Benjamin Britten village of Snape, six miles inland, became available for hire, Britten realised that the largest of them could be converted into a concert hall and opera house. The 830-seat Snape Maltings hall was opened by the Queen at the start of the twentieth Aldeburgh Festival on 2 June 1967; it was immediately hailed as one of the best concert halls in the country. The hall was destroyed by fire in 1969, but Britten was determined that it would be rebuilt in time for the following year's festival, which it was. The Queen again attended the opening performance in 1970. The
Aldeburgh Music Artistic Direction of Britten, Pears and Crozier, with the Earl of Harewood as President and Elizabeth Sweeting as General Manager. Needing to expand the Festival into larger premises, in 1967, the Festival management acquired a lease on disused Victorian buildings at Snape Maltings, and converted the largest of the redundant malthouses into Snape Maltings Concert Hall. The Snape Maltings Foundation Ltd was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, no. 980281, on 21 May 1970 under the name of Snape Maltings Foundation Ltd. to manage the Snape buildings and develop further buildings on the site. The initial subscribers were Benjamin