Heritage

Time Travel East

Re-live the region's rich and turbulent past. 

Climb down into a 5,000 year old Neolithic flint mine
at Grimes Graves (nr. Brandon); then visit the Lynn
Museum in King's Lynn - home to the famous Bronze
Age timber circle of Seahenge, discovered nearby
in 1998. Get a taste of everyday ancient life with the
re-constructed buildings at the Flag Fen 
Archaeological Park in Peterborough, or the West
Stow Anglo-Saxon Village (nr. Bury St. Edmunds).
Don't miss the famous royal burial site of
Anglo-Saxon kings at Sutton Hoo (nr. Woodbridge).

For Roman times, head to Colchester Castle
Museum to try on a toga; or ride aboard Queen
Boudica's chariot in the Norwich Castle Museum
and Art Gallery There are wonderful Roman
mosaics to admire at Verulamium Museum in
St. Albans, plus the only completely exposed Roman
Theatre in Britain. The Norman invasion of 1066
brought the region some spectacular castles, such
as Castle Rising (nr. King's Lynn); Orford;
Framlingham; and Hedingham at Castle
Hedingham. England's best preserved Cluniac monastic site can be visited at
Castle Acre Priory (nr. Swaffham); whilst the Knights Templar settlement at
Cressing Temple (nr. Braintree) has two superb 13th C. timber-framed barns.

Click here for our full listing of historic sites

Click here to read our brief guide to the History of the Region

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Gunpowder, Steam Trains and Teapots

You will be spoilt for choice with our range
of museums.

Industrial Heritage

Learn about the region's former industries, such as
medieval cloth at Lavenham Guildhall; lace-making
at Bedford Museum; explosives at the Royal
Gunpowder Mills in Waltham Abbey; and the art of
jam-making at Tiptree Our rich farming heritage is
brought to life at the Museum of East Anglian Life
in Stowmarket and Gressenhall Farm and
Workhouse (nr. Dereham).

Machinery and Transport

Discover our great aviation heritage - airships, old
airfields and museums. Steam power comes alive 
with the impressive engines of the Museum of
Power in Langford (nr. Maldon). Whilst at the 
Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum (nr. Ely)
see how the former watery Fens were reclaimed.
Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton has the
UK's largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles.
More transport treats with the classic cars of
Stondon Transport Museum at Lower Stondon; or ride an old-fashioned
working tram at the East Anglia Transport Museum in Carlton Colville
(nr. Lowestoft). Take a trip on the bone-shaking ‘Gama Goat' - amongst the
mighty tanks of The Muckleburgh Collection (nr. Sheringham).

All aboard for a steam train ride at the Bure Valley Railway, Aylsham/Wroxham;
Colne Valley Railway, Castle Hedingham; East Anglian Railway Museum,
Wakes Colne (nr. Colchester); Leighton Buzzard Railway; Mid-Norfolk
Railway, Dereham; Nene Valley Railway, Peterborough; and
North Norfolk Railway, Sheringham.

In the Footsteps of the Famous

Follow in the footsteps of our famous people. The John Bunyan Museum in
Bedford tells the story of this famous preacher and author of 'The Pilgrim's
Progress'; whilst at Ely, visit the former home of Oliver Cromwell - try on the 
Civil War helmets, and visit the haunted bedroom. Just up the road at Wisbech,
learn about the life and times of social reformer Octavia Hill Britain's most
famous seafaring hero, Lord Nelson was a Norfolk boy - at Great Yarmouth,
the Nelson Museum traces his childhood and famous battles.

Curiosity Corner

The famous Fitzwilliam in Cambridge has world-class collections of art
and antiquities; or head to Norwich, where the Castle Museum and Art Gallery is
home to the world's largest collection of ceramic teapots. For a magical musical
treat, listen to the mechanical organs of The Thursford Collection (nr. Fakenham);
then relive your childhood amongst the teddy bears and puppets at the House
on the Hill Toy Museum in Stansted Mountfitchet.

For something out of the ordinary, ride on a horse simulator at Newmarket's
National Horseracing Museum; try the medieval stocks for size at the Tales of the
Old Gaol House in King's Lynn; or seek out the gruesome Red Barn Murder relics at
Moyses Hall Museum in Bury St. Edmunds. The Natural History Museum at
Tring is home to an extinct moa and quagga. Go underground into one
of the biggest and deepest cold war bunkers at Kelvedon Hatch (nr. Brentwood).
For an illuminating experience, head to the unique Stained Glass Museum at Ely.

Click here for our full listing of museums

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Stars and Stripes

Discover the East of England's strong associations with the USA.

Follow in the footsteps of the New World settlers, including Captain Bartholomew
Gosnold - who in 1607, helped establish the first permanent English-speaking
settlement in America. Explore the story of Norfolk-born John Rolfe, and his wife,
the famous Native American princess Pocahontas. Visit the town of Harwich, home
of Christopher Jones, 'Master of The Mayflower' - the vessel which sailed the
Pilgrim Fathers to the New World in 1620. Trace the descendants of five
US Presidents, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Discover
‘The Friendly Invasion', when from 1942, the East of England became home
to hundreds of US servicemen - and the big band sounds of Glenn Miller.

Click here to download our free 16 page Stars and Stripes information
sheet - a comprehensive guide to the region's connections with the USA.

Visit one of our historic houses - where you can wander through rooms full of family artefacts and priceless heirlooms