Rendlesham is a village and civil parish near Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It was a royal centre of authority for the king of the East Angles, of the Wuffinga line; the proximity of the Sutton Hoo ship burial may indicate a connection between Sutton Hoo and the East Anglian royal house. Swithhelm, son of Seaxbald, who reigned from 660 to around 664, was baptised at Rendlesham by Saint Cedd with King Æthelwold of East Anglia acting as his godfather. He died around the time of the great plague of 664 and may have been buried at the palace of Rendlesham. 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". It was also the location of Rendlesham Hall, a large manor house demolished in 1949. More recently Rendlesham was the site of the Rendlesham Forest incident, a series of reported sightings of unexplained pulsing lights off the coast of Orford Ness in December 1980. During the summer of 2012 certain scenes of the movie Fast & Furious 6 were filmed on the old RAF Bentwaters base. Governance An electoral ward in the same name also exists. This ward includes 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 Member of Parliament (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 See also HMS Rendlesham, a Ham class minesweeper Rendlesham Forest References BBC: East Saxon kings External links Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk