Suffolk Museums & Galleries

including civic and independent art galleries and museums in Suffolk...

Museums long ago ceased to be stuffy rooms full of glass cases containing bits of old pottery and fossilised bones. Today even most conventional museums include changing displays but over recent years there has been a growth in industrial and "living" museums. Here you can learn about local heritage, get a feel for how people lived and worked, the hardships they endured...

Galleries listed include not just civic galleries displaying publicly owned artworks, but also privately owned galleries with items for sale.

Suffolk Museums and Galleries

FELIXSTOWE MUSEUM

Museums & Galleries

PO Box 50, Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, IP11 7JG

Felixstowe Museum has 14 rooms displaying artefacts and memorabilia covering the long social and military history of this popular Suffolk resort and port from early Roman finds, Martello towers and experimental seaplane base to the development of the present container port. The museum is in the former submarine mining establishment adjacent to Landguard Fort, south-west of the town. Open Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from Easter until end of October plus Wednesdays from May to end of September. Light refreshments are available.

Tel: 01394 674355 (answer phone)
E-mail: felmuseum@btopenworld.com
Web: www.felixstowe-museum.co.uk

NATIONAL HORSERACING MUSEUM

Museums & Galleries

99 High Street, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8JH

The story of the people and horses involved in racing from its Royal origins to Lester Piggott, Frankie Dettori and other modern heroes. Highlights include: the head of Persimmon, a great Royal Derby winner in 1896; a special display about Fred Archer, the late Victorian jockey who committed suicide, which features the pistol he used to take his life; and the colourful jackets of 'Prince Monolulu', the 1950's tipster. Schools and groups visiting the Museum can have fun and learn through our curriculum linked activities. A visit to the Museum is a must for local history study. Find out about Newmarket's past and how horse racing has shaped the town. Children aged 4-10 can try our Maths Trail as they go around the Museum galleries or can simply use our fun worksheets. Contact the Education Officer if there is something specific you would like to cover. Our gift shop stocks an imaginative range of horse racing gifts, many of which are unique to the Museum. There is an extensive range of prints featuring many international artists and a good selection of bronze resin sculptures. The Gift Shop is open all year round except for a short period in-between Christmas and New Year. The Museum Café serves morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon teas. The garden provides a delightful place to eat in during the summer. The Café is available for special functions, including evening events.

Tel: 01638 667333
Web: www.nhrm.co.uk

Lavenham: The Guildhall of Corpus Christi

Market Place, Lavenham, Sudbury, CO10 9QZ
Tel: 01787 247646 E-mail: lavenhamguildhall@nationaltrust.org.uk
Web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lavenham

Lavenham Guildhall Suffolk Photo © Charles Rawding
Lavenham Guildhall Suffolk -
Photo: Charles Rawding CCL

Tudor building in the heart of a remarkably preserved small medieval town.

This early 16th-century timber-framed building overlooks and dominates the town’s market place.

Inside are exhibitions on timber-framed buildings, local history, farming and industry, as well as the story of the medieval woollen cloth trade.

There is an attractive walled garden with dye plants, and 19th-century lock-up and mortuary.

Sutton Hoo

Tranmer House, Sutton Hoo, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 3DJ
Tel: 01394 389700 Fax: 01394 389702
E-mail: suttonhoo@nationaltrust.org.uk

Sutton Hoo mask Suffolk Photo © Keith Evans
Sutton Hoo mask Suffolk -
Photo: Keith Evans CCL

Anglo-Saxon royal burial site.

Sutton Hoo is the site of one of the most important archaeological finds in this country’s history.

On a spur of land rising above the River Deben, one of several large mounds was excavated in 1939, revealing the now famous treasures, including a warrior’s helmet, shield and gold ornaments in the remains of a burial chamber of a 90ft ship.

The exhibition hall houses a full-size reconstruction of the chamber and tells the story of the site – described as ‘page one of English history’.

The burial mounds (500yds from visitor facilities) form part of the 99ha (245 acre) estate given to the National Trust by the Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust in 1998.

East Anglia Transport Museum

Chapel Road, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 8BL
Tel: 01502 518459 Fax: 01502 584658
Web: www.eatm.org.uk

View and ride on all three principal forms of public transport from the earlier part of the 20th century.

East England Military Museum

Barnham, Thetford, Suffolk, IP24 2SY
Tel Info Line: 01842 890600 Tel Admin: 01842 890633
E-mail: information@militarymuseumweb.org.uk
Web: www.militarymuseumweb.org.uk

East of England Tank Museum specialise in restoring, preserving and exhibiting historic military vehicles from all over the world.

Gainsborough's House

46 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 2EU
Tel: 01787 372958 Fax: 01787 376991
E-mail: mail@gainsborough.org Web: www.gainsborough.org

The birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough, with the largest display of the artists work as well as contemporary art.

Halesworth Gallery

Steeple End, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 8LL
Tel: 01986 873 064 E-mail: email@halesworthgallery.co.uk
Web: www.halesworthgallery.co.uk

Open Weekdays and Saturday from 11am to 5pm and Sundays from 2-5pm with free admission, Halesworth Gallery exhibits contemporary paintings, mixed media, ceramics and sculptures by local artists.

Museum of East Anglian Life

Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 1DL
Tel: 01449 612229 Fax: 01449 672307
E-mail: enquiries@eastanglianlife.org.uk Web: www.eastanglianlife.org.uk

The history and natural world of East Anglia. Woodland and riverside nature trails. East Anglian crafts and traditional Gypsy culture. Suffolk Punch Horses and rare breads of cattle and sheep. 15 restored historic buildings and museum bistro.

West Stow Country Park and Anglo-Saxon Village

The Visitor Centre, Icklingham Road, West Stow, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 6HG
Tel: 01284 728718 Fax: 01284 728277
E-mail: weststow@stedsbc.gov.uk Web: www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk

A reconstruction of the actual Anglo-Saxon Village (c.420-650AD) on the site where the remains of the original village were found. The Country Park is a 52 hectare site complete with car park, play area, visitor centre, shop and cafe.