Attraction20 to 40 minutes

Southwold Sailors' Reading Room

About

A red brick room on East Cliff, built in 1864 as a refuge for fishermen and mariners when they were not at sea, founded with the frankly stated aim of keeping them out of the pubs. It is still a members' reading room and still open to anyone who walks in, and inside it is packed with portraits of local fishermen, seascapes, ship models and maritime clutter accumulated over a century and a half. It is not a curated museum; it is the room the town's seafaring life left behind, with a snooker table at the back. Open 9am to 5pm every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. There is no admission charge; a donation is the expected courtesy.

Photos

Highlights

✓Built in 1864 for fishermen and mariners
✓Portraits, seascapes and ship models on every wall
✓Open every day of the year except Christmas Day and Boxing Day
✓Free, on the cliff-top path between the pier and Gun Hill

Tips

→Open 9am to 5pm daily except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
→No admission charge; put something in the box.
→It sits directly on the cliff-top walk, so it costs nothing to look in on the way past.
→Southwold Museum and the Alfred Corry lifeboat museum are the other two collections in town.