Proposals to develop the Museum of East Anglian Life (MEAL) have taken a step closer to reality after the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) earmarked 1.771million to help transform the site. Museum Director, Tony Butler was overjoyed at the news and said. “HLFs decision is fantastic, all the team have worked so hard over the last few years to develop plans to turn the museum into a major regional cultural attraction.  This will help us fulfil our ambitions. “  

The development of the northern part of the site will enhance the experience for visitors, by creating a new entrance to the museum and restoring the Abbots Hall complex as its centrepiece.

Abbots Hall is a fine Queen Anne country house dating from the early 18th century. This landmark building will be restored, creating a series of new museum and exhibition spaces. The surrounding cottage buildings will be saved from ruin, and will be restored as examples of rural workers dwellings.

The cottage gardens will be recreated in tandem with the Abbots Hall walled garden to illustrate the difference between the needs of the rich and the poor. At the same time, the restoration of the walled garden will help develop the museum’s social enterprise which provides training, skills development and work experience for socially excluded groups.

A major strength of the application was the museums commitment to help the people of Suffolk. Tony Butler explained. “We deliberately positioned MEAL at the heart of community because a museum without people would be a very dull place indeed. We are a centre for volunteering; last year there were 42,000 volunteer hours museum worked at the museum  that’s the equivalent of everyone in Stowmarket giving MEAL half a day of his or her time.”

Over the last 18 months, working with consultants, the museum compiled a series of plans to make the museum more accessible and more engaging to our visitors and to ensure the long term sustainability of its historic buildings.

For details of these plans see below.

Evaluation of Abbots Hall.           DOWNLOAD. (pdf 125KB)     Access Plan.              DOWNLOAD. (pdf 701KB)

Audience Development Plan.      DOWNLOAD. (pdf 1.8MB)      Options Appraisal        DOWNLOAD. (pdf  2.5MB)

Abbots Hall Walled Garden. Section 1. DOWNLOAD. (pdf  1.3MB). Section 2              DOWNLOAD. (pdf  2.0MB)