Museum of East Anglian Life

Museum of East Anglian Life
Established	1967
Location	Iliffe Way, Stowmarket IP14, England, UK
Collection size	over 40,00 objects
Director	Tony Butler
Website	http://www.eastanglianlife.org.uk

The Museum of East Anglian Life is a Museum located in Stowmarket Suffolk, it specialises in presenting the agricultural history of East Anglia through a mixture of exhibits and living history demonstrations. It has recently taken to abbreviating itself as 'MEAL'.

History of the Museum

The site of the Museum was originally land belonging to the Abbots Hall estate. Changes to farming traditions in the 1950s and 1960s meant that many skills and ways of life were in danger of being lost thus the land and Hall was put in trust by the Longe family for the development of the Museum of East Anglian Life to preserve these.

Buildings

One of the main features of the Museum is the variety of buildings situated within its 75 acres (30 ha) site which include:

• Boby Building - Features exhibitions on agricultural engines and individual craft workshops and also features a working printing press and a cinema.
• William Bone Building - An exhibition on the history of the Ransomes company in East Anglia.
• Eastbridge Windpump - A windpump used for draining land in the 19th century
• Alton Watermill - A watermill dating back from the 18th century which is used to grind corn. It, like many of the museum buildings, was taken apart and then transported to the museum where it was subsequently reassembled; in the case of the watermill, it was moved to stop it being lost forever as a result of the Alton Water Reservoir.

The Museum also has two huts depicting different scenes from the 1950s including shops scenes, kitchens, living rooms and a Victorian schoolroom.

Restoration of Abbot's Hall

Currently the museum has been granted a 1.711 million pounds by the Heritage Lottery Fund to renovate Abbot's Hall, creating a new entrance to the museum and restoring the Abbots Hall complex as its centrepiece.

Animals

The Museum is notable for the animals in its possession, in particular the rare Suffolk Punch breed of horse. The most famous of these horses was Remus, who became something of a celebrity in the Stowmarket area.

The Museum also has other rare breeds including Red Poll Cattle as well as the Large Black Pig, Suffolk Sheep, Goats and Chickens.

External links

• Map sources for Museum of East Anglian Life
• Museum Website
• Abbot's Hall Restoration
• Museum's Twitter

Coordinates: 52°11′09″N 0°59′30″E / 52.18588°N 0.99155°E / 52.18588; 0.99155