North Norfolk
 Abbeys |  Stately Homes |
North Norfolk is among the most beautiful areas in East Anglia , the most stunning part of which is its northern coastline stretching from the village of Hunstanton in the West to Mundesley in the east. Much of the stretch, notably from Holme to Cley, has been formed by hundreds of years of silt depositing that has continually changed the character of many of the coastal towns. Further down the coast, towards Sheringham, sea erosion has impacted considerably on coastal areas with many houses having fallen victim to the sea's anger.
The sea's activity, however, has not prevented the development of beautiful coastal towns full of heritage and history. Cromer is a great example of such a town. One of Norfolk 's least spoilt resorts, Cromer which has been a fashionable resort for many years, referred to in Jane Austen's novel Emma , as "the best of all the sea-bathing places".
Cromer has numerous places of interest, notably the tower of Sts. Peter and Paul, the tallest church tower in Norfolk , from the top of which amazing views of the coastline can be seen. A couple of miles south west of Cromeron the B1436 road is Felbrigg Hall. Built in the seventeenth century, it is a fine example of a Norfolk country house. It contains original eighteenth century furniture and provides splendid walks within its lake and park surroundings. A few miles west through the village Sherringham is the small resort of Weybourne from where British troops embarked ships for the battlefields of France during the First World War. A few miles inland lies the charming little town of Holt with its collection of wonderful houses dating back to the early eighteenth century, when the town was rebuilt after a fire. Holt is host to the public school (in England public schools are private) Gresham's School, founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham, the then Lord Mayor of London and Beconsthorpe Castle, a large fortified Manor House built in the fifteenth century and surrounded by beautiful woodland and gardens.
On the other side of the River Glaven estuary, past the coastal town of Cley is the medieval port of Blakeney . Once ranked as the forth most important port in England , it lost its importance due to silting and land reclamation. Now Blakeney Quay serves as a harbour for pleasure craft and small fishing boats. Splendid walks may be taken around Blakeney's old streets and around the town's neighbouring villages such as Langham and Stiffkey. Of the notable buildings on view in the vicinity are the medieval St. Mary's Church on the river Glaven, towards Wiverton, the Bluebell Inn, charming flint and brick cottages, the Gothic style arches of the fifteenth century Blakeney Guildhall and the sixteenth century Stiffkey Hall, built by Sir Nicholas Bacon, the keeper of Queen Elizabeth I Privy Seal.
Moving a few miles west lies Wells-next-the-Sea, the only old port of North Norfolk which still operates as a trading port. Nearby, scenic routes may be taken on the Walsingham narrow guauge steam railway , the world's longest steam railway.
Four miles east of Wells-next-the-Sea, off the A419 road is Cockthorpe Hall Toy Museum , a sixteenth century house containing over 2500 antique toys. Almost adjacent to Wells is Holkham, host to Holkham Hall, a splendid Palladian stately home, located in beautiful woodland, lakeland and gardens. Built in the early to mid eighteenth century and designed by Samual Wyatt, it served as the Norfolk home of the Earl of Leicester. Nearby is Holkham Bay , one of the best and largest beaches in Norfolk , unsurprisingly a major meeting place for families. Moving south a few miles, one encounters the charming little village of Binham with its medieval cross on its small village green and its eleventh century Benedictine priory.
Bury St Edmunds is an ancient town situated in the east of the county beside the River Lark, a tributary of the Ouse. Few areas in England can match the beauty and history of the town; said to have been the site of a Roman villa it was later a royal Saxon township the fame of which increased with the many miracles, legends and folklore that became woven into the fabric of its history.
From humble Saxon beginnings, Bury St Edmunds became home to one of the most powerful abbeys in medieval Europe; in essence a medieval town it grew up around the gates of the great Benedictine monastery founded in AD1020 by Cnut - the celebrated king better known today as Canute. The abbey's rise to prominence came about because of the martyrdom of King Edmund and his subsequent burial there.
The motto of the borough of St Edmundsbury is ‘Shrine of a King, Cradle of the Law'. The king in question is King Edmund, king of the East Angles, who was killed by Danish raiders in AD869. A devout Christian, Edmund when captured refused to renounce his faith so the Danes shot him full of arrows, cut off his head and threw it into a nearby wood. Legend has it that the severed head called out to his followers to be found, and when discovered was being guarded by a fiercesome wolf. The arrows, the wolf and the crowned head still form the basis of the coat-of-arms of the Borough of St Edmundsbury. St Edmund was also an early Patron Saint of England before bowing to the dragon-slayer, St George.
By the time that the Norman conquerors arrived in 1066, the Benedictine Abbey where Edmund's remains were laid had already been renamed St Edmundsbury. In fact, his shrine stood for centuries in the medieval abbey and from him the eventual town name derived - Bury St Edmunds. Under the authority of a succession of astute abbots, the abbey itself arose to a position of power, influence and authority. Here it was in 1214 that the 25 most powerful Barons of England met in the Abbey Church, swearing an oath to force King John to accept and ratify the ‘Charter of Liberties', better known as the Magna Carta - this the king did in 1215, signed at Runneymede. ‘Cradle of the Law', the second half of the town motto, refers to this tradition. The Magna Carta forms the basis of English democracy, and influenced the governments in many other English-speaking countries.
During the Norman period Bury St Edmunds developed into a prosperous market town with a thriving cloth-making industry, this despite much riotous behaviour breaking-out in the 14 th century, including the destruction of the Abbey Gate in the uprising of 1327. In the following century the town enjoyed royal patronage. The construction of St Mary's Church was completed in 1427 and this splendid structure played host to Henry VIII on many occasions; it is here that his sister Mary Tudor lies buried. With Henry's dissolution of the monasteries between 1536-9, the abbey, like so many other monastic buildings, suffered savagely at the hands of both crown and subjects. The crown took church wealth and property to itself while the townspeople dismantled the church structure, taking what they could to adorn their own properties. The ruined abbey remains are surrounded today by the splendid Abbey Gardens and its church gate, rebuilt in 1353, is one of the finest examples of early Norman architecture in England.
Many secular medieval buildings such as the splendid Guildhall still remain in situ , but unfortunately, most are hidden behind elegant 17 th & 18 th century facades. Nevertheless, the large number of fine buildings in Bury St Edmunds testifies to its prosperity and to the wealth of its citizenry throughout the 18 th century. The Athenaeum, which opened in 1714 as Assembly Rooms, has been a centre for social life ever since. The Manor House Museum on Honey Hill was built in 1736 for the Earl of Bristol and houses a sumptuous collection of costume, art and horology. Mayse's Hall Museum, the oldest domestic town house in East Anglia, contains an important archaeological collection and curious local history artefacts.
The 16 th century Church of St James was chosen to be Suffolk's Cathedral in 1913 and remains to this day the only unfinished Cathedral Church in the country, lacking the spire it was always intended to have. Nearby, St Mary's Church is built on the site of an ancient Norman church, and contains a very impressive interior. The ‘Abbey Trail' takes visitors through the town to the old abbey ruins where the Visitor Centre interprets its long history.
Charles Dickens was a regular visitor to the town and in ‘Pickwick Papers' calls it ‘a handsome little town of thriving and cleanly appearance'. Dickens stayed at the Angel Hotel where the Dickens Suite, including his own bed, is still available to patrons. Daniel Defoe described it as a town ‘famed for its pleasant situation and wholesome air'.
Bury St Edmunds' prosperity filtered out from the centre to enrich the whole borough, evidence of which may still be seen in town and village streets and in the magnificent parish churches that adorn this part of Suffolk. Man's endeavours are further enhanced by the beauty of unspoilt landscapes in which they are set - an enduring reminder of a time in English history when man complimented nature, alas now long lost in many quarters of Old Albion.