Laxfield and District Museum

About the museum

The museum began at the annual parish meeting of 1969. To encourage people to attend, villagers were asked to bring something old to an exhibition in the village hall. So many interesting items appeared that the exhibition ran for several days, and a permanent museum grew from it.

As the collection grew, the museum came to fill the whole top floor of the 15th-century Guildhall in Laxfield, and it now also has two galleries on the ground floor. Its displays include early 20th-century shop interiors with window displays, costumes and other artefacts, and the domestic life of the same period. They also cover the Mid Suffolk Light Railway, which ended at Laxfield, as well as farming and rural life in Suffolk and local finds such as fossils.

A changing exhibition is shown each year in the Marchant Room. The museum also runs an outreach programme, with loan boxes for schools and reminiscence boxes for care homes, and offers private tours by arrangement.

Highlights

• Early 20th-century shop interiors
• Displays on the Mid Suffolk Light Railway
• Farming, rural life and local fossil finds
• Children’s table and hands-on displays
• Exhibits in a 15th-century Guildhall
• Free entry

Permanent exhibitions

• Shop interiors and domestic life – Early 20th-century shop interiors with window displays, costumes and artefacts about domestic life.
• Mid Suffolk Light Railway and rural life – Material on the Mid Suffolk Light Railway, which ended at Laxfield, with displays on farming, rural life in Suffolk and local fossil finds.

Founded

1971

Operated by

Laxfield and District Museum CIO

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is in an ancient building with galleries on two floors. The ground floor is reached by three steps from the street and the upper floor by a winding staircase. Two ground-floor rooms have displays for visitors who cannot climb the stairs, and one of them has changing displays and a computer with photographs.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Hands-on stations

The museum describes itself as family friendly, with a children’s table, a singing automaton and many hands-on displays.

Getting there & parking

The village is on the B1117, and the museum is at the eastern end of The Street, opposite the parish church.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit