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Parham is situated in the East
Anglian county of Suffolk some 10 miles from the east coast, about
half way between the market towns of Framlingham and Wickham
Market. It is a small rather scattered village with 114
properties housing 310 parishioners, 45 of which are children under
18 years. It is a rural community covering 896 hectares of
mainly farmland although it is fortunate to have two large commons,
one at North Green the other at Silverlace
Green, and a smaller common at Mill
Green. Although Parham cannot be classified as a
'chocolate box' village it does have its pretty corners.
 The majority of houses flank the
B1116 and The Street leading to St Mary the Virgin
Church although there are clusters around the three
Greens too. New executive style houses sit shoulder to
shoulder with timber framed houses and terraced
cottages.
Parham has no Shop, Post Office, School or Public
House but the community has adapted itself to the lack of these
amenities. Parham's Village Hall, which has
a licensed bar, stage, disabled facilities and a creditable snooker
annex, is becoming a multi-user centre providing a venue for
'Pub Night' every Friday night, Parham
Youth Group on Monday evenings and the
Rendezvous (drop-in) on Tuesday mornings.
The new Annex, containing a small meeting room and access to the
back of the stage for drama productions, also has an ICT
Centre providing Computer/Internet training.
The adjacent Play Area not only serves the village
but is also an added amenity when the Village Hall is
hired.
 Parham has one of the few
remaining 2nd world war Air Museums in the
Country that has connection with the USA. This is a
special tourist attraction open on Sundays and Wednesdays,
housing an exhibition of wartime artefacts in the redundant
Control Tower. It commemorates the 390th Bomber Group of
the American 8th Air Force. Also in the museum is a room
devoted to the Parham section of the British Resistance
Organisation.
The old air base also supports light industrial
units providing employment. About 11% of Parham's
electoral roll in 2003 were either self-employed or had employment
in the village.
 A Circular Walk
leaflet (copies can be found in
the Church) directs
walkers on a picturesque walk along public rights
of way passing a number of notable listed buildings. The
result of various environmental projects can be seen along the
route such as the excavation of Jubilee Pond & Twin Ponds
on North Green and the new cutting regime of Parham's Greens
to increase bio-diversity, which are part of Parham's
Bio-diversity Action Plan.
Parham has such a vibrant community that it won the district
'Village of the Year' competition three times in
the space of 6 years and went onto represent Suffolk at
national level in 1997 and 2001.
The parish carried out a Village Review in 1994
that resulted in the Village Hall being re-roofed and the Play Area
being erected adjacent to the village hall. This was followed
up by organising House Group Meetings in 1998, to discuss social,
economic and environmental issues that created an Action Plan
which was included in the Millennium Parham Parish
Scan. A copy can be obtained from Framlingham
Library. In 2003, Parham embarked upon an all-inclusive
consultation, the results of which can be found on the
Parham Parish
Planpage.
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