Aldeburgh, Suffolk

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These are some pages about the town where I live. There are pictures, maps and links to other sites. I have looked at the history of the Moot Hall and the Town Steps, and to a lesser extent that of The Terrace. Otherwise it is my own selection - it is individualistic and probably idiosyncratic.

Places to see in Aldeburgh - Click on the places marked in blue on the map to "visit" them.

Holiday flat
in Aldeburgh Maps
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Market Cross Place

In the early 1930's my grandparents bought a house here. They had rented it for holidays during the years before that. My sister now owns and lives in the house.

My grandmother was a prime mover in changing the name of the row of houses from "Wentworth Terrace" to "Market Cross Place".

(I think she thought the word "Terrace" a bit demeaning!)

One house is still known as "Wentworth Terrace".

9 Market Cross Place

After the war my family spent many holidays in the house and when I had children of my own they stayed in it every summer.

The Moot Hall

The Moot Hall from the North-East.

Moot Hall from South-East

The Moot Hall from the South-East.

The Moot Hall was once, as long ago as the middle of the 16th century, in the centre of Aldeburgh.

A map of the time shows a considerable amount of land beyond the town.

By the beginning of the 17th century houses were being lost to the sea and a hundred years later there was little more to the East of the Moot Hall than there is today.

The picture on the left shows the Moot Hall in 1767 with buildings around it and the picture on the right shows it later - almost on the beach.

The Moot Hall 1767 The Moot Hall later

The first picture below is from an engraving of Aldeburgh seen from the sea in the 1860's. The only obviously recognisable buildings are the Moot Hall and the church.

Aldeburgh from the sea 1860

On the right above is a photograph from the West of the Moot Hall in 1894.

Moot Hall was fully restored in 1854 when chimneys copied from Hampton Court were added and again at the end of the 1980's when accumulated soil round it was removed.

The Moot Hall sundial

The sundial on the south side was put up in 1650
for the sum of 7 shillings and 6d.

On it is written
"HORAS NON NUMERO NISI SERENAS"
which roughly translated from the Latin means
"I only count the sunny hours".

The Moot Hall is now the meeting place of the Town Council and, upstairs, a small, but interesting, museum.

Aldeburgh Cinema and the Bookshop

The Cinema and the Bookshop are at the more northerly end of the High Street.

Aldeburgh Cinema is a small independent cinema run by its members. It is open to all and shows many great films.

The Cinema has its own web site where you can see what films are on now.
See Links.

Pen and ink drawing of Aldeburgh Bookshop

The Bookshop is opposite the cinema. It is great to visit - not too big, with friendly and helpful people around.

You can buy the Hunt Fun Treasure Hunt booklet here.
See Links.

Mole Hall Antiques

This picture of Peter's shop Mole Hall Antiques painted by his friend John Smith.

Mole Hall Antiques is situated on the High Street opposite the foot of the Town Steps.

Peter standing in the doorway of Mole Hall and some glimpses inside the shop.

Peter outside Mole Hall Inside Mole Hall Antiques 1

Inside Mole Hall Antiques 3 Inside Mole Hall Antiques 2

I wrote a rhyme about some of the Saturday afternoon summer visitors.
Click if you would like to read it.

The Town Steps

The Town Steps connect the old town down at sea level with the newer parts up the hill.

If someone says they "know Aldeburgh" but they don't know where the Town Steps are, then you can be sure they don't know the town very well!

The Town Steps in 2002

These two photographs show the steps as they are today. The one on the left is from the top of the steps and that on the right from the bottom.
The Town Steps c. 1900

This picture is from an old postcard of about 1900.

The steps were built at the end of the 18th century when houses in the lower part of the town were being lost to the sea.

The steps were widened in the 1880's - probably by "Patent Impervious Paving - 5 Westminster Chambers - SW". These words are trodden on by many feet but can still be read clearly on the way up the steps, although the steps do look a little less "Impervious" than they used to!

Below is from a post-card of about 1910 showing the toyshop at the foot of the steps. This shop closed in 1925 and the building itself was destroyed in by a bomb in 1942. The Town Steps showing the toyshop

Below - looking down the steps in 1906 and 1950. The large building on the far right of the first picture is the old Post Office which was also bombed in 1942.

The Town Steps in 1906 The Town Steps in 1950

The pump to the south side of the steps was first erected in 1840 and renovated in 1979.

The Terrace

Sketch of houses, roofs with the sea beyond.

This view of the Terrace was drawn in the 1960's. It is very little changed today.

It is the view opposite my house and the holiday flat.

Sketch of wild path with trees.

A drawing of the Terrace before the road or houses were built.

The Crag Path

In many places the Crag Path would be known as "the promenade". It runs from the Southern end of the town to well past the end of the town in the North.

We will take a virtual walk along it from the South.

Looking South from the Southern end of the Crag Path across Fort Green car park you see the house that was built round an old windmill.
south of the car park

The old photograph on the right was taken in about 1900.

During the 1953 floods the scene was very different.
The seas washed right over the green.

The big cubes were anti-tank blocks - they were put all along the front during the Second World War.

At this end of the Crag Path the sea is visible as the beach is less wide than it is further along and slopes steeply downwards.

Looking along the beach southwards you can see the Martello tower in the distance.

Turning round and looking the other way the two Lookout Towers and the Lifeboat building can be made out and in the far distance at the end of Aldeburgh Bay is Thorpeness.

As we walk along we approach the two Lookout Towers.

The south Look-out has a spectacular spiral staircase. It is the older of the two.

south look-out north look-out

Next we reach the Lifeboat Building.

The lifeboat station was built to house the new hi-tech life boat.

The old one used to sit ready on the top of a slip-way in all weathers. (See below.)

These pictures of old life boats are taken from Aldeburgh in Photographs (see Links)

The first is of Aldeburgh Lifeboat during the 1860s and the second around 1900.

lifeboat c1860 lifeboat c1904

The third photograph is of Aldeburgh's first motor-powered lifeboat from the 1930's and the final one of the James Cable, the last of those which were kept outside taken in 1988.

lifeboat 1930s lifeboat James Cable

Shortly after leaving the Lifeboat we reach Moot Green.

The chief attraction here is the boating pool.
This is a great place to sail model boats and for a quiet read at less busy times.

boating pool

On the other side of the Crag Path there is Aldeburgh's last remaining bathing machine, now used as a store, which was done up in 2000 to greet the new millennium.

Here is a photo of Moot Green at the time of the 1953 floods and of the same view today

Moot Green 1953 Moot Green now

Beyond the Moot Hall lie most of the town's fishing sheds, through few are still used for selling fish.

Catches, as well as the fish, are much smaller than they used to be.

fishing boat & sprats

lobsters

On the left, a winter catch of sprats 50 years ago.

On the right today's catch of lobsters, small but valuable.

We have walked past the last of the fishing sheds and the end of the older parts of the town. The Crag Path stretches ahead towards Thorpeness for half a mile or more.

Turning back we can have a last look at the town.

If you want to see many pictures of Aldeburgh as it is today, go to the "Gallery" pages of the Aldeburgh town website. To find it go to Links.


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