The Children's Country House at Sudbury

Description

Finalist for Peak District, Derbyshire & Derby Tourism Awards 2025 - Visitor Attraction of the Year

There are plenty of spaces and experiences for the young and the young at heart, to enjoy at The Children’s Country House Museum.

You can wander freely through the museum, and explore how each space celebrates the escapades and challenges of childhood across the centuries.

The Pathway to the Museum
Start your journey in The Pathway to the Museum - here we take curiosity seriously, welcoming you to explore, seek, look and connect with the museum objects and stories.

Work
But it wasn’t all fun and games for children in the past. Experience first-hand, the realities of life for children who were employed through the ages. Venture down a Victorian mine tunnel and get involved with activities to see what life was like for children working in domestic service. Daring young ‘sweeps’ can take on our chimney climb and crawl into the darkness to get a feel for what it would have been like for the real-life chimney sweeps. 

Exploriosity
A prototype to explore, grow your creativity and look for visual connections with the patterns, shapes and colours in this space.  

Use giant 3D jigsaw pieces to create your own connections between different parts of The Children’s Country House. Crawl into the makers station and explore these pictures. Fit them together to make your own creature for others to see. 

This is a space that we will continue to evolve based on your feedback.

Home
This gallery turns home life on its head - look up to see a bedroom on the ceiling! Many of our visitors are fascinated by our doll’s houses, which provide a miniature scale insight into family life of times gone by. Here you can learn about family life and the impact that World War 2 had on childhoods of that era. 

School
They say that school days are the best days of your life, but our Victorian school teacher thinks otherwise! From semolina dinners to school uniforms, you’ll need to sit up straight and pay attention for fear of the dreaded dunce hat when you experience this space.

The Space Station
Astronauts assemble! Blast off in our space station, with a range of space themed toys and games.

Toys
With an amazing array of toys including the Betty Cadbury Collection of Playthings Past, you can take a look at toys through the ages including many of Betty's treasured mechanical toys. Betty's collection truly is one of a kind, a culmination of a lifelong passion for toys. During her life she was considered an expert in her field, with one of the finest collections going. Today, we are lucky enough to be able to display her efforts for you to enjoy. 

Digital Play Zone
Leap, dance, and jump about - try to catch and interact with the projections that move around this room. 
 
Colour in a character template sheet and scan it onto the screen, to watch it come alive in the projections on the wall! Or play a game on the dynamic floor, as it reacts to your movements and gestures.