A landmark 18th century Suffolk tourist attraction is continuing to make its post-Covid pandemic recovery and welcomed 22,000 visitors last year.

Landguard Fort in Felixstowe is celebrating a successful 2022, with the numbers passing through the door just 5,000 short of the 27,000 visitors in 2019, before the virus struck.

During the pandemic, visitor numbers fell to 6,000 as the 400-year-old fort was hit by the impact of lockdowns.

During the year, a number of events took place at the fort, which was chosen as the 2022 venue for an episode of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

The Suffolk Youth Orchestra also performed, while there was a display of an art installation called ‘Journey with a Container’.

The Pantaloons’ open-air theatre production of The Wind In The Willows was also staged, along with the Festival of the Sea, the lighting of the Felixstowe beacon and events to commemorate the late Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee and The Little Fort Of Horrors Halloween scare-night events.

Lots of re-enactment groups also stayed at the fort for a weekend during the year – allowing visitors to see how soldiers lived during the centuries – including The Suffolk Regiment, The Sheppey Pirates, The 95th Rifles, and The Home Guard.

The fort was the scene of the last attempted invasion of the UK- by the Dutch in 1667.
The Dutch landed a large force at Felixstowe on July 2, but the attack was repelled by soldiers based at the fort who fired until 10pm when the Dutch finally retreated.

The fort is now closed until February half-term, when it will be open from February 11 to 19. 

A Landguard Fort spokesperson said: “We are delighted to have welcomed so many visitors throughout 2022 and to see that numbers are approaching pre-pandemic levels, which reached around 25,000 a year.

“We’ve worked hard to take advantage of opportunities to host unique events and find new ways to attract visitors.

“We were also keen to keep entry prices as competitive as possible to ensure visitors got the best value for money.”