Sights in Suffolk
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St Edmundsbury Cathedral
Completed in 2005, the 45m-high Millennium Tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral is a vision in Lincolnshire limestone, and its traditional Gothic-style construction gives a good idea of how the towers of many other English cathedrals must have looked fresh from the stonemason's chisel.
Most of the rest of the building dates from the early 16th century, though the eastern end is postwar 20th century, and the northern side was completed in 1990. The overall effect is light and lofty, with a gorgeous hammerbeam roof and a striking sculpture of the crucified Christ by Dame Elisabeth Frink in the north transept. The impressive entrance porch has a tangible Spanish influence, a…
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Ancient House
A glorious 17th-century facade of sugary-white wedding-cake pargeting decorates the front of Ipswich's most famous building. Built in the 15th century, Ancient House (aka Sparrowe's House) is one of the finest examples of Restoration artistry you'll see and crawls with mythological creatures and characters.
There are four relief panels each representing the continents discovered at the time - Asia is an Oriental dome, America is a tobacco pipe, Europe is a Gothic church, and Africa has an African astride a crocodile (eh?)
The building now houses a not-so-ancient kitchen outfitters, but you can take a peek at the hammer-beam roof inside.
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Abbey Remains
Just beyond the Great Gate is a peaceful garden where the Great Court was once a hive of activity. Just beyond is a dovecote that marks the only remains of the Abbot's Palace. The best-conserved remains of this once mighty abbey church are part of the western front and Samson Tower, which were borrowed by houses built into them. In front of Samson Tower is a beautiful statue of St Edmund by Dame Elisabeth Frink (1976).
The rest of the abbey spreads eastward like a ragged skeleton, with various lumps and pillars hinting at its immense size. Just north of the church lie more clustered remains of monastic buildings.
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Moyse's Hall Museum
In an impressive 12th-century undercroft, this enjoyable museum covers the important episodes in Bury’s history, such as the Bury witch trials, which preceded (and encouraged) the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. There are also medieval dressing-up clothes to engage the kids and the ticket also allows entry to the West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, complete with actors in period costume.
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Great Gate
You enter the park via one of two well-preserved old gates: opposite the tourist office, the staunch mid-14th-century Great Gate is intricately decorated but nevertheless ominously defensive, complete with battlements, portcullis and arrow slits. The other entrance sits further up along Angel Hill, where a gargoyle-studded early-12th-century Norman Tower looms beside the cathedral.
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Christchurch Mansion, Art Gallery and Park
Set in a lovely rolling park, this multigabled 16th-century Tudor mansion is filled with period furniture, a King Arthur tapestry and paintings by the likes of Constable and Gainsborough. Outside, look for the statue of a delightfully cantankerous granny - immediately recognisable to Britons as being the creation of local comic strip artist Carl Giles.
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Great White Horse Hotel
The Great White Horse Hotel first opened in 1518 as simply 'The Tavern'. It appears in Dickens' Pickwick Papers as the 'overgrown tavern'. Rumour has it that ghosts frequent the rooms. DJs spin their decks Friday and Saturday nights, and draught beer and real ale are readily downed; breakfast and lunch are also on offer.
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St Mary's
One of biggest parish churches in country, St Mary's contains the tomb of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII's sister and a one-time queen of France). Built around 1430, it also has a host of somewhat vampirish angels swooping from its roof, and a bell is still rung to mark curfew, as it was in the Middle Ages.
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Greene King Brewery
Churning out some of England's favourite booze since Victorian times, this famous brewery runs popular daily tours, after which you can appreciate what all the fuss is about in its brewery bar. Even if you don’t make the tour, you can check out the scale model of the brewery at the on-site museum, and learn about the history of beer.
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G
abbey
Now a picturesque ruin residing in beautiful gardens behind the cathedral, the once all-powerful abbey still impresses despite the townspeople having made off with much of the stone and St Edmund's grave and bones having disappeared long ago.
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Art Gallery
Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art in a beautiful 18th-century theatre.
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West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village
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Treasury
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Smith’s Row
Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art in a beautiful 18th-century theatre.
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RSPB Minsmere
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Southwold Museum
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Pier
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Melford Hall
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Little Hall
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Kentwell Hall
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Holy Trinity Church
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Church of St Peter & St Paul
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Church of St Edmund
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