Sailors' Reading Room
A Victorian reading room on Southwold's East Cliff, still a members' club, with maritime displays of model ships, figureheads and portraits.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Sailors' Reading Room in Southwold was paid for by Mrs Frances Rayley in memory of her husband, Captain Rayley of the Royal Navy, who died in 1863. It opened on 2 June 1864 as a place where sailors and fishermen could read, talk and spend time ashore instead of in the town's pubs, in line with the Christian ideals of its founder. The building and a caretaker's house cost a little over £546.
In the following century the building changed hands several times. In 1972 two local sisters, Nancy Fox and Joan Philpot, bought the room, and a charity was set up to run it. Today it continues as a members' club with a more relaxed set of rules than in its early days. The room is divided by a partition, and the inner room is reserved for members; it has contained a snooker table since 1901.
The public room is decorated with maritime objects and local history. Glass cabinets and walls hold model ships, figureheads, seascapes, and portraits and photographs of local fishermen and mariners, many of whom helped to pay for the building. It is a small, atmospheric place that gives a picture of Southwold's seafaring past.
Highlights
- Model ships in glass cabinets
- Ships' figureheads on display
- Portraits and photographs of local fishermen
- Seascapes and maritime objects
- Historic building on the Southwold seafront dating from 1864
Permanent exhibition
- Maritime displays – Model ships, figureheads, seascapes and portraits of local fishermen displayed on the walls and in glass cabinets of the reading room.
- Founded
- 1864
- Operated by
- Southwold Sailors Reading Room (charity)
Admission & discounts
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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