Attraction in Suffolk

Framlingham Castle in Suffolk is one of the finest and most instructive examples of medieval castle architecture in England, a castle of the late twelfth century built by Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, that preserves its curtain wall with thirteen mural towers in almost complete condition while the domestic buildings within the bailey have been entirely replaced by the most extraordinary almshouse in England, built within the castle walls in the seventeenth century and still housing elderly residents today. The combination of the well-preserved medieval military architecture and the eccentric later use creates one of the most unusual and most rewarding castle visits in East Anglia. The curtain wall of Framlingham, rising to its original height with the thirteen towers spaced at regular intervals and connected by the wall walk that provides exceptional views of the surrounding Suffolk countryside, is one of the finest surviving examples of curtain wall military architecture in England. The wall was built without a keep, an advanced design of the twelfth century that recognised the vulnerability of the tall keep to artillery and concentrated the defensive strength in the multiple towers and the wall between them. The castle was the rallying point for Mary Tudor in 1553 when she assembled her forces at Framlingham following the attempt to prevent her succession through the proclamation of Lady Jane Grey as queen, and the castle's connection to this decisive episode in English history gives it a significance beyond its considerable architectural interest.

Snape Maltings on the River Alde in Suffolk is one of the most remarkable cultural and commercial transformations of an industrial heritage site in Britain, a complex of Victorian malthouses on the tidal estuary south of Aldeburgh that was converted from industrial use beginning in the 1960s by the composer Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears into the Aldeburgh Festival concert hall and complex, creating a world-class music venue in a landscape of extraordinary beauty. The combination of the festival concert hall, the river setting, the quality of the artisan shops and restaurants in the restored malthouse buildings and the surrounding Suffolk coast and heathland makes Snape one of the most distinctive cultural destinations in the east of England. Benjamin Britten and the Aldeburgh Festival that he co-founded in 1948 brought Snape Maltings to international attention as the home of one of the most important summer music festivals in Britain. The main concert hall, converted from the largest of the malthouse buildings in 1967 and rebuilt after a fire in 1969, is renowned for its exceptional acoustic quality and intimate atmosphere, the industrial brick architecture creating a concert hall of great character quite unlike the conventional purpose-built concert halls of the period. The retail and craft complex in the surrounding malthouses includes an exceptional gallery, bookshop and antique dealers alongside food outlets of high quality whose produce reflects the Suffolk provenance and the quality expected by the culturally engaged visitors who form the principal audience. The walk along the riverbank from Snape Maltings to Iken Cliff and the tidal marsh provides excellent birding and the Suffolk landscape typical of the area.

Sutton Hoo on the banks of the River Deben in Suffolk is the most significant Anglo-Saxon archaeological site in Britain and the location of one of the most dramatic archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. The burial ground, containing a series of barrow mounds on a ridge above the tidal estuary, was excavated in 1939 when the landowner Edith Pretty commissioned local archaeologist Basil Brown to investigate the largest mound on the property. What he found within it transformed our understanding of early medieval England. The great ship burial in Mound 1 was that of a wealthy and powerful individual whose identity has never been conclusively established, though the most widely accepted hypothesis identifies him as King Rædwald of East Anglia, who died around 625 AD and was one of the most powerful rulers of early England. The burial took place within an open rowing ship approximately 27 metres long, hauled from the estuary and placed in a pit excavated into the ridge. Within the ship a wooden chamber contained one of the most spectacular treasure assemblages ever found in Britain: a decorated helmet, shield and sword of extraordinary craftsmanship, a purse containing gold coins from Frankish mints, silver plate from the Eastern Mediterranean, gold and garnet jewellery of exceptional artistry and numerous other objects reflecting the wealth, power and wide international connections of an early English king. The Sutton Hoo helmet, reconstructed from over 500 fragments of iron and tinned bronze, has become one of the most recognisable objects of early medieval England. Its full-face design with boar crest and decorated cheek guards combines protection with a ferocious visual impact designed to impress and intimidate, and the technical skill of its construction reflects both the resources and the craftsman tradition available to early English royalty. The National Trust visitor centre at Sutton Hoo provides excellent interpretation of the finds and the period, including high-quality replicas of the treasure that allow visitors to appreciate the objects in a way that museum display alone cannot provide. The burial mounds themselves can be walked, and the walking routes through the estate's beautiful woodland and estuary landscape provide additional pleasures to a visit that combines archaeology, history and the excellent setting on the Suffolk coast.