Museums and Art Galleries

Moyse's Hall Moyse's Hall Museum, Cornhill, Bury St Edmunds.

For almost a thousand years Moyse's Hall has looked out over the Market Place of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. It has seen many changes since it was built in 1180 and provides an excellent setting in which to trace the unfolding story of West Suffolk, through displays which range from early times right through to the present.

The collections are housed in one of England's rare surviving Norman houses where the original features are still clearly visible. In its long history Moyse's Hall has been used as a gaol, fire station and a railway parcels office, before opening as a museum in 1899.
The collections and local history artifacts are complemented by a lively programme of changing exhibitions.
Moyse's Hall museum aims to tell the story of Bury St Edmunds from Monastic times onwards. More recent history is interpreted through displays which reveal the rich and sometimes life of a small rural community and chronicle the achievements of its people.

Whether you are looking for relics of the great medieval abbey or the relics of the notorious Red Barn Murder, you will find them in Moyse's Hall, whose own story is as rich and varied as the collections which it houses.

The newly refurbished museum will have themed displays offering opportunities for study and exploration based on:-

  • Timepieces - Part of the famous Gershom-Parkington timepiece collection is on display
  • Local History - Suffolk Regiment, Red Barn Murder
  • Social History - Crime & Punishment, Coinage, Death, Witchcraft, costumes
For further information:
Tel: +44 (0)1284 706183 Fax: +44 (0)1284 765373
E-Mail:
moyses.hall@stedsbc.gov.uk.
Suffolk Regiment Museum

More information on the
Suffolk Regiment

The Suffolk Regiment Museum Collection is now housed at Moyses Hall and was officially opened to the public in 2002.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council agreed to contribute £150,000 to refurbish 41 Cornhill in order to house the Regimental Museum Collection when its future in Bury came into doubt.
A generous grant of £434,000 has been agreed by the Heritage Lottery fund and the total scheme was budgeted at £634,000.

You can help to contribute towards the success of this vital local project by buying an attractive, glossy souvenir.
A 24 page book has been produced by the Trustees called The Suffolk Regiment 1685 - 1959 and it costs £6.00 and all of the money received by the Trustees will go towards the Museum project. The Trustees hope to raise £50,000 from this source. The book is available from the Tourist Information Centre, Record Office, New Saxon, Guildhall and Bury Book Shops, Butterworths, Moyses Hall Museum and the Cathedral Shop.

Please call at one of these outlets and support the local Regiment!

Tel: 01284 706183

MOYSES HALL AND SUFFOLK REGIMENT
OPENING HOURS

Mon-Fri10:30am - 4:30pmSat-Sun11am - 4pm


The Art Gallery Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, Market Cross, Bury St Edmunds.
Housed in Robert Adam's only public building in East Anglia, the gallery is one of the most exciting galleries in the region.
It stages eight fine art and craft exhibitions a year, ranging from avant garde to traditional work.
The gallery is also the venue for local craftspeople and artists, and organises a diverse programme of workshops.
There is also a permanent craft shop selling an exciting range of ceramics, prints, books, glassware and jewellery.
Tel: 01284 762081
Website: www.burysted-artgall.org

OPENING HOURS

Tue-Sat10.30am - 5pm
16 Nov - 24 Dec
Mon-Sat
Sun
.
10am - 5pm
11am - 4pm
Closes 1pm 24 Dec


The Ancient House Clare Ancient House Museum, High Street, Clare, Suffolk.
Website: www.clare-ancient-house-museum.co.uk
At the heart of the historic and picturesque town of Clare the Ancient House stands sentinel next to the church. Dating back to the 15th century this unusual Grade I listed building boasts spectacular moulded plaster and timber work and intriguingly low ceilings. It is thought to have started life as a mediaeval open hall house and was at various times the town bakery and the home of the Parish Council's sexton.

The Museum which occupies part of the house provides a History of Clare with graphic displays and exhibits featuring education, transport, brewing, leather, finance and clothing. Computerised records of 1809 and 1851 census returns are also available together with historic photographs of the town including cutting the first sod of the railway in 1863, the opening of the Town hall in 1913 and the unveiling of the War Memorial in 1923.

Entry costs £1. With this comes a quiz leaflet on the Museum and the Town Trail which can be followed starting from a map in the Country Park via a series of information boards located in various parts of the Town.

OPENING HOURS

Easter and May to September
Thurs, Fri, Sun2pm - 5pm
Sat & Bank Hols11.30m - 5pm


Haverhill Local History Centre, Town Hall Arts Centre, High Street, Haverhill
The Centre houses exhibitions and is also used as a study centre. Material ranges from 3000 old photographs of the town to most of the back numbers of the Haverhill Echo.
Tel: 01440 714962


Go to Historical Visits Updated 3 December 2001 Go to Home Page