What is there to do in Southwold in the 1800s?

Sea bathing is popular and the bathing machines keep the ladies and gentlemen discreetly private while they change and swim. Afterwards you can have a hot, cold or tepid shower at the bath rooms in Ferry Road.

Bathing machines on Southwold Beach. Below in closeup P2873

The Bathhouse in Ferry Road was run as a sideline to the saltworks P1495

Picnics are popular on the pebbled part of the beach or up on the cliffs. If you prefer some quiet time, there is a Library and Reading Room and daily papers are available at the Casino on Gun Hill.

But the main tourist attractions are in the summer season, with Wombwell’s Menagerie, Horsemanship companies, travelling waxworks, circuses, theatre companies and the Trinity Fair in May. There’s also a regatta in August.

You can learn more about the saltworks and its associated bath house in the Industry storyline.