If you are planning on a coastal visit to Suffolk for a weekend break, or something more long term with a holiday home of your own, you will want to know what to do and where to go to explore and soak up some history; and ‘buoy’ there is lots to soak up on this coastline!
Shingle Street
Shingle Street is a coastal hamlet in Suffolk overlooking the North sea at the mouth of Orford Ness, situated between Bawdsey & Orford. It’s one of these places that you wouldn’t know was there; the untouched pebble beach is perfect for a spot of dog walking. With lots of wildlife, history and a great beach for walking the dog, Shingle Street is definitely worth a visit.
It is not without its interesting history; war time history in fact, or perhaps we’ll call it propaganda. Top secret documents were declassified in 1992 and are rumoured to contain information about 3,000 German soldiers, who were part of an attempted invasion force on Shingle Street. Whether this is factual or not remains to be seen, but Shingle Street was evacuated in 1940 in anticipation of the Germans invading. After the war ended, it was deemed uninhabitable due to the large number of mines that had been laid on the beach; these were removed and people slowly came back to the area post-war.
Aldeburgh Martello tower
© Copyright Neil Theasby and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Discover the history of Martello Towers along the Suffolk Coast
When you see a Martello tower for the first time you wouldn’t be the first person to say ‘What’s this then?’. These structures were built in the 19th century in many countries, including right here in the UK on the Suffolk coast. These structures were designed to give 360 views of any possible enemies or threats, with canons placed on the top with pivots to give rotating fire power on the enemy. The ground floor housed supplies such as food, drink and, of course, ammunition, while on the first floor you would find bedrooms and a kitchen for the 25 men in the building which would include one senior officer. Access was made by one single door around 5m high off the ground by a retractable ladder, to stop easy access by the enemy.
WAAF radar operator plotting aircraft at RAF Bawdsey
This is photograph CH 15332 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums
You won’t get bored in Bawdsey
You would be surprised to find out that Bawdsey has the first fully operational radar station in the world, as of the 24th September 1937 - they first discovered they could detect approaching aircraft by using radio waves. Today you can find out all about it at Bawdsey Radar museum, with a host of interactive exhibits that bring the history of Radar to life; there is a small team of people on hand to help educate you and answer any questions, a timeline wall telling the story of radar from 1937 to today, a WW2 aircraft tracking simulation experience and a history of the Bawdsey estate over the last 130 years. Also, while you are in Bawdsey, you can catch the ferry to Felixstowe over the River Debden.
Orford Castle
Copyright Ashley Dace and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Orford Castle
Orford Ness is home to Orford Castle, a fantastic visitor attraction which has one of England’s most complete and unusual keeps, and a polygonal tower with great views over Orford and the coast - you can even go on the roof! You can explore the keep with an interactive audio and visual tech guide through the many floors, showing what life was like over the centuries. The castle was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II of England to consolidate royal power in the region; the interior was built with high quality stonework including stone staircases. Now to the modern day, for the celebrity aficionado’s among us will know that Siva Kaneswaran and Jay McGuiness were spotted in Orford escaping ‘the Hunters’ in a recent ‘Celebrity Hunted’ show produced for Channel 4 in aid of Stand up to Cancer. This location was used as an extraction point, however we suggest you head there rather than escape from it so you can sample the beauty and history of this great area of the Suffolk coast!
Invest in a Suffolk Holiday Home and visit Framlingham - home to the ‘Castle on the Hill’
We couldn’t talk about Suffolk without mentioning Ed. This musical superstar is synonymous with the area, as he grew up here and still lives here to this day, which must go some way to show his love for the area. The song ‘Castle on the Hill’ was written about his home town of Framlingham and reflects about his teenage memories of Framlingham Castle. A spot to catch Ed, if you are lucky, is his local pub which he often frequents - ‘The Station pub’ in Framlingham. For now, watch the video to see all things Framlingham and Suffolk…
Sutton Hoo & The Dig Netflix film
Sutton Hoo is an Anglo-Saxon burial ground near Woodbridge, discovered in the late 1930’s and was at first excavated by a seemingly amateur archaeologist. One of the cemeteries contained a ship burial which included a host of amazing artefacts with outstanding archaeological significance - the site is now in the care of The National Trust and has been seen as one of the most important UK archaeological finds in the last century. It find sheds light on the Anlgo-Saxons, a time in history that had little facts - more myths and legend. The work was slowed down and stopped during war time -once its significance became apparent decades later, the site was further explored by professionals and artefacts were later moved to the British Museum.
A new Netflix film featuring Ipswich born actor, Ralph Fiennes is being currently filmed and focuses on the story of Basil Brown, the archaeologist who excavated the site at Sutton Hoo and his partnership with the landowner Edith Pretty, who first propelled the legendary excavation into existence back in 1939.
You could explore the history and beauty of Suffolk with your own holiday home - we’ve got a range of brand new holiday homes, brick built villas and caravans for sale on the Suffolk Coast, so you could visit any of the sites mentioned, plus many more, whenever you want! Check out our Suffolk holiday homes for sale below.
