Luxury Traveller - Constable Country

Sunday

Our outward journey includes a convenient stop for lunch en-route, before arriving at our hotel for our 4-night stay.

Monday

We meet our Blue Badge guide and explore Constable Country. Located on the Suffolk and Essex border – East Bergholt is the site of John Constable’s Studio and St Mary’s Church, built in the 15th and 16th centuries and renowned for the absence of a tower or spire to house the bells – at Dedham our tour takes in sights such as Constable’s School and Dedham Parish Church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin in 1492 – Bridge Cottage at Flatford is located upstream from Flatford Mill and houses an exhibition on John Constable, several of whose paintings famously feature the mill. We return to our hotel in the late afternoon for a Cream Tea.

Tuesday

We visit Lavenham, one of England’s finest medieval villages with a 15th century church and the Guildhall, an early 16th century timber framed building that dominates the Market Place. Later we visit Melford Hall (NT), one of East Anglia’s most celebrated Elizabethan houses where little has changed externally since 1578.

Wednesday

This morning we visit the National Trust’s Sutton Hoo, an Anglo-Saxon royal burial site where the priceless Sutton Hoo treasure was discovered in a huge ship grave in 1939. We continue to the picturesque 16th century fishing village of Aldeburgh, renowned for its festival of music and arts, where Benjamin Britten lived and worked for the last two decades of his life.

Thursday

We are homeward bound. En-route, we visit Audley End House (EH), one of England’s grandest stately homes. Equipped with original and reproduction Victorian fixtures and fittings the house creates an atmospheric portrait of daily Victorian life - from butler and cook down to dairy maids and lowly houseboy. The historic stables come complete with resident horses and a Victorian groom. Add the beautiful grounds, the working Organic Kitchen Garden and Audley End offers a fascinating insight into the past.