The 10 Best History Museums in Suffolk, England

The Suffolk Regiment Museum tells the story of the regiment from its foundation in 1685 to amalgamation with the Royal Norfolk Regiment in 1959. The history covers the regular, militia, volunteer and war-time battalions as well as the experience of individual soldiers and is told through medals, uniforms, photographs, weapons, equipment and personal memorabilia. The museum is open every Wednesday from 9:30am to 3:30pm, and the first Sunday of every month from 9:30am - 3:30pm.

When you visit Halesworth make sure you visit the Museum, housed in our Victorian Railway Station. For more than twenty years volunteers have been collecting and researching the history and archaeology of this fascinating corner of Suffolk. Spend some time with the displays which will take you across 10,000 years, from the earliest settlers in the Blyth Valley to the busy hub of malting, brewing and agriculture which was the town in Victorian times. For the 2018 season we have four new exhibitions, “They paid the price … men from Halesworth killed in the Great War”; “The British Red Cross in Halesworth & District 1914-1918”, “The de Argenteins, Lords of Halesworth Manor” and in a new cabinet the Wissett Hoards two significant hoards of Middle Bronze Age Axeheads and Spear Heads. We have also changed the Railway exhibit to include three models.

DUE TO THE CURRENT SITUATION WE ARE SORRY BUT WE WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Please check the website for further information. The 390th Bomb Group Memorial Air Museum and the Museum of the British Resistance Organisation are housed in the original war time control tower, associated quanset (nissan) huts, and include the Percy Kindred Library and cafe. Situated on open fields the museum is signposted from the A12 North of Woodbridge after passing through Little Glemham. We are open on Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday’s from the first Sunday in April to last Sunday in October and also on Wednesdays during June, July and August. FREE Kids activites:- Ink Stamper Trail, Lego Table, Activity Sheet FREE parking, FREE Admission DONATIONS GRATEFULLY RECEIVED

Covid-19 Update: To protect our community and volunteers during the current pandemic, we will be remaining closed for the time being. We'll be reviewing this over the year, and in line with government advice. We have big plans for 2021, and look forward to sharing them with you when we can. Please check here, our facebook page, or our website for updates. We will reassess this later in the year and hope to reopen as soon as we can. The Museum is housed inside Broad House, a grade 2 listed building dating from 1685, in the grounds of Nicholas Everitt Park. Lowestoft Museum collects, preserves and displays objects relating to the history of the area and its people, and promotes awareness and interest in our rich heritage.

TEMPORARILY CLOSED - Gainsborough’s House explores the life and art of Thomas Gainsborough. One of the greatest artists of his age, he is renowned throughout the world for his portrait and landscape paintings. The house, ‘a most excellent Brickt Mansion,’ was bought by John Gainsborough, the artist’s father, in May 1722. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88) was born in Sudbury and was baptized there at the Independent Meeting-House in Friars Street on 14 May 1727. He lived here until around 1740 when, as a young teenager, he was sent to London to pursue a career as an artist. He returned to Sudbury in the spring of 1749 until 1752 when he painted his celebrated Mr and Mrs Andrews. He never lost the influence of his native town and county. ‘Nature was his teacher, and the woods of Suffolk his academy,’ noted an obituary after his death in 1788.

Situated near Aldeburgh, in the beautiful coastal region of Suffolk, The Long Shop Museum tells the story of more than 200 years of the town's life and work. In the museum you will find a staggering collection of objects, ranging from full-size steam engines (the Richard Garrett & Sons engineering business made many hundreds of steam engines here) to touching mementos of the lives of the working people of the town.