SUFFOLK |
| Brandeston Priory Vineyards |
Off A1120, 12 miles north-east of Ipswich |
The symbol of Brandeston Priory Vineyards represents a
man hanging from a gibbet, grimly commemorating the hanging in 1646 of a 90-year-old vicar
of the parish by Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder-General who conducted a Puritan reign of
terror during the Civil War. Present surroundings are less sinister. The converted 16th
century priory is surrounded by formal and informal gardens. |
| Bury St Edmunds Abbey |
In centre of Bury St Edmunds |
The town's name and crest recall that the remains of
the East Anglian King Edmund were lodged in a small monastery here after he was martyred
by the Dames in AD 870. Today the ruins of the once vast abbey are little more than warped
clumps of stone rearing up from the abbey gardens. However, two impressive entrances
survive: a Norman tower complete with belfry, and the 14th century Great Gate or Abbey
Gate. |
| Christchurch Mansion |
Christchurch Park, Ipswich |
Set in extensive parkland, Christchurch Mansion was
built in the 16th century and has some 40 rooms furnished in various periods, from the
fine Tudor bedroom to the sumptuous 18th century state rooms. It houses an exhibition of
Lowestoft china, while costumed figures lend vitality to the re-created servants' wing of
the house, with its large array of cooking and domestic utensils. The Wolsey Gallery,
named after the Cardinal born in the town, displays Gainsborough and Constable treasures. |
| Church of St Peter and St Paul |
Lavenham |
The medieval Church of St Peter and St Paul was built
largely out of funds provided by local clothiers. Among them was Thomas Spring, who is
buried in the church and whose coat of arms appears 32 times on the tower. Inside is a
rare 14th century rood screen and some finely carved choir stalls with
misericords. |
| Clare Castle Country Park |
On A1092, 7 miles north-west of Sudbury |
Outrage was expressed in 1865 when the newly arrived
railway cut a gash through the old bailey of Clare Castle. Today the abandoned station
platforms are themselves historic monuments. Clare Castle Country Park has been developed
around the site with picnic areas, a children's play area, and a history trail. A longer
nature trail follows the bank of the River Stour. The nearby Clare Priory dates back to
the 13th century. The Ancient House in Clare High Street contains a museum of local
archaeological finds. |
| Dunwich Museum |
Off B1125, 5 miles south of Southwold |
Little remains of the once proud port of Dunwich, in
Norman times a town of 5000 inhabitants, for its harbour, markets and churches were
swallowed up by the sea many stormy centuries ago. The museum in the tiny fragment of
village remaining chronicles the history of the place since Roman times, and has several
other exhibits concerning local wildlife and habitats. |
| Flatford Mill |
Off B1070, 12.5 miles south of Ipswich |
Although Flatford Mill and Willy Lott's Cottage, so
often painted by John Constable, form part of a Field Studies Centre and are not open to
the public, the buildings can be clearly seen from the outside, looking their best from
the towpath on the opposite bank of the River Stour. Visitors are welcome at Bridge
Cottage grandly re-thatched and housing an exhibition of 'John Constable at Flatford', and
at the adjoining National Trust information office and shop; there is also a tea-room on
the river bank. Boats can be hired nearby, and there are weekend river trips. Along the
lane stands the Granary Museum. |
| Framlingham Castle |
On B1119, 7 miles west of Saxmundham |
The first simple palisaded castle was built around 1100
by one of the Bigod family. During centuries of disputes between lords and kings the
castle changed hands many times; its most celebrated owner was Mary Tudor. In the 17th
century it was bequeathed to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, who converted the hall into a
poorhouse and pulled down most of the internal buildings. The outlines of what remains
today are those of an outer court or bailey, an inner court, and a lower court on the
western side with a prison tower. A museum within the castle has a display of memorabilia
of the everyday life in Framlingham. |
| Gainsborough's House |
In centre of Sudbury |
The 18th century painter Thomas Gainsborough was born
in this house and lived here until he went to study in London, returning with his young
wife to work for a time as a local portrait painter. The house contains more works by
Gainsborough than any other gallery, along with contemporary furniture, china and personal
relics. |
| Guildhall |
Lavenham |
Lavenham's Guildhall was built in 1529 as the meeting
place of a guild of clothiers, founded to maintain the standards of the craft. When the
industry was ousted by imported worsteds, the building was in turn a jail, a workhouse and
almshouses. It is now a museum of crafts and local history. |
| Ickworth |
Off A143, 3 miles south-east of Bury St Edmunds |
The great oval rotunda and splayed wings of one of the
most grandiose extravagances of late 18th century, the Hervey family had by then owned the
estate for some 300 years. Frederick Augustus, Bishop of Derry and 4th Earl of Bristol,
was an ardent collector. Seeking a worthy setting for his accumulation of art treasures,
he commissioned the building of a rotunda which was to be his home, with two curving wings
to hold his acquisitions. The contents today include Regency and 18th century French
porcelain, silver and paintings exhibited in sumptuous state rooms. |
Lavenham's Timber Framed
Buildings |
Lavenham |
Assembled by medieval craftsmen and cemented by time,
Lavenham's timber-framed and plaster-walled buildings seem as permanent as the Pyramids.
Show and function were balanced in their design. Fine carving adorns the door of the house
in Barn Street, and the capitals of 10-11 Lady Street. The arch at the lower end of this
building is actually a Tudor shopfront, whose customers would have been grateful for the
shelter of the overhanging upper storey. |
| Little Hall |
Lavenham |
The timber-framed home of a family of medieval
clothiers and farmers, Little Hall was restored in the 1930s. It had originally a high
hall, occupying the central part of the house, warmed by a central hearth, and a solar or
bedroom over the parlour, or family room, now the library. An upper floor was added in the
16th century over what is now the dining room, to store cloth. In the Second World War
evacuees slept there, and painted their names on the chest of drawers. |
| Long Shop Museum |
On B1119, in Leiston |
Richard Garrett III visited the United States to study
mass production, and returned with the idea of building his own assembly hall. Known as
the Long Shop, this helped to expand construction of road rollers, steam tractors and
steam engines. The works closed in 1980 but the Long Shop has been restored as an
industrial museum. Among historic Garrett manufactures preserved on the site are road
haulage tractors and rollers, an 1846 fire engine, a trolley bus, a thresher and seed
drills. |
| Melford Hall |
On A134, 3 miles north of Sudbury |
Melford Hall was built in the 16th century around what
had been a hunting lodge for the wealthy abbots of Bury St Edmunds. Its creator was
William Cordell, a cunning lawyer who became Master of the Rolls and contrived to keep
well in with Henry VIII and both his daughters. Rooms of various periods include the
original banqueting hall, a Regency library and a Victorian bedroom. Among the items on
display are a collection of Chinese porcelain, period furniture, fine panelling, and
family and maritime paintings. |
| Orford Castle |
On B1084, in Orford |
The three-storeyed keep on its grassy mound is all that
remains of a fortress set up by Henry II. It remained an important royal stronghold for
two centuries, seized by the French after King John's death and changing hands several
times during baronial upheavals. The stone walls of the bailey disappeared long ago, but
their outlines can be traced in the undulating earthworks about the keep. The tower itself
is cylindrical inside but polygonal outside, with three rectangular turrets commanding
every possible angle over its surroundings. |
| Pakenham Water Mill |
Off A143, 6 miles north-east of Bury St Edmunds |
Pakenham can be proud of retaining two working mills,
both grinding corn in traditional style - a finely preserved tower windmill, and a water
mill restored by the Suffolk Preservation Society. The Domesday survey recorded a water
mill on this site in 1086 and there seems to have been an unbroken history of milling
here: excavations of the foundations in recent years exposed remnants of a Tudor mill
which was replaced by the present building late in the 18th century. This worked until
1974, but was in danger of dereliction until restoration work began in 1978. |
| The Priory |
Lavenham |
This basically 13th century house never was a priory,
although Benedictine monks did live there until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by
Henry VIII in 1536. Later it was occupied by a wool merchant and by rectors of Lavenham.
The pargeting, or raised ornamental plasterwork, is the finest in the town. |
| Somerleyton Hall |
Off B1074, 4 miles north-west of Lowestoft |
The original Elizabethan hall was rebuilt in the middle
of the 19th century. One of the treasures of the house is a large Flemish tapestry. The
range of glasshouses was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace.
The clock in the tower of the stable block was originally intended for the Houses of
Parliament, but it proved too elaborate and had to give way to the present world-famous
clock. In the gardens, which cover 12 acres, there is a maze, a garden trail, a rose walk,
and a lime avenue. A miniature railway runs for a quarter of a mile through the grounds. |
| 390th Bomb Group Memorial Air Museum |
Off B1116, 5 miles south-east of Framlingham |
The restored control tower of this Second World War US
Air Force airfield is dedicated as a museum. The American 390th Bomb Group was based here
from July 1943 to August 1945, during which time it flew more than 300 operations. Among
the exhibits on the two floors of the tower are engines and other material recovered from
crashed planes. |
| West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village |
Off A1101, 5 miles north-west of Bury St Edmunds |
During excavations of a low hill at West Stow the
footings of some Anglo-Saxon houses were found together with personal and domestic items.
From the evidence it has been possible to reconstruct a group of thatched wooden houses
and a communal hall using only the tools and techniques which the Anglo-Saxons would have
known. |
| Wingfield College |
Off B1118, 7 miles east of Diss |
During the 18th century a new facade and false interior
walls and ceilings disguised the existence of an early 14th century timber-framed great
hall. It was not until 1971 that the base fabric was uncovered. Now the rooms provide a
setting for collections of prints and textiles and for concerts and recitals. The grounds
include a moat garden and a topiary garden. |
