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The recognised source is to the west of Debenham, though a second, higher source runs south from the parish of Bedingfield. The river, which is just over 33 miles long, passes through Woodbridge, where it becomes a tidal estuary before emptying into the North Sea between Felixstowe and Bawdsey at Harwich Haven.

Suffolk has twenty rivers worthy of the name. The River Waveney and the River Little Ouse form the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk. The River Stour does the same for Suffolk and Essex. The Alde, the Blyth, the Deben and the Orwell are the main rivers and the others are tributaries or affluents of these. Among the names of these are the Gipping, the Box, the Lark, the Dove, the Snail and the Rat.
Other rivers and tributaries are the Minsmere, Fromus, Mill, Ore, Chad, Fynn, Kirton Creek, and Shottisham Creek, Belstead Brook, the Black Bourne, Eriswell Lode, Polstead Stream and Hol Brook. Edited by Adrian S. Pye

Suffolk has roughly 130 watermills listed as either lost, demolished, partial ruin or extant and converted to another use. Of these, either the mill or the miller's house, are now private houses, B&Bs or the larger ones, multiple occupancy flats. Watermills were by necessity beside a river or stream with enough flow to turn a waterwheel and the gears inside the mill. There are a number of options for the method in presenting the water to the paddles on the wheel. Undershot is where the bottom of the wheel sits in the flow. Breast shot is where the water is presented to the wheel halfway up and the wheel and doesn't sit in the stream. Overshot is where the water flows over the top of the wheel and is the most powerful of the three methods. A fourth method not used in Suffolk, is known as a pentrough or pitchback, which is similar to an overshot but turns the wheel in the opposite direction. See Link. Mills were used to grinding corn, making paper, extracting oil, sawing wood and numerous other jobs which are listed in the above Wikipedia article. created by Adrian Pye