Buying a holiday home in Suffolk will certainly give you the time and space to relax.
You’ll be ideally placed to explore the many and varied aspects of this beautiful county. Let’s start by getting to the heart of things.
Get to the heart of Suffolk from your holiday home
As unspoiled as it is, Suffolk is home to numerous little towns and picturesque villages. Places like Hadleigh and Stowmarket nestle in Suffolk’s countryside. You’ll find Lavenham, which must be one of the finest, and prettiest, medieval villages in England. There’s Clare, and Woolpit and Debenham, each of them with stories stretching back to the Domesday Book, and all of them delightful to stroll around. This is a part of the country steeped in history and rich in the heritage of the wool industry that once made the area spectacularly wealthy.
Today, the heart of Suffolk offers a wealth of things to do and see; cycling, walking and horseback riding are all popular ways of getting around the countryside. It’s a landscape that includes two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty no less; the Suffolk Coast and Heaths and Dedham Vale both, deservedly, have this important status. Walking through the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB is a particularly lovely thing to do - it’s the best way to enjoy the landscape. There are lots of guides and information available in print and for downloading, many of them provided with help and support from renowned local brewer Adnams, as well as local councils.
This is also a great place to go off the beaten track; try exploring Shotely Peninsula, where meandering pathways take you through countryside that combines local legend, naval history and stunning views. Or there are the Thornham Walks; twelve miles of pathways (all very accessible), bird hides, a walled garden and a Victorian folly! It’s all as pretty as a picture, so it’s no surprise that the county has been inspirational for some of the country’s most important artists.
Discover the art of Suffolk from your holiday home
Dedham Vale was home to Suffolk born Sir Alfred Munnings and his house there is now open to the public. It’s well worth a visit as it contains many of Munnings’ paintings and drawings - you can even see his studio, preserved just as he left it. His home and gardens offer a fascinating insight into the life and work of perhaps the country’s finest ever equestrian painter.
Dedham Vale is of course also inextricably linked with the name John Constable. The artist was born in East Bergholt on the River Stour, in 1776. Dedham, along with Flatford, is known worldwide as ‘Constable Country’. So much of it is unaltered; walk around Flatford and look at the mill and cottages - it’s as if you’re stepping in the The Haywain, possibly one of the most famous and best loved pictures ever painted.
Then there’s Sudbury, the Suffolk market town where Thomas Gainsborough was born, who would go on to become one of the most important British artists of the 18th century. Gainsborough’s home in Sudbury is now a stunning museum and print workshop, home to the largest collection of Gainsborough’s work outside London. These legendary artists have left their mark and been an inspiration for countless others.
Certainly across their home county of Suffolk there is today a vibrant creative culture.
Aside from the visual arts, Suffolk is world famous for literature. Crime fiction fans will know that P. D. James and Ruth Rendell have both found inspiration and set some of their plots here. Lowestoft’s Wetherspoons pub is called The Joseph Conrad because the legendary author docked there early in his naval career. Dickens’ David Copperfield was born in Suffolk, Arthur Ransome famously lived in Suffolk and his stories of youngsters on boats are redolent of the area, and Enid Blyton trained as a teacher in Suffolk! She would draw inspiration for her school stories from the place where she studied. You’ll find literary connections, as well as artists and galleries, in the towns and villages of every part of Suffolk.
Discover every part of Suffolk from your holiday home
With a Suffolk holiday home, you’ll not be far away from the Suffolk coast - in particular the splendour of the beach at Lowestoft. Strictly speaking, the town has four beaches, but they all add up to one splendid, award-winning, family-favourite stretch of golden sand. If a slightly quieter “get away from it all” beach with dunes, that are ideal for walking and birdwatching, are your thing then you need only travel a mile or so to lovely Kessingland. Southwold Beach is another Suffolk legend; the Victorian Pier, the Punch and Judy Show - these are just some of the things that have made this delightful place one of the most sought after locations in the UK.
On another day you might head off for Aldeburgh, a place known worldwide for the legendary Aldeburgh Festival, and its founder, Benjamin Britten. Musicians come here from across the globe and yet, alongside this international cultural reputation, you can still buy today’s catch from fishermen in their huts on the beach.
You can easily get to be beside inland waterways too. From Suffolk’s Oulton Broad you can take a river tour to Lowestoft, savouring the joys of the River Waveney. Or why not walk from Oulton Broad to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust? At the reserve on Carlton Marshes you’ll see and understand the true splendour of the Suffolk Broads, perhaps East Anglia’s most famous region.
This magical landscape offers so much to do; boating (of course!), birdwatching, walking, exploring byways as well as highways and high streets - it’s all there to be enjoyed and makes buying a Suffolk holiday home a really interesting prospect. In fact, with a holiday home in this delightful county you’ll be able to relax, and explore the art, heart and every part of Suffolk.
