Museum · Southwold · Suffolk

Sailors' Reading Room

Sailors' Reading Room is a museum you can visit in Southwold. Another 8 places to visit lie within 5 km. On the official register, it is a Grade II listed building.

Photo: Sailors' Reading Room, Alexander Williams (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where

In Southwold

inside the built-up area

How well known

Top 35%

#2,958 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

Jun–Sep

highs of 20–23°C

In brief

Museum in Southwold

Inside Southwold

Sailors' Reading Room is inside Southwold’s built-up area, with 8 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Grade II listed building

On the official list of protected heritage; Southwold has 142 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

The year in Southwold

For warmth, aim for June to September (20–23°C highs in Southwold).

Jan8° / 2°45 mm

Feb8° / 2°43 mm

Mar11° / 3°40 mm

Apr14° / 5°34 mm

May17° / 7°46 mm

Jun20° / 10°44 mm

Jul22° / 12°55 mm

Aug23° / 13°56 mm

Sep20° / 11°70 mm

Oct16° / 8°72 mm

Nov12° / 5°61 mm

Dec9° / 3°60 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Southwold, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Southwold. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Southwold’s full climate →

About

Sailors' Reading Room

Readers can find it on Wikipedia in 2 languages. For a second stop, Southwold Pier is 600 m away.

Southwold’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Museum
Listed: Grade II listed building
Wikipedias: Covered in 2 languages
Town: in Southwold
Official site: southwoldsailorsreadingroom.co.uk/shop

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Plan your visit

Visiting: the details

Entrance feesFreeNo entrance fee.

Hours and entry: OpenStreetMap contributors. They change through the year: check its site before you go.

The map

Locating Sailors' Reading Room

Use the numbers to match each place near Sailors' Reading Room with the list.

Towns near it

Towns within reach of Sailors' Reading Room

Home to 2,369 people, Reydon is the largest of these 4. Every one of these towns counts it as a place to visit.

1 · It’s in town

Southwold

950 people · 9 places to visit

2 · 1.1 km northwest of it

Reydon

2,369 people · 9 places to visit

3 · 1.1 km southwest of it

Walberswick

346 people · 10 places to visit

4 · 4.9 km northwest of it

Wangford

443 people · 8 places to visit

Compare the 4 towns

Town	Where Sailors' Reading Room is	People	Places to visit
Southwold	It’s in town	950	9
Reydon	1.1 km northwest of it	2,369	9
Walberswick	1.1 km southwest of it	346	10
Wangford	4.9 km northwest of it	443	8

Make a day of it

Also near Sailors' Reading Room

Nearby, 16 places within 15 km include 4 museums, a pier and an abbey or priory.

PierSouthwold Pier600 m away 2

Abbey or priory · English HeritageLeiston Abbey14 km away 3ZooZooAfrica Alive9.7 km away 4

MuseumSouthwold Museum300 m away 5

MuseumAlfred Cory Museum1.3 km away 6

MuseumEast Anglia Transport Museum14 km away 7

MuseumDunwich Museum6.4 km away 8AttractionAttractionUnder The Pier Show600 m away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Questions before you go

Where is Sailors' Reading Room?

Sailors' Reading Room is in Southwold, Suffolk, inside the town’s built-up area.

What is Sailors' Reading Room?

Museum.

When is the best time to visit Sailors' Reading Room?

June to September are the warmest months in Southwold, with afternoon highs of 20–23°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Sailors' Reading Room a listed building?

Yes: Grade II listed building.

What else is there to see near Sailors' Reading Room?

Within 15 km: Southwold Pier (600 m), Leiston Abbey (14 km), Africa Alive (9.7 km) and Southwold Museum (300 m).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (7)

Sailors' Reading Room: Alexander Williams, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Southwold Pier: Graham Horn, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Leiston Abbey: Dave Briggs, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Southwold Museum: Jim Osley, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Alfred Cory Museum: John Winfield, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
East Anglia Transport Museum: Spsmiler, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Dunwich Museum: Paul Shreeve, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.