About
Lowestoft Museum is the principal heritage museum for Britain's most easterly town, housed in Broad House, a handsome Victorian villa set within the beautiful Nicholas Everitt Park on the shores of Oulton Broad. Run entirely by dedicated volunteers, the museum preserves and interprets the rich history of Lowestoft and the surrounding area, from prehistoric times through to the modern era.
The museum's collections are particularly strong in Lowestoft's maritime heritage, reflecting the town's centuries-old relationship with the sea. Lowestoft was one of the great fishing ports of the East Anglian coast, and the museum tells the story of the herring industry, the trawler fleets, the boatbuilders, and the fishing families whose lives were shaped by the North Sea. Models of fishing vessels, navigational instruments, photographs, and personal belongings of fishermen bring this maritime world vividly to life.
Among the museum's most prized possessions is its collection of Lowestoft porcelain, the soft-paste porcelain produced in the town between 1757 and 1799. The Lowestoft factory was the most easterly of England's 18th-century porcelain works, and its distinctive hand-painted wares — decorated with chinoiserie, floral sprays, and inscribed presentation pieces — are now highly sought by collectors. The museum holds one of the finest public collections of this locally made porcelain.
Broad House itself is a listed building with elegant period rooms, and the museum also covers Lowestoft's significant WWII history, when the town was one of the most heavily bombed places in Britain relative to its size. Further galleries explore local archaeology, geology, domestic life, and the natural history of the Suffolk coast and Broads.
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Annual Visitors (2019)
15,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Midweek during the summer season for a quiet visit. Combine with a walk around Nicholas Everitt Park and Oulton Broad.
💡 Visitor Tips
- Lowestoft Museum is free to enter with donations welcome. As a volunteer-run museum, every donation helps keep the doors open — please give generously if you enjoy your visit.
- The museum operates seasonally, typically from Easter/April through October. It is closed during the winter months, so always check the website for current opening dates before planning your visit.
- The museum is housed in Broad House within Nicholas Everitt Park — arrive early to enjoy a walk around the park and views across Oulton Broad before or after your museum visit.
- The Lowestoft porcelain collection is the museum's star attraction and well worth seeking out. If you are a ceramics enthusiast, allow extra time to study the full range of factory output on display.
- Broad House is a Victorian building with steps at the entrance and stairs to upper floors. The ground floor is accessible but upper galleries cannot be reached by wheelchair. Contact in advance if you have mobility concerns.
- Free parking is available in Nicholas Everitt Park car park right next to the museum — a rarity for museums and a welcome convenience.
- Combine your visit with a trip to Lowestoft Ness, the easternmost point of the British Isles, about 3 km from the museum. A marker on the seafront commemorates the location.
- The museum has a small but well-stocked gift shop selling books on local history, postcards, and Lowestoft-themed souvenirs — proceeds support the museum's running costs.
Highlights
Lowestoft Porcelain Collection
One of the finest public collections of Lowestoft porcelain, the soft-paste porcelain manufactured in the town between 1757 and 1799. The Lowestoft porcelain factory was established by local merchant Robert Browne and became known for its distinctive hand-painted wares decorated with chinoiserie patterns, floral sprays, and personalised inscriptions.
The museum displays tea bowls, coffee pots, punch bowls, and presentation pieces that demonstrate the quality and charm of this locally produced ware.
Lowestoft porcelain is now highly collectible and the factory's relatively short period of production makes surviving pieces rare and valuable. The collection illustrates the full range of the factory's output and its importance in the story of English ceramics.
Maritime and Fishing Heritage Gallery
Lowestoft was one of the great fishing ports of the East Anglian coast, and this gallery tells the story of the town's centuries-long relationship with the sea. Scale models of herring drifters, trawlers, and sailing vessels are displayed alongside navigational instruments, fishing equipment, and photographs documenting the herring industry at its peak when hundreds of boats worked from the harbour.
Personal belongings of fishermen and accounts from fishing families reveal the dangers and hardships of North Sea fishing.
The gallery also covers the broader maritime trades — shipbuilding, the lifeboat service, and the role of Lowestoft harbour in coastal trade.
The decline of the fishing industry in the late 20th century and its impact on the town's economy and identity is sensitively explored.
WWII and the Bombing of Lowestoft
Lowestoft suffered heavily during the Second World War, experiencing over 400 air raids and becoming one of the most bombed towns in Britain relative to its size. This moving display uses photographs, documents, personal testimonies, and salvaged objects to tell the story of Lowestoft at war — the evacuations, the blackouts, the bombing raids, the civilian casualties, and the remarkable resilience of the local community.
The town's strategic position on the East Anglian coast made it a target for German bombers crossing the North Sea, and its harbour and beach defences played a role in coastal defence.
Maps showing bomb damage reveal the scale of destruction, while personal stories of survival, loss, and community spirit during the Blitz bring the statistics to life.
Broad House — The Building Itself
The museum is housed in Broad House, an attractive Victorian villa built in the 1850s and set in the leafy grounds of Nicholas Everitt Park on the shores of Oulton Broad.
The house was bequeathed to the town by Nicholas Everitt, a local solicitor, historian, and philanthropist who donated both the house and its surrounding parkland for public use. Several rooms retain period features including decorative plasterwork, fireplaces, and floor tiles that evoke Victorian domestic life.
The building's setting beside Oulton Broad — the southernmost of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads — provides a tranquil backdrop, and the park's gardens, lake views, and mature trees make the museum visit a pleasant outdoor experience as well as an indoor one.
Collections
Lowestoft Museum holds collections covering the maritime, industrial, social, and natural history of Britain's most easterly town and the surrounding Suffolk coast. The porcelain collection features one of the best public holdings of Lowestoft soft-paste porcelain (1757-1799). Maritime collections include ship models, navigational instruments, fishing equipment, and extensive photographic archives of the fishing industry.
The WWII collection documents the extensive bombing of Lowestoft through photographs, personal testimonies, and salvaged objects. Archaeological holdings span prehistoric flint tools through Roman, Saxon, and medieval finds from local excavations. Geological and natural history specimens represent the distinctive Suffolk coastal landscape and Broads wildlife.
Social history collections include domestic objects, clothing, photographs, and oral history recordings documenting everyday life in Lowestoft from the Victorian era onwards.
Lowestoft Porcelain
A comprehensive display of locally made soft-paste porcelain from the Lowestoft factory (1757-1799), including tea wares, presentation pieces, and decorative items.
📍 Porcelain Gallery
Maritime Lowestoft
The story of Lowestoft's fishing industry and maritime heritage, told through ship models, equipment, photographs, and personal accounts.
📍 Maritime Gallery
Lowestoft at War
The impact of WWII on one of Britain's most heavily bombed towns, with photographs, documents, and personal testimonies.
📍 WWII Gallery
Local History and Archaeology
The human story of the Lowestoft area from prehistoric coastal settlement through medieval trading town to modern seaside resort.
📍 Archaeology Gallery and Social History Rooms
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.