Visits

NEXT VISIT:

There are other outings at the planning stage! More details to follow!

Contact Jean Harrison for more details.

RECENT VISITS:

Stowmarket Food Museum – 7 October 2025

In early October 46 of us had a lovely day at Stowmarket Food Museum. Set in 84 acres and with 17 historic buildings it kept us busy all day. Their current exhibition is School dinners, it was very interesting to see how they have changed over the decades. Lots of agricultural items on display showing from the field to our plate.

Nestled in the heart of Stowmarket, the Food Museum stands as the only museum in the UK dedicated to exploring the rich history of food production, farming, and the people behind the industry. With over 40,000 objects, including fascinating exhibits, this museum is a culinary journey through time that offers something for everyone.

Food Museum

Main Entrance.

Abbotts Hall

Abbotts Hall is a Queen Anne house located within the 84-acre grounds of the Food Museum. The hall’s history is closely tied to the museum, which explores the heritage of farming and food production in East Anglia.

The site of Abbot’s Hall has a long history, with an estate or manor recorded here as early as the 12th century.

The hall was the center of a large food-growing estate that produced grain, hops, livestock, and produce for the owners, workers, and for sale.

Walled Garden

Located next to the historic Abbot’s Hall. The garden grows a variety of seasonal vegetables, salads, and herbs that are used by the museum’s café.

The garden is open for visitors to enjoy, and some of its produce is occasionally sold at a cart on-site.

Garden Bench

The Food Museum engages in projects that promote sustainable practices, including garden benches made from recycled materials.

In the background is the Victorian Conservatory, which overlooks the walled garden.

Thank you to Karen for organising.

Copped Hall – 6 August 2025

This was an afternoon visit for the Friends.

Copped Hall in Epping, is a fine Georgian mansion under restoration, with 20 acres of landscaped parkland and four acres of walled garden.

The mansion and gardens are situated on a site of ancient human habitation. Many important buildings, from the Medieval, Tudor and Elizabethan eras were demolished prior to the present mansion being built and enlarged by the Victorians.

A large fire in 1917 destroyed much of the roof and interior so the family moved to a different house on the estate. The house was never rebuilt and after the family left, the property suffered decades of neglect, though the exterior walls remained almost intact. Following the fire, the house was left to decay. After the last owner died in 1949 the estate was sold. The construction of the M25 motorway through the estate in the 1980s brought the house closer to urban areas and a constant target for developers

From 1986-1995 a campaign was successfully fought by a committee comprised of representatives of local conservation societies against repeated large scale aggressive development proposals for the mansion and parkland. Three of these individuals set up the Copped Hall Trust which finally saved the mansion and gardens by purchasing them in 1995. The aim of the Trust is to permanently protect the site, carefully restore Copped Hall and its gardens for educational, cultural and community benefit.

We were met by some of the volunteers who gave us a comprehensive tour of the house. It was fascinating to see rooms without ceilings and bare unplastered walls and realise how much work has been done and the tremendous target and challenges the Trust faces in continuing with the restoration.

Photographs of the before and after showed the extensive work which has been done re-building the walls and re-establishing the roof . The Portland stone staircase has been rebuilt up to the first floor and a new landing recreated. The State Hall on the first floor has been restored to 1758 condition, giving us a taste of what is to come in the rest of the house.

We were served delicious home-made cakes and tea and given guided tours of the extensive gardens. There were so many areas to admire including a lily pond, a rockery dotted with quotations from Shakespeare as well as the trees and flora. We were also shown excavations that had revealed a house that Mary Tudor had once lived in before becoming Queen and our guide had some very interesting anecdotes about this.

The Trust hold special events and open days when members of the public can visit so keep an eye open for dates.

Copped Hall was a fascinating history lesson as well as a delightful time exploring the house and extensive grounds.

The weather was kind to us and a very enjoyable afternoon was had by all who attended.

Thank you to Jean for organising.

 

LIST OF RECENT VISITS:

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