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.

Latest news

Previously

The Rangers Page for February

February 18th, 2010

Well love is in the air, I’m not just talking about the card shops! The 14th has always marked the time of year when our birds and animals start to pair up. The Blackbirds are much louder, singing their sweet music to each other. The woodpeckers are on percussion with their rhythmic taps, and the rooks are starting to hold their noisy parliaments in the tree tops.

Seasonal Museum Assistants Vacancies – 2 posts

February 9th, 2010

The Museum of East Anglian Life is looking for enthusiastic and motivated people to work as Museum Assistants. You should have an interest in local history or conservation, be able to interact positively with the public and be fit and able to work outdoors.

Feb Half Term Children FREE

January 27th, 2010

Come along to the Museum of East Anglian Life and have a go at handling museum objects this half-term!

The Museum of East Anglian Life with the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich will be holding the Culture of the Countryside event on Wednesday 17th February 2010 at the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket. The event is a half-term family object handling day where visitors will be able to handle objects from around the world.

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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 and as originally the centre of a large farming estate.

This exciting project will cost around £2.8m, £1.771 of which has been pledged by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Once restored the Hall will contain nine display rooms including spaces for temporary exhibitions.

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