Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It
is in the Forest Heath local government district. Brandon is located in the
Breckland area on the border of Suffolk with the adjoining county of Norfolk.
Surrounded by Forestry Commission and agricultural land it is considered a
rural town. According to Eilert Ekwall (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of
English Place Names) the likely origin of the name is "Brandon, usually 'hill
where broom grows'", the earliest known spelling being in the 11th century when
the town, gradually expanding up and along the rising ground of the river
valley, was called Bromdun.