Places to Visit

Thelnetham Windmill

A 19th Century windmill, working regularly to produce and sell stoneground flour.

	Details
Approximate miles:	1
Opening times:	Selected dates by appointment - please phone for details
Phone:	01473 727853

Thelnetham and Blo'Norton Fen

	Details
Approximate miles:	1

Lopham and Redgrave Fen

This is the largest remaining river valley fen in England and the source of the River Waveney. As one of the most important wetlands in Europe, Redgrave and Lopham Fen now has international protection. As well as open fen the reserve includes a mixture of wet heath land, open water, scrub and woodland. The underlying acid and alkaline geology has resulted in characteristic wildlife including many species now rare in Britain.

Historically local people dug peat for fuel, harvested reed and sedge for thatching and grazed the drier margins with cattle. With the demise of these activities, together with post-war drainage and water abstraction, the fen began to dry out and degrade.

	Details
Approximate miles:	3

Henry Watson Potteries

The Watson family have continued the potting tradition at Wattisfield for nearly 200 years, producing the original Suffolk Pottery of the distinctive terracotta collection. There is a factory shop that sells quality seconds. Wattisfield is on the A143 between Bury St Edmunds and Diss.

	Details
Approximate miles:	3
Opening times:	Open all year (except Good Friday, Christmas week and New Year's Day) Mon to Sat 9:30am to 5pm. Sunday 11am to 5pm
Charges:	Free admission to shop, coffee shop, toilets, car park and picnic area.
Phone:	01359 251239
Website:	http://www.henrywatson.com

Wyken Hall Gardens and Wyken Vineyards

A quintessential Suffolk estate once occupied by Romans and recorded in Domesday. Here you can stroll through the four acre gardens or walk through ancient woodlands to the seven acre vineyard. You will also find the Leaping Hare Country Store which sells country and garden treasures and there is also a Restaurant.

	Details
Approximate miles:	5
Opening times:	Restaurant, cafe, and shop: Every day 10 to 6; Friday and Saturday evenings for Dinner from 7 p.m. (advisable to book for restaurant; no bookings in cafe.) Farmers' Market: Every Saturday 9 a.m. until 1 p. m. Garden: 1st April – 30th September 2 until 6, Sunday to Friday (closed Saturday.)
Charges:	Garden Entry £3.50; concessions £3; children free. Access for wheelchairs.
Phone:	Restaurant: 01359 250287 Shop: 01359 250262 Phone: 01359 250240
Website:	http://www.wykenvineyards.co.uk

Grime's Graves

Grime's Graves is the only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in Britain. It was Neolithic miners who first dug flint out from the chalk at Grimes Graves, near Thetford, some 4000 years ago.

Named after the Devil's holes of the pagan god Grim, the miners used the flint to make all kinds of blades, from scrapers to axes and spear-heads.

Visitors can descend 10 metres (30 feet) by ladder into one of the 300 excavated shafts.

Flint was also used with stone to create buildings. In the 14th century, it began to be used decoratively in architecture. The Guildhall in Norwich is an example of how flint was used for building work.

	Details
Approximate miles:	5

Stanton Windmill

A post mill dating from 1751, in working order. It produces stoneground flour for sale.

	Details
Approximate miles:	5
Opening times:	Selected weekends 10am to 7pm. Please phone for more details
Charges:	£1.50
Phone:	01359 250622

Bressingham Steam and Gardens

You have to go a long way to beat Bressingham Steam and Gardens for a fun packed family day out. For here is where world-renowned gardener and horticulturalist Alan Bloom combined his passion for plants and gardens with his love of steam.

With miniature train rides, bumper cars, merry-go-round, cafe, shop and extensive gardens this is a truly unique experience for all the family!

	Details
Approximate miles:	5
Opening times:	Please contact for details
Charges:	Please contact for details
Phone:	01379 686900
Website Address:	http://www.bressingham.co.uk/

Pakenham Water Mill

A Grade II listed working mill on its Domesday site, complete with oil engine and other subsidiary machinery.

	Details
Approximate miles:	6
Opening times:	April to Nov: Thurs 10am - 4pm, Sat,Sun, B/H 1.30 - 5pm, Milling Demonstrations 1st Thurs morning of each month.

Bardwell Windmill

A fully working windmill, built in 1825 and restored in the mid 1980s. It is now run as a family business making wholefoods and visitors are welcome throughout the year to witness corn being ground as it was 150 years ago.

	Details
Approximate miles:	6
Opening times:	All year: daily 9am to 5.30pm
Phone:	01359 251331

St. George's Distillery

The distillery produced its first 'run' on 12th December 2006 and it was with much excitement and with an enormous sense of achievement that they filled the first barrel of 'St. George's whisky'. They now produce on average 13 casks a week, building up a good stock of delicious English Whisky.

The whisky is now developing a rich mustard colour and the flavour and smell are exceptional. The special edition, first release will be ready for Christmas 09 by special request. Everybody else will have to wait for 2010.

	Details
Approximate miles:	6

Ancient House, Museum of Thetford Life

The Museum of Thetford Life, which was closed for a £1.6 million renovation from December 2004, reopened in Septermber 2006.It displays wonderful collections reflecting the rich history of Thetford and the Brecks.

	Details
Approximate miles:	7
Opening times:	1 April to 28 Oct - Mon to Sat: 10am - 5pm. 29 Oct to 15 March - Mon to Sat: 10am - 4pm
Phone:	01842 752599
Website Address:	http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/default.asp?Document=200.70

Thetford Forest Park

Thetford Forest is a patchwork of pines, heathland and broadleaves providing the ideal setting for a day out, and a welcome refuge for a rich variety of animal and plant life.

The Go Ape Experience

Go Ape is a high wire aerial assault course with rope bridges, zip slides and Tarzan swings. The minimum age is 10 years and minimum height is 1.4m /4ft 7inch. All under 18's must be supervised by a participating adult.

Climb the trees and slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, walk the planks and zip down to the ground!

Go Ape is an award-winning high wire forest adventure course of rope bridges, tarzan swings and zip slides... all set high up in the tree tops.

Providing a fun day out with friends, families or colleagues, you'll be fitted with a climbing harness and given instruction before trekking from tree to tree high above the forest floor. Split into a number of different sections, the experience takes approximately 2.5-3 hours to complete but may vary depending on how many people are up in the trees.

	Details
Approximate miles:	8
Phone:	0870 4445562
Website Address:	http://www.goape.co.uk

Bike-Art

Explore, experience and enjoy your forest and on the bike of your choice.

	Details
Approximate miles:	8

Thetford Priory

The extensive remains of one of the most important East Anglian monasteries, the Cluniac Priory of Our Lady of Thetford. The 14th century gatehouse is the best preserved part of this Cluniac priory, built in 1103. The remains include a plan of the cloisters.

	Details
Approximate miles:	8
Opening times:	Open all year
Charges:	Free
Phone:	01223 582700
Website Address:	http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConProperty.46

Charles Burrell Museum

Housed in the former Paint Shop, the museum tells the stories of the Charles Burrell Works, the people who laboured there, and the machinery they produced. From Thetford, this manufacturer of world renowned traction engines and agricultural machinery took the power of steam across the globe. Exhibits include steam traction engines, recreated workshops, photographs and documents.

	Details
Approximate miles:	8
Opening times:	Every Tuesday Apr-Oct: 10am-2pm. Last Saturday of each month Mar-Nov: 10am-4pm
Charges:	Free at all times
Phone:	01842 765840

Banham Zoo

Enjoy the ultimate fun filled day out at one of the most exciting wildlife attractions in the country. Rated amongst UK's top three Zoos by WHICH?

Banham Zoo is set amongst 35 acres of beautiful parkland and gardens with innovative and exciting enclosures, providing sanctuary for almost 1000 animals ranging from big cats to birds of prey and siamangs to shire horses.

	Details
Approximate miles:	8

Blackthorpe Barn

Blackthorpe Barn is an expanding art centre based in a large 16th century thatched barn set in the heart of rural Suffolk near Bury St Edmunds, but easily assessable from the A14. The Barn presents a number of events each year. During the summer these include Summer Music- a classical music festival spread over two weekends each July, presenting concerts of the highest international standard. Other summer events include two large art exhibitions, Suffolk Open Studios Showcase Exhibition each May and Artworks each September. In the winter Blackthorpe Barn presents its hugely popular Christmas at Blackthorpe Barn including five weekends of up to sixty top quality craft stalls many changing each week, award winning Christmas trees from Rougham Estate, Bar Humbug selling locally brewed and award winning real ales from Bartram's Brewery and probably the best Christmas decoration shop in East Anglia.

	Details
Approximate miles:	15
Opening times:	Various - please check website for details
Phone:	01359 270091
Website Address:	http://www.blackthorpebarn.com

Lackford Lakes

Lackford Lakes is free to visit and has good access and use of a mobility buggy. It also has a visitor centre with shop and cafe. Lackford Lakes lie beside the River Lark and have been created from former gravel pits. The potential list of birds here seems never ending, with rarities like hoopoe occurring alongside more common species such as shelduck. A superb site for wildfowl in both winter and summer, Lackford attracts tufted duck, pochard, gadwall, shoveler and goosander.

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Approximate miles:
Opening times:	Reserve Centre 10am - 4pm Wed to Sun. The reserve and hide network are open all year dawn till dusk.
Charges:	FREE
Phone:	01284 728706
Website Address:	http://www.suffolkwildlife.co.uk/nr/sites/lackford.html

Museum of East Anglian Life

Open air museum set in 75 acres of beautiful countryside. Displays and special events to interest visitors of all ages. Historic buildings, Suffolk breeds of animals.

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Approximate miles:
Opening times:	25th Mar to 31st Oct 2007. Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday 11am to 5pm
Phone:	01449 612229
Website Address:	http://www.eastanglianlife.org.uk/

St Edmundsbury Cathedral

A 16th Century building, magnificently transformed in this century from parish church into Cathedral by Stephen Dykes Bower, it is the only cathedral in England yet to be completed with a tower. One thousand needlepoint kneelers adorn the pews.

	Details
Approximate miles:	16
Opening times:	Daily from 8am to 6pm.
Charges:	Free, but donations are always welcome
Phone:	01284 754933
Website Address:	http://www.stedscathedral.co.uk/

Theatre Royal

Dating back to the 18th century, this is the one of the oldest and smallest working theatres in the country.

	Details
Approximate miles:	16
Opening times:	Please phone for details or visit their website
Phone:	01284 769505
Website Address:	http://www.theatreroyal.org/newsite/trhome.asp

Greene King Visitor Centre

Greene King Visitor Centre, Westgate Street. A museum celebrating Greene King's 200 years of brewing in Bury St Edmunds, charting the history of beer in the town. The museum has a contemporary feel with contemporary exhibits that make it relevant to anyone interested in beer.

	Details
Approximate miles:	16
Opening times:	Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 3.30pm
Charges:	Entry to the shop is free. Museum: adults £3, Concessions £2, under 18s free.
Phone:	01284 714297
Website Address:	http://www.greeneking.co.uk/gk_visitor_centre.htm

Moyse's Hall Museum

Moyse's Hall Museum, Cornhill. The oldest house in Bury, this rare Norman building contains a wonderfully eccentric collection of local history artifacts and nationally important archaeological exhibits. A programme of exhibitions, workshops and lectures is available. Phone for details.

	Details
Approximate miles:	16
Opening times:	Monday to Friday: 10.30am to 4.30pm, Sat to Sun: 11am - 4pm
Charges:
Phone:	01284 706183
Website Address:	http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/moyses-hall.cfm

The Nutshell Public House

The Nutshell, in the Traverse at Bury St Edmunds, is reputed to be the smallest pub in Britain; it is owned by Bury-based brewers Greene King.

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Approximate miles:	16

Nowton Park

Nowton Park on Nowton Road, Bury St Edmunds, consists of almost 200 acres of Suffolk countryside, landscaped over one hundred years ago in typical Victorian style with 'country estate' features. Specimen trees and wild flowers are a feature, with a spectacular daffodil display in the spring. There is an all-weather sports pitch and a visitor centre, and guided walks are available. It is a 30 minute walk from the centre of Bury, and Eastern Counties bus BO1 stops nearby (ask for South Lees School).

	Details
Approximate miles:	16
Opening times:	Daily from 8:30am till dusk
Charges:	Free
Phone:	01284 763666
Website Address:	http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/play/nowtonpark.cfm

Ickworth House

Three miles out of Bury in the village of Horringer stands Ickworth House, with its 100-foot-high oval rotunda begun in 1795 and its collection of fine art, including works by Titian, Gainsborough and Velasquez. Special events throughout the year include open air orchestral concerts, horse trials, car rallies and guided walks. [Take Eastern Counties bus 141, 142, 143, 144, 146 from the Bus Station, then a 1-mile walk.].

	Details
Approximate miles:	18
Opening times:	Please call for details
Charges:	(Non National Trust Members) Adult £7.50, child £3, family £18. Groups (12+) £6.50, child £2.50. Park and garden only: Adult £3.50, child £1, family £8.
Phone:	01284 735270
Website Address:	http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-ickworthhouseparkandgarden/

West Stow Country Park & Anglo Saxon Village

West Stow boasts a remarkable reconstruction of six Anglo-Saxon buildings on their original site, built using tools and techniques from the period. The Anglo-Saxon Centre includes an fascinating display of archeological finds from local Saxon sites, and there is a bright new cafeteria & gift shop. There is a children's play area, picnic area and visitor centre. Special events and re-enactments bring the village to life during holiday periods year. Call for programme of events. The 125 acre park and heathland nature reserve surrounding it is rich in wildlife and excellent for bird-watching, with a nature trail woods, river, lake and bird hides.

	Details
Approximate miles:	22
Opening times:	Daily 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm in summer and 3.30pm in winter)
Charges:
Phone:	01284 728718
Website Address:	www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/play/weststow-asv.cfm

Melford Hall

A romantic turreted brick Tudor Mansion near the village green in the unspoilt village of Long Melford. The house has a lovely traditional garden with fine trees and clipped box hedges. Beatrix Potter was related to the family and was a frequent visitor. The Hall dates back to the 1550's, but the house has remains of an earlier hall which was in the ownership of the great Benedictine Abbey at Bury St Edmunds. Attractions include, turreted 19th century gatehouse, original panelled banqueting hall, Regency library, family portraits, Beatrix Potter display, Chinese porcelain and walks in the historic park.

	Details
Approximate miles:	29
Phone:	01787 376395
Website Address:	http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-melfordhall/

Kentwell Hall

A mellow redbrick Tudor Mansion surrounded by a broad moat. A family home with a tranquil atmosphere, described by Country Life as "The epitome of many people's image of an Elizabethan house". See the progress of restoration works carried out by Judith and Patrick Phillips over the past 25 years. Admire the Moat House, a romantic remnant of a 15th century building. Stroll in the gardens, restored and reformed with herb garden and potager in the moated walled garden. Wander through the woods, a profusion of spring bulbs and wonderfully cool in summer. Explore the farm with picturesque timber-framed buildings, home to Kentwell's rare breed farm animals. Award winning re-creations of everyday Tudor life take place on selected weekends throughout the year. Step back in time and see the 16th century come to life. There is a gift shop, lunches and teas are available.

	Details
Approximate miles:	29
Opening times:	Please phone for details
Phone:	01787 310207, Seasonal info line 0891 517475
Website Address:	http://www.kentwell.co.uk