Ballingdon Street (A131), the Sudbury to Halstead main road joins with Cross Street to go over the River Stour at Ballingdon Bridge seen at the top right hand corner of this picture. The now disused Sudbury to Lavenham railway crosses the marshes on an embankment. This is now heavily wooded and is used as a countryside walkway and cycle track. In the Middle Ages, the flood-plain of the river was difficult to cross so a causeway had to be built to take the road across the marshes to the bridging point and the firm ground on the other side of the river.

Medieval, Tudor and Georgian houses have been built on either side of the road and these are well preserved today. Behind and between these houses are small industrial buildings and some newer houses. On the left, the kings marshes have been drained to allow cattle to graze but they are still regularly flooded during heavy rain. Some parts of the marsh on the right of the picture are common land and can be used by freemen of the town. Crossing the A131 at the edge of the flood-plain are minor roads which follow the valley side joining the villages of Bulmer and Bures with Ballingdon.