Museum

The Museum is at 49 High Street, towards North Entrance, just by the railway bridge.

Welcome to the Saxmundham Museum on the Saxmundham Town Council website.

Opening Times for 2011

From 1st April until 30th September. Monday to Saturday including Bank Holidays but excluding Sundays and Good Friday, from 10:00am until 1:00pm. In addition the Museum will be open each day of the Arts Festival Week in October, including Sundays.

Admission Charges

There is no charge for admission but donations are very welcome. All donations go towards the upkeep of the Museum, buying artefacts and making improvements to the Museum.

Museum contents

From the outside the Museum looks small but we do have five rooms.   On entering the Museum you will be welcomed by the stewards on duty, but at once you will be transformed back to the late forties because on your left there is a complete station booking office, with staff, ladies room, etc.  The booking office is so realistic that you can almost smell smoke in the air as the train draws into Saxmundham station.

Next you will visit the Green Room where local history is covered, including photographs of the Anglo Saxon artefacts which were found while archaelogists were 'digging' at the Hopkins Homes site.  We also have a replica of the head of Claudius (the original cast being found in Rendham).  Perhaps the only modern piece of equipment in the Museum is a touch screen showing many historic photographs of both the town and surrounding villages.

Following through, you come to the cinema where continuous films are shown and you can easily pass an hour watching bye-gone days, sitting in the tip-up seats.  On to the Courtyard with replica shops from Saxmundham, and also the Cell where the Beadle and the prisoner talk over his crime!  Lastly, there is the Exhibition Room where the displays are changed every year or two, and this year we are featuring farming implements together with the Women's Land Army.

One of the many photographs in the Saxmundham Museum - this one shows pigs
being driven through town along South Entrance. The shop on the right was a wine seller (the sign says "H Waller & Sons - Est 1835"): it is an off-license today and looks very much the same.

Friends of the Museum

Are you a Friend of the Museum? Would you like to become one? The annual subscription is £15.00, and you will be invited to at least three Open Evenings for Friends. Further details and an application form can be obtained from the Museum.

Stewarding

Elizbeth Masterton Smith would be delighted if you phone her on 01728 604402 and say you can spare a few hours a week or month to help steward the Museum. It's not arduous and you will make a lot of friends and meet a lot of interesting visitors.

Please come and visit the Museum, it is well worth a visit and we look forward to welcoming you and answering as many questions as we can.

The Museum is grant aided by the Local Heritage Initiative which is a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society and the Countryside Agency.

Clubs and Societies

Although the Museum is only open during the mornings, arrangements can be made to open the Museum at a time convenient to you by phoning Richard Crisp on 01728 663583.

We look forward to meeting you.

Saxmundham Museum