from 'Broad Ley', the Old English (Anglo Saxon) meaning 'broad wood or clearing'. There is evidence that the area has been lived in since the middle stone age, about 5,000 years ago. The civil parish comprises a number of areas: the main village, the manor house and church, individual house clusters and some isolated farms. There are about 400 people in the village. Although there are no direct services in the village other than a post box, a telephone box and a mobile library there are a number of active societies and social events. The towns of Newmarket and Haverhill are just 15 minutes drive away and Cambridge can be reached in 30 minutes.

Great Bradley is the name of the village and the civil parish. The civil parish forms part of the borough of St Edmundsbury in the county of Suffolk, and is within the regional government area known as the East of England. The electoral ward is Withersfield, the UK parliamentary constituency is Bury St Edmunds and the European Parliament constituency is Eastern. It is now distinct from Little Bradley, although in the past they have been considered as one. The parish of St Mary is within the Deanery of Clare, the Archdeaconry of Sudbury and the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich.