Swaffham Museum
Swaffham Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
About
We are a small, independent social history museum for Swaffham and the surrounding villages in Norfolk from the Stone Age to the modern. Explore our history both by visiting the Museum and walking the circular trail. Home of the Symonds collection of figures based on characters from literature and history. Local heroes include Howard Carter the archaeologist, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Knyvet Wilson VC, Jem Mace prize fighter, W E Johns author of the Biggles books and the Swaffham Pedlar. In 2022 we celebrate Howard Carter who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. The Carter Gallery has been updated and refurbished for this. In 2019 we opened the new Conflict and Consequences gallery, full of information about Swaffham's involvement in wars and conflicts.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience nearby attractions
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
38 within 3 miles
Attractions
14 within 6 miles
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
55 reviews
Excellent
35
Very good
14
Average
5
Poor
1
Terrible
0
JuliaMeopham_Kent
London, UK29 contributions
Sept 2022
Excellent little museum. The highlights for us were the Mary Jeffery diary illustrations on the 2nd floor. These are really funny and charming illustrations from a young girl's diary from the 19th century. And, of course, the Carter family Gallery and the discovery of the Tutankhamun's tomb. Also includes some artifacts on loan from the British Museum.
Written 11 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mrzapelli
Bacoli, Italy1,580 contributions
Apr 2024 • Family
The museum has five galleries on two floors. The most interesting is the Carter Gallery where it is commemorated the work of Howard Carter who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt in 1922. Interesting is also the model engine and many documents and photos.
Written 16 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
loveshopping102
London, UK8 contributions
Jun 2022 • Couples
Wonderful work done by the staff. There is general local information plus a separate section for Howard Carter (discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamen on 1922) as his family were resident in Swaffham. This year celebrates the centenary.
Written 27 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
R P T
Diss, UK537 contributions
Mar 2014 • Couples
After having a holiday of a life time last year in Egypt visiting the Valley of the Kings and actually going down into the tomb of Tutankhamen I now want to find out all there is to know about him and it was only recently I discovered that the young Howard Carter spent a lot of his childhood in Swaffham with two elderly aunts away from the smog of London so I was excited to find that Swaffham Museum had a whole room dedicated to his famous find. There were lots of other interesting exhibits as well and lots of hand on things for the children but I particularly enjoyed the phone which on dialling different numbers you could hear locals talking about various historical events. I forgot to ask the curator if the house in Sporle Road where Howard lived is still there so I emailed them but to date haven't had a reply.
Written 10 March 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tony C
Dumfries, UK528 contributions
Jun 2021 • Couples
This little town museum surprised me with its link to Howard CARTER. I learnt a few things about Egypt I did not know. Worth a stop if you are in town
Written 30 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dan M
Bramhall, UK269 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
It’s what you would expect.
The archeology room is interesting. The best bit is the carter stuff. The link is he is local. Some of the rooms really don’t have a lot.
If you are in the area it’s worth an hour.
The archeology room is interesting. The best bit is the carter stuff. The link is he is local. Some of the rooms really don’t have a lot.
If you are in the area it’s worth an hour.
Written 21 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Magenta91
Norwich, UK58 contributions
Mar 2015 • Couples
This museum is a real gem & the staff are very friendly & helpful. My partner is in a wheelchair & all areas are accessible for the disabled due to having a stairlift & normal lift. The displays are excellent especially the Tutenkamun one. Well worth a visit.
Written 18 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
E A M H
Taunton, UK24 contributions
Jul 2014 • Family
For a small local museum this was excellent. There is a small charge to go in (I think we paid £2 each). There are 5 display rooms and all have displays of interest. The room on Howard Carter has loan material from the British Museum and a lot of information on his life and youth in Swaffham. As fits this centenary year, there was material on WW1 and its effect on Swaffham.
Written 23 July 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Althea T
Swaffham, UK8 contributions
Apr 2014 • Couples
The variety of things on show here is excellent. The present World War I display very good and will be changing regularly during the next four years. The connections with Howard Carter and Egypt are well displayed. There are also on-going displays of local interest. An excellent shop at the end of the visit makes for a very pleasant trip.
Written 28 May 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jill G
Lincolnshire214 contributions
Mar 2019 • Couples
My husband looked on the internet to find an interesting place to visit on a day out in Norfolk on Monday, 18th March. Swaffham seemed a likely location for our trip.
On arrival in the town and after a quick coffee in the centre, we made our way on foot to the museum. What a wonderful surprise! One room houses a collection of exhibits relating to local man Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. You can even hear Carter’s recorded voice.
The Ben Emmerson Room has many artefacts that explain some of Swaffham’s local history. The Monique Slaven Room displays a fascinating array of archaeological finds from the Swaffham area. All are artistically exhibited.
There are plenty of things to interest children here and activities for them to be involved in.
The David Butters Room is currently (2019) hosting a photographic competition with a Swaffham theme. There is a new display in Room 5 entitled ‘Conflict & Consequences’ which explores the effect of war on the town. As children of WW2, we both found this of particular interest. We were able to turn the pages of a large book entitled ‘The Wartime Scrapbook from Blitz to Victory 1939-1945’ which was full of photographs. This was pure nostalgia for us and we have since been able to buy our own copy from several advertised by Abebooks on the internet.
The museum is manned by volunteers. Last Monday there were two most helpful gentlemen on duty along with a lady, the wife of one of them l think. They were able to give us information that made our visit extra special. Thank you all.
The two of us thoroughly recommend a visit to this delightful small museum. Parking is easy nearby and there are plenty of places of interest within walking distance.
On arrival in the town and after a quick coffee in the centre, we made our way on foot to the museum. What a wonderful surprise! One room houses a collection of exhibits relating to local man Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. You can even hear Carter’s recorded voice.
The Ben Emmerson Room has many artefacts that explain some of Swaffham’s local history. The Monique Slaven Room displays a fascinating array of archaeological finds from the Swaffham area. All are artistically exhibited.
There are plenty of things to interest children here and activities for them to be involved in.
The David Butters Room is currently (2019) hosting a photographic competition with a Swaffham theme. There is a new display in Room 5 entitled ‘Conflict & Consequences’ which explores the effect of war on the town. As children of WW2, we both found this of particular interest. We were able to turn the pages of a large book entitled ‘The Wartime Scrapbook from Blitz to Victory 1939-1945’ which was full of photographs. This was pure nostalgia for us and we have since been able to buy our own copy from several advertised by Abebooks on the internet.
The museum is manned by volunteers. Last Monday there were two most helpful gentlemen on duty along with a lady, the wife of one of them l think. They were able to give us information that made our visit extra special. Thank you all.
The two of us thoroughly recommend a visit to this delightful small museum. Parking is easy nearby and there are plenty of places of interest within walking distance.
Written 23 March 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing