A great family day out in Suffolk

MEAL - Museum of East Anglian Life

Discover the history and natural world of East Anglia on our beautiful 75 acre site—explore nearly 3km of woodland and riverside nature trails. Learn about fascinating East Anglian crafts and traditional Gypsy culture, get steamed up with our powerful engines and meet our friendly animals including Major, our Suffolk Punch Horse and rare breeds of cattle and sheep. Discover 15 splendidly restored historic buildings and try some delicious food and local produce in the new museum bistro.

Featured

Previously

MEAL gets its own Time Team Experience!

August 31st, 2010

The Museum of East Anglian Life will be staging its own Time Team experience! However whereas Tony Robinson and the Team get 3 days our ‘Dig’ has to be completed in 1!!

Traditional Music Day 4th September

August 20th, 2010

This unique and vibrant event, now in its ninth year, is run by the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust at the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket.

It celebrates traditional folk music, with a focus on the songs, music and dances from Suffolk and the eastern counties, which has a rich heritage of such material and a continuing tradition.

Activities Unlimited Summer Volunteering

August 3rd, 2010

If you’re aged between 14 and 24, come and join us for one of our summer volunteering days.

Taking part provides the chance to:

- Get practical experience of working on a farm
- Learn about the environment with an introduction to nature and the countryside
- Develop exciting new skills by undertaking a variety of tasks
- Meet new people and make new friends

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Upcoming events

Opening times

Normal Summer Opening Hours

21st March–31st October 2010. Monday–Saturday 10:00–17:00; Sunday 11:00–17:00.

Winter Opening £2

The displays and historic buildings are closed to the public during the winter. Visitors are welcome to walk around the museum site and nature reserve for the reduced admission of two pounds. The museum site can be opened up for pre booked school parties and general groups of over ten people—normal admission prices then apply.

Get the full details on pricing.

Directions

The Museum is in Iliffe Way, opposite the ASDA supermarket in the centre of Stowmarket. It is signposted from the main A14 trunk road and the B1115 to Great Finborough. The railway station is a 10 minute walk and the bus stop 5 minutes. Car parking is available next to the Museum (Tip: the long stay car park on the right of Iliffe Way is cheaper than the one on the left). Pre-booked coaches can park on-site via a special coach entrance.

With Javascript enabled, we could show you a useful map provided by Google.

The Restoration of Abbot's Hall

The Museum is about to begin work to restore Abbot's Hall, its walled garden and a pair of nearby cottages in Crowe Street. The Hall is a beautiful Queen Anne house dating back to 1709.

Read more about this exciting project here.

When we were happy

"When Were We Happy" is an exciting new website created by the Museum of East Anglian Life that explores our rose tinted view of the past. Were people happier in the past, and if so, what can we learn from them?

When Were We Happy

Key stage learning

The Museum is a wonderful educational resource set in the magnificent Suffolk countryside on a large, safe, open air site. We have a wide and interesting collection that includes entire buildings such as Alton Watermill, which is run twice a day, and many animals, including rare breeds.

Read more in the Learning section of the website.

Read the Director's blog

The Director's Blog

Visitor photos of the Museum

Share your photographs from your visit with everyone by adding them to our Flickr group.

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us at @MuseumEALife