Long Shop Museum

About the museum

The Long Shop stands on the former works of Richard Garrett and Sons in Leiston, Suffolk. Garrett’s firm began the building in 1852 and it came into use for production the following year. It was designed to make portable steam engines on a flow line: unfinished boilers entered at one end and completed engines left through the doors at the other. Workers nicknamed it “the cathedral” because of its height and its long central nave, and the layout is often described as an early form of assembly-line production, decades before the motor industry used it.

The Garrett works closed in the late 1970s, and plans to redevelop the site for housing put the building at risk. It was listed Grade II* in 1976, and a local working party concluded in 1977 that a museum was the best future for it. A charitable trust was formed in 1981 and raised money to buy the site, using a government employment scheme to pay for work teams. The Long Shop Museum opened to the public in 1984.

Today the museum is an independent, accredited charity run by a small staff team and many volunteers. It occupies a group of historic works buildings covering more than an acre. Its collections cover about 200 years of local industrial and social history, including steam engines, farming machinery, tools and the products the works made. They also include material on the Garrett family, among them Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman to qualify as a doctor in England.

Highlights

• The Long Shop, a Grade II* listed early flow-line factory built in 1852–53
• Portable steam engines and farm machinery made by Richard Garrett and Sons
• Live steam days that show Victorian industry at work
• Suffolk’s deepest well and displays on Victorian firefighting and farming
• The living van, a small travelling home to explore
• Material on the Garrett family, including Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

Permanent exhibition

• The Long Shop – The Grade II* listed building where Garrett portable steam engines were assembled on a flow line, with engines, line shafting, a gantry crane and a gallery that once housed the fitting shop.

Founded

1984

Operated by

Long Shop Museum (independent charitable trust, registered charity no. 1167945)

Director

Fraser Hale

Admission & discounts

Ticket prices include a 10% discretionary donation under Gift Aid; visitors who prefer not to give it can say so at the ticket desk before paying. Dogs enter free.

Accessibility

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

All ground-floor areas have step-free thresholds and mostly firm, smooth floors; the middle of the Long Shop floor has short stretches of cobbles and old wooden end-grain blocks that can feel uneven. The Long Shop Gallery can only be reached by a steep original wooden staircase with high risers. Three step-free gender-neutral toilets are on the ground floor, one with full wheelchair access rails; two are suitable for baby changing. The Community Hub entrance has a short concrete path suitable for pushchairs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters. A detailed accessibility guide (2026) is available on the museum website.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities
• Playground / play area

Families can follow eye-spy and explorer’s passport trails, make a sand mould from a real Garrett pattern, take a rubbing of a steam engine and explore the living van. There is an enclosed garden with a safe play space and picnic tables. The museum is a Children’s University learning destination and supports the Kids in Museums campaign.

Getting there & parking

The what3words address of the front gates is ///limits.ruler.snows. Bikes can be secured at several points around the site; cycling from Saxmundham takes about 25 minutes.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

The tea room, the museum shop and reception are in the Community Hub. There are picnic tables and an enclosed garden.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit