WHY?

This ancient market town is having something of a renaissance, with lots of new houses being built around the outskirts as more and more people are charmed by its lovely location and stunning centrepiece – a 12th century castle. In recent years, it has even been voted the best place to live in the country by Country Life magazine.

EAT

The Station Hotel in Framlingham has a reputation for a great roast and excellent wood-fired pizzas. There’s also The Castle Inn and The Railway Inn in the town as well as several cafes. Watson and Walpole is a lovely neighbourhood Italian with a gelato shop too.

SHOP

A traditional English market runs every Tuesday and Saturday and there are a few independent shops like The Framlingham Wine Shop, antiques shops and a handful of gift/ clothes shops.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS

Of course there’s the castle, which is an amazing place to walk around for both adults and kids. A few miles away you’ll find Easton Farm Park, a magical place to spend the day with young family.

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE

£359,739, up 13%. year-on-year. Detached sold for around £497,668. terraced properties went for an average of £247,682, while semi’s fetched £273,850.

HOT PROPERTY

Just outside Framlingham lies Ashfield Place Farmhouse, an incredible property with seven bedrooms and 14 acres, yours for £1,350,000.

SCHOOLS

Fancy a school with castle views? Framlingham College is a beautiful co-ed day and boarding school with fabulous facilities and acres of outside space. It’s also possible to easily send children to Ipswich School (Prep and Senior) from this part of Suffolk thanks to their network of buses, one of which picks up from Framlingham.

BEST KEPT SECRET

The word ‘Bigot’ derives from the Bigod family who built Framlingham Castle and were a rather intolerant bunch. Fortunately the town is a much friendlier place to reside these days! Framlingham is also Ed Sheeran’s home town and you can probably guess where he got the inspiration for his song Castle on the Hill.

COMMUTE

You can get to both sides of Suffolk from here including towns like Bury and Ipswich as well as the coast. London is a bit of a shlep…you’d need to drive to Ipswich (38 mins) and then take a train (57 minutes).

View the full Top 200 Places to Live