EXPLORE THE AREA
SUFFOLK COAST
The Sunrise Coast… Miles of award-winning sandy beaches, set against the unique beauty of the Broads; an area steeped in history and heritage surrounded by rolling countryside, bustling market towns and delightful villages. All this combined with an exciting variety of attractions, events, town trails and activities makes The Sunrise Coast an unrivalled area of sun, sea, fun and adventure.
Lowestoft is Britain’s most easterly Town, so getting up early at least once during your holiday is a must, just to see the beautiful sunrise. The area has the driest regional climate in the country with over a thousand hours of sunshine each year, an excellent range of accommodation, and the warmest welcome you could wish for. Choose ‘The Sunrise Coast’ for your holiday and experience all the delights the area has to offer.
If you love the sea and sand, you’ll certainly love The Sunrise Coast. We have some of the best beaches in the country - and the awards to prove it!
Three of The Sunrise Coast’s beaches were awarded the prestigious EnCams Blue Flag for 2004. Two of the Blue Flag Beaches were in Lowestoft both North and South of Claremont Pier, the third was the Beach by the pier at The Sunrise Coasts classic resort of Southwold . Kessingland Beach and Southwold Denes also won Rural Seaside Awards. For a beach to hold an award it must comply with a strict range of criteria encouraging the highest standards of cleanliness, safety, and information.
Relax on a stretch of our gently shelving sands while your children play safely on our clean, golden beaches. After hours of swimming and building sandcastles, they’ll be ready to choose ice-creams and lollies from one of the many cafés, restaurants and kiosks along the resort promenades!
AND THEY’LL HAVE FUN FUN FUN
Take a walk along Lowestoft seafront; and it won’t be long before the children are trying to choose from one of the many activities: sand castle competitions, trampolining or just playing in the surf, together with ‘Mayhem’ adventure play - an indoor soft play area at The East Point Pavilion - the perfect place for children to let off steam.
RELAX AND UNWIND…
on one of our rural beaches. Whether you enjoy wandering through dunes, hiking along the shoreline or just soaking up the sun in peace and tranquillity, The Sunrise Coast’s uncommercialised rural beaches are ideal for you. And if you prefer to bare all on the beach there is a naturist beach at Corton, just for you!
A WATCHFUL EYE
The resort beaches at Lowestoft and Southwold are patrolled by our fully trained lifeguards - from sea to shore they keep a watchful eye over paddlers and swimmers at all times.
HISTORY AND HERITAGE
The Sunrise Coast is rich in history and heritage. When visiting the area make time to explore the fascinating past and unearth the connections to famous names such as Lord Nelson, Benjamin Britten and Sir Morton Peto.
LOWESTOFT AREA
Lowestoft’s origins are buried deep in the midst of time and there has been a thriving and bustling community here for centuries. The sea has played a major role in the fortunes of the town and the lives of its inhabitants.
Many museums throughout the town display relics from the town’s colourful Maritime History. The Lowestoft and East Suffolk Maritime Museum specialises in exhibits depicting the history of Lowestoft’s fishing fleets, from sail to steam to diesel. The war memorial is dedicated to all those from the Lowestoft area who served in the Second World War, and the Royal Navel Patrol Service Museum features a fine selection of naval memorabilia.
Sir Morton Peto is responsible for much of Lowestoft’s development in the mid-19th Century. Born in 1809, Morton Peto began working life as a builder’s apprentice and went on to become a leading building contractor and the largest employer of labour in the world.
Last made in the 18th Century at the Lowestoft China Factory, the majority of the famous Lowestoft Porcelain consisted of ordinary domestic wares designed to meet the needs of a middle class clientele. Production lasted more than forty years, longer than any other 18th Century English porcelain factory apart from those at Derby and Worcester. Lowestoft Porcelain has been put back into production recently. Visit the factory and shop on Battery Green Road. The town also has its own Heritage Workshop Centre, which offers an insight into the town’s heritage. Guided walks are also available from here.
At the Heritage Mooring in the town’s yacht marina can be found the ‘Mincarlo’, the last remaining Lowestoft-built side-fishing trawler. Other visiting vessels can be seen throughout the year.
Visit the north end of the town and discover the Historic High Street and Scores. The historic high street was originally the main centre of Lowestoft and still contains many interesting shops and fine buildings. The Scores used to serve as a link between the high street and the ‘old fisherman’s Beach Village, known locally as ‘the Grit’. They originally led down to the smokehouses, net mending workshops and the old beach village. The word score is thought to derive from the verb ‘to scour’ or the old Norse ‘skor’ which means ‘notch’.
The Historic High Street and Scores are perhaps the most haunted parts of the town, with many tales of ghostly apparitions and unexplained events! Ghost Walks of this area of the town can be booked at the Tourist Information Centre from Easter through to Halloween.
BUNGAY AREA
Bungay’s history is long, rich, and varied. Its notability featured prominently in medieval events and its present form and architecture reflects the towns changing fortunes.
The site of the town has always had strategic potential, recognised by both Saxons and perhaps even by the Celts and Romans. Later its location at the head of navigation of the River Waveney brought the town, which financed many of the buildings visible today.
The original castle at Bungay was built by feudal Lord, Hugh Bigod in 1165 probably as a defence post. In 1174 Henry II besieged the castle but then surrendered and the king ordered for it to be destroyed. The remains of the two semi-circular towers can be seen today, flanked the gatehouse and can offer an excellent viewing point across the water meadows.
The Butter Cross was built in 1689 after the great fire of Bungay which destroyed the greater part of the town, including an even earlier cross, possibility of Norman and Saxon origin. Originally the stocks were kept fastened to one of the pillars, and let down as required, as was a prison cage which stood in the centre of the cross. Some wrist irons are still fixed to one of the pillars, but a small dungeon beneath the floor was filled in in 1863.
Trinity Church - with its Saxon round tower of herringbone masonry and traces of windows with triangular heads. Most of the cancel was in ruins from 1558 to 1754 when it was restored.
St Mary’s church was originally the church of the nunnery. The 90ft tower is a land mark for the surrounding country and at the base there is a close frieze of quatrefoils and shields. The large seven bay west window was added in the 15th century, but the arcades inside the church belong to the 14th Century. Bungay is well known for its legend of the Black Dog: ‘Black Shuck’. The fateful appearance of this ghostly animal is well documented.
Close to Bungay is St. Peter’s Hall which dates from around 1280
and was extended in 1539 using 14th Century ‘architectural salvage’ taken
from Flixton Priory, a monastic establishment dissolved by Cardinal Wolsey
in the 1520’s.
The Brewery at St Peter’s Hall was built in the first half of 1996
and produces local ‘real ale’. The unique bottle used by
the brewery is a copy of one from Gibbstown, near Philadelphia which
dates from c. 1770.
On the land behind where the Angel Hotel currently stands, woolly mammoths may once have roamed. Much later, it became the site where Mesolithic hunter/gatherers would intermittently live (Circa 8000 - 3500 BC).
During archaeological excavations in 1989, Mesolithic flint tools were discovered. At this time, the river would have flowed wider, deeper and more swiftly than at present.
St Mary’s Church is of Saxon origin. Halesworth is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 recording Ulf the priest to be in charge of the parish. The church was enlarged in the 14th Century and further enlarged in the 15th - with outer aisles and restoration taking place in the late 19th Century.
The Almshouses opposite the church were built from money left in the 1686 will of William Cary. They were in use until the 1960’s, providing separate accommodation for 12 single women and men.
Formerly known as ‘Brewery House’, Hooker House on Bridge Street can boast the first consecutive directors of Kew Gardens, Sir William Hooker and his son Joseph as residents Southwold.
The church at the Southwold is dedicated to St Edmund, Christian Martyr and the last King of East Anglia. Its tower is over 100 feet high, with characteristic flint decorations.
Gun Hill takes its name from the six 18-pounder culverins, muzzle loading guns which were cast in Elizabethan times and presented to the town during the reign of George II.
The lighthouse, built in 1890, stands four 101 feet above the town and can be seen 17 miles out to sea. Its beacon serves marinas in the quest for a landfall at ‘Southwold Haven’, and these days it’s a land mark that signifies Southwold to so many people.
The famous greens of the town are a lasting reminder of the Great Fire of Southwold in 1659 which destroyed many buildings.
The original pier was constructed in 1900 and provided an ideal docking site for the ‘Belle’ Steamers which used to bring the holiday makers to the town every year. But damaged by the force of the sea over a number of years (and by the townsfolk as a precaution against the onslaught of the Germans) the pier was closed down due to safety reasons in 1998. In the following year a local family began to reconstruct the pier and today the pier stands 623 feet out into the North Sea, housing a variety of attractions for visitors and locals alike and in 2002 the pier won the grand title of ‘Pier of the Year’.
Southwold Museum at Victoria Street, given to the town in 1932, was
once a weavers cottage and now houses many exhibits of local interest.
Further to the South of the town on Ferry Road is a new museum ‘Alfred
Corry’ which contains Southwold’s old sailing lifeboat, which
served 47 lives during 20 years of service.
Beccles.
Throughout the town’s streets, there are a number of period buildings. With the most impressive being the Parish Church of St.Michael’s with its detached tower serving as a landmark for miles around. It was here that Catherine Suckling married the Reverend Edward Nelson, who later gave birth to one of the great seafarers in history - Lord Horatio Nelson.
Beccles is also home to an unusual 18th Century octagonal town hall, the grade 1 listed building Leman house and Roos Hall which is said to be one of the most haunted buildings in England.