Sublime Snape (no, not the Harry Potter character!)

It hosts the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival, is home to a world-famous Concert Hall, which itself hosts the annual Aldeburgh Festival and yet, it’s not actually Aldeburgh.

Confused? We’re not surprised, but Snape village and its more famous Snape Maltings – a collection of galleries, shops, restaurants and cafes with Snape Maltings Concert Hall at its heart, just six miles outside of Aldeburgh, is the actual host to all these cultural draws and is an utterly delightful village to base yourself in to enjoy a Suffolk holiday.

Another claim to fame in this delightful blink-and-you’ll-miss-it village (with three pubs by the way!), is its most renowned former inhabitant, the composer, Benjamin Britten, who was the driving force behind creating a concert hall that still attracts musicians, modern or classical, the world over.

Suffolk Secrets is absolutely delighted to have in its portfolio The Old Mill, a property which offers the Benjamin Britten experience in the truest sense of the word. Formerly home to a miller before becoming derelict, the composer and his partner, Peter Pears, renovated the former windmill and lived there for a decade from 1937. It’s here where Britten wrote his most famous work, Peter Grimes. Today, couples can stay in two, one-storey properties within the gorgeous, well-tended grounds, both of which have been fully refurbished to offer all mod-cons whilst retaining original features, such as flint and brick walls. 

Elsewhere in Snape village, just a ten minute walk from the Maltings, couples can also choose to stay in The Annexe, an utterly delightful, one-level property with a secluded but mature garden that’s a haven for birds and wildlife. Don’t miss walking The Sailor’s Path, a reed-flanked route along the Alde River that links Snape Maltings to Aldeburgh (and from where Santa arrives by boat to the Maltings each year).

For larger groups, Mermaid Cove is as contemporary as it is cool, a chic, three-bedroom family bolthole which has been decorated to reflect its coastal surrounds. With the Maltings on the doorstep, an enclosed garden for al fresco dining, it’s an understandably popular choice.

For more information on all our Snape holiday homes, click here 

Kindly written by Rebecca Scrase.