Events at Local Properties

 These events have been given to us by Local NT properties.

 Please check that they are still going ahead as we are not told of cancellations.


Anglesey Abbey

Anglesey Abbey has periods in the year with something to offer, free for national Trust members or where normal admission prices apply.

 This is our normal programme but please check what is on offer at our web site.

February - our gardens are transformed into a sea of white as over 270 varieties of snowdrop herald the arrival of spring.

March – see spring bulbs as they emerge in the gardens.

June/July – our Herbacious border at its best and our rose gardens in bloom.

September - see the beautiful colour and varieties of dahlia in our garden. The House will also be decorated with beautiful displays.

Dunwich Heath

You do not need to book a parking space. Our car park is open daily from 10am to 4pm and locked outside of opening times. The car park machine by the visitor Information Centre is in use for scanning your membership card to gain free parking. The tea room is open each day and the kiosk is open at weekends.

Flatford

The site is now open again. There is no need to book. The car park and walking routes will remain open for local exercise. 

This year Flatford dropped the £3.50 guided walk charge, however they would appreciate donations to make up for the loss of income.

The tea room is open every day and the shop Wednesday – Sunday. 

Please see Flatford NT website over the next few months for full details of events.

Looking forward to the summer, we have an exciting programme coming up which may be of interest. On the weekend of 31 May and 1 June, the Bourne Valley Crafters are holding their annual summer craft fair at Flatford, with a wide variety of local producers selling a beautiful range of arts and crafts. Later in the summer, on 26 July, tribute band Shades of Simon bring the iconic folk sound of Paul Simon to the Granary Garden. Later still, on 20 August, Brentwood Mac relive the magic of Fleetwood Mac. We have a number of smaller events too, with Ranger Walks, Summer of Play activities and open days at Valley Farm. Needless to say, we hope that you and your families can come along to some of these events or just pop down to see us if you are passing. 

Simon Peachey, Site Manager, Flatford 

Ickworth

Important notice - The house, parkland, gardens, shops & cafés at Ickworth are open. Please check opening times for detailed opening. Our quieter times to visit are weekdays & after 1pm. 

We look forward to welcoming you back.

The "Cycle Hub" reopens on Thursday 11th January - Thursday to Sunday. Times 10.00am - 4.00pm. Last hire at 2.00pm.

What’s going on at Ickworth Estate 2025

All events are bookable from our website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/ickworth-estate 

Ickworth Bat Walk 30 and 31 May, 8.30pm-10.30pm, £10.00 per person Ickworth Estate is home to many bats, this guided walk is a brilliant opportunity to see and hear about some of them from experts. Start the evening with a chat to our bat experts at the Porters Lodge to discover the difference between the calls of a Pipistrelle and a Daubenton's; learn about their habitat and what we can do to improve it. We will then spend an hour outside discovering where the bats may be. Group led walk with our Ranger Volunteer 18 June, 10:30am-1:00pm, £5.00 per person* * Normal estate admission applies for non-members. Join other outdoor enthusiasts and our ranger volunteers on this guided group walk around Ickworth’s parklands and woodlands. 

Outdoor Cinema returns to Ickworth estate As part of our Ickworth on the World Stage programme for 2025, we are hosting a three-day cinema extravaganza showcasing films that celebrate the captivating beauty of Europe and beyond! Join us for the perfect alfresco entertainment. Set within our Italian inspired grounds and against the grand backdrop of the Rotunda, don't miss out on a truly unique cinematic experience. There is something for the whole family - from cult classics to family favourites - bring your picnic blankets and join us for a weekend of fun. 

Friday 4 July 

The Little Mermaid (original) starts 4.00pm-5.30pm 

The Sound of Music starts 6.15pm-9.15pm 

Saturday 5 July 

Paddington in Peru starts 2.00pm-3.45pm 

Midnight in Paris starts 4.30pm-6.00pm

Mamma Mia! starts 6.45pm-9.30pm

Sunday 6 July

 Moana 2 starts 2.00pm-3.45pm

The Italian Job (1969) starts 4.30pm-6.15pm

 In Bruges starts 7.00pm-9.00pm 

For information and to ensure your place on our tours head to our website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ickworth 

Melford Hall

Important notice - We’re open Wednesday- Sunday and we have removed the booking system so you no longer need to book in advance. 

Summer opening times:

Wednesday - Sunday: 12:00 - 16:30 

Please note, last admission to the site is 3.30pm. Last orders in the tearoom at 4.00pm. 

Comments from Melford:

"Our local NT Supporter Groups are some of our most regular donors and they have funded a huge variety of things over the years. We have had everything from benches, collections conservation materials, garden tools, UV film for windows, plants for the gardens, Braille guides and croquet sets funded. We also had a three-year project with the East Suffolk NTA to conserve the Dominic Serres naval paintings at Melford. This collaboration allowed us to clean the paintings, conserve damage and replace the picture lights with bespoke LED picture lights. All of this transformed not only the condition and appearance of the paintings, but also the experience of those viewing them." 

Orford Ness

Important notice - Due to boat capacity you'll need to book your visit in advance. If you arrive without a booking, you'll unfortunately be turned away. To book please visit the What's On section on the Orford Ness NT website. Tickets are released 2 weeks in advance and are in high demand. 

Open Saturday and Sunday 

Please note

The first ferry is at 10am and runs every 15 minutes outbound until 12:45. Tickets are for a timed ferry.    

National Trust Orford Ness, Quay Street, Orford, Suffolk IP12 2NU

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Oxburgh Hall:

Upstairs rooms reopen:

 We are delighted to be (re)opening some of the first-floor areas here at Oxburgh, following the completion of the Raise the Roof project. These spaces include the Marian Hangings room, the North Corridor and the North Bedroom. The Marian Hangings were embroidered by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick between 1569 and 1584, when Mary was under the guardianship of Bess’s husband on the orders of Elizabeth I. The Hangings were in storage during the roof project and have only recently returned to us. They belong to the Victoria & Albert Museum, but are on long-term loan to Oxburgh, where they came via a marriage into the Bedingfeld family in the eighteenth century.

The North Bedroom took its present form during the nineteenth century and most of the furniture and interiors date to around that time. Perhaps most notable is the flying tester bed - its wooden canopy appears suspended in thin air, but it is in fact bolted to the ceiling. Two new additions to the room are the portraits of Edward and Jane Paston, after Godfrey Kneller, which date to the late seventeenth century. The Pastons, a prominent Norfolk Catholic family, married into the Bedingfeld family on several occasions. The portraits were sold from Oxburgh in 1951, when the estate was put up for sale and many of the contents were dispersed, but they were spotted and purchased at a local auction in 2016. They needed some conservation work before we could display them, which was kindly funded by the Royal Oak Foundation. It is thanks to our members, visitors, supporters and funders that we are sometimes able to buy back items indigenous to Oxburgh, to give them the conservation care they require and to research, interpret and display them for everyone to enjoy. The House, including the first-floor rooms already mentioned, will be open for guided tours on Thursdays and Fridays, and for free-flow access on Saturdays and Sundays. Please check our website for further details: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oxburgh-hall

 Ilana van Dort Senior Collections and House Officer

We have received this message of thanks from Oxburgh, following ESNTA donations:

"You recently provided funds to the Oxburgh Estate for three items: an accessible picnic bench, interpretation panels for the Parterre project and interpretation panels for the West Park project.

 

I have some images for you, which I hope to come of interest.( -- which are reproduced at the bottom of the page)

 

We are still in need of creating the West Park interpretation panel (this is the next job on the list). Once created, I would be delighted to send over additional images.

 

However, we have purchased and built 2 new accessible picnic benches. These benches have extended panel edges to allow for use of a wheelchair. It has been very nice to see our visitors enjoying them in the sun. 

 

The parterre panels have been hugely successful and have correctly informed our visitors of the essential work that is happening to the Parterre and what they can expect over the next few years. We have seen a reduction in our visitor comments in regards to the Parterre since they have been in place, which is fantastic, it shows they are correctly informing our visitors. We have placed them in two ‘acorn boxes’ which we found in the workshop. 

 

Thank you once again for your kind generosity. We greatly appreciate you support, and the items purchased have made a huge difference to our visitor experience on site.


Sutton Hoo:

We were very lucky to receive funding from the East Suffolk National Trust Association to put the LEGO Sutton Hoo helmet on display. They have generously funded a display case and some LEGO which will shortly be appearing in the Discovery Room in Tranmer House where visitors (and volunteers and staff!) can have a go at making their own Sutton Hoo inspired LEGO creation. The creator of the helmet, Andrew Webb, visited on Saturday 15 April and ran a LEGO workshop for visitors- it was packed all afternoon! I am just waiting for the display case to arrive and then the LEGO and the LEGO helmet will be appearing in there. Any donations of LEGO and DUPLO are greatly appreciated! 


The Dig: A Story Unearthed, opened in early May. This new exhibition shares the true stories of the real people featured in the Netflix film The Dig including Edith Pretty, her son Robert Pretty, archaeologists Basil Brown and Peggy Piggott, as well as two of the key photographers of the excavation, Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff. Alongside these stories will be some of the original costumes, jewellery and props used in the film. The exhibition opened on 8 May in the Treasury room of the High Hall and runs until 25 January 2026. 


 We will see the return of Time Team for the second year of excavation in Garden Field (the field behind the café, shop and High Hall exhibition). The excavation will begin on Monday 19 May and will continue for four weeks concluding on 13 June. Please see our website for the latest details if you are planning on visiting, as there will be a couple of days when excavation work won’t be taking place. Once again, visitors will be able to view the excavation in progress from behind the fencing and find out more about the project including what was discovered last year from our volunteers on the visitor engagement stand nearby - this will be open every day. For younger visitors we will have our regular programme of sand tray archaeology to experience the thrill and excitement of being an archaeologist! From there, we will be heading into the summer holidays and the return of Summer of Play. Summer of Play is a Starling Bank sponsored programme that takes place across hundreds of National Trust properties. There will be a vast array of Sutton Hoo inspired play activities for families to enjoy across the site. Red Rose Chain Theatre Company are returning once again for their enormously popular outdoor theatre event, Theatre in the Forest, with a production of Hamlet. Tickets will be available from Red Rose Chain. 


- Josh Ward