Part I: A Week in July in Norfolk
After a wonderful weekend in North Norfolk in January, it was time to see the landscape in the slightly warmer month of July. A family holiday in mid-July involved caravanning on the Sandringham Estate in traditional British style: cooler temperatures and a high chance of rainfall. Despite the weather’s volatility, it was a great week spent visiting old haunts and finding new places too.
On our first evening we enjoyed a walk through the Estate’s woodlands and along the quiet roads. The heavens may have opened on us, but the mild temperatures and serene route ensured it was a peaceful and calming start to a lovely family holiday. We also saw a number of nature sightings that we are not usually privy to back home: tiny frogs hopping across the unpopulated road; a shedded snakeskin…oh, and a parrot. The parrot was staying on our campsite and was quite vocal when you walked past it. We could have sworn we heard it say, ‘put the kettle on’. This was likely our optimistic ears deceiving us, but it made us chuckle nonetheless.
Just as on our first day in January, our first day in July began with a short stop at the old royal train station at Wolferton and then a hearty brunch at The Old Store in Snettisham. An ‘Old Store S’Muffin’ (sausage, egg and raclette cheese in an English muffin) set us up nicely for our afternoon walk.
Snettisham’s quaint brick cottages were decorated with rambling roses, wisteria, ivy and hollyhocks in shades of plum, pink and pale yellow.
We spent the afternoon walking through the royal Sandringham Estate, stopping for an ice cream in the courtyard and some flower shopping in their garden centre. One strawberry ice cream later, and a lilac delphinium, we headed back to the campsite. This six mile roundtrip is full of nature. The route is predominantly in woodland where ferns carpet the floor and butterflies and pollinators skip between different wildflowers. You do not need to go into the Sandringham House to enjoy the vast grounds, we stuck to the wider-estate route and even saw a great view of the Wash, the place King John apparently lost the Crown Jewels.
On our second day we visited the National Trust’s Oxburgh Hall. The history of Oxburgh Hall is quite unlike any other National Trust property we have visited. Architecturally it is incredible, a mixture of late-Medieval and Victorian Gothic-revival surrounded by a moat. It really is quite magical.
Secondly, it has a history that is 500 years old. This history is absolutely fascinating, caught in some of the most schismatic moments in British religious history, most notably the English Reformation. The house was built in 1482 for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld as a statement of power and status. The Bedingfelds and their descendants have lived in the property for over 500 years, however, their life as a staunch Catholic family has not always been plain sailing and they have navigated and endured some of Britain’s most turbulent times. The house’s story is one of survival. It has survived religious persecution, Civil War, near dereliction and threatened demolition by a property developer.
The family were loyal to the royal family. However, King Henry VIII’s excommunication from the Roman Catholic church and then subsequent creation of the Protestant Church of England, put the family’s safety in jeopardy. As loyal subjects, the family continued to exert power and control during these years. When Mary I ascended the throne, the Bedingfelds fortunes flourished. However, when her Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth I, overthrew her the family’s riches plummeted. The gaoler in charge of Elizabeth when she was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Mary in 1554 was Sir Henry Bedingfeld, a severe and cruel keeper. When Elizabeth succeeded Mary, religious reform was one of her main priorities. Despite Sir Henry Bedingfeld’s apologies and attempts to secure himself a place in the new government, Elizabeth I left the staunchly Catholic Bedingfelds in danger, particularly when the 1559 Act of Uniformity outlawed Mass and it became illegal not to attend the parish church for Anglican services. That being said, she did not seek revenge against her callous keeper, instead reportedly saying, ‘If we have any prisoner whom we would have sharply and straightly kept, we will send for you [Sir Henry Bedingfeld]!’
It was said that the Bedingfelds, who continued to illegally practice Catholicism, would hide priests in priest holes and place laundry out on village hedgerows to announce to fellow Catholic villagers that a Mass would be held in the house. For 300 years the family were subjected to heavy taxation and exclusion from public office.
Under King Charles I there was a moment of reprieve when religious persecution was relaxed. However, this was short-lived as the Civil War punished both the family and Oxburgh Hall. The property was confiscated by Parliament and later sold back to the family for an extortionate price and a £20,000 fine. Their losses were unusually severe, even for Catholics. The reason for this severity was that they were both Catholic and served in the Royalist army. When the monarchy was restored with Charles II in 1660, the family were awarded a baronetcy for their loyalty. They still, however, refused to abandon their Catholicism, marrying fellow Catholics, sending children abroad for a Catholic education, serving in foreign armies and spending time as nuns and priests on the continent. The story of Oxburgh really is one of survival and defiance.
The house is even home to the famous Marian Hangings. These embroideries were made by Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth Talbot (Bess of Hardwick) between 1569 and 1585. Mary, considered a threat to the Tudor throne, was imprisoned by her cousin Elizabeth I. Mary was kept captive under the watch of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and Bess’s husband. Sadly, they were undergoing conservation when we visited but the fact that such a famous corpus of tapestry lives at this house really demonstrates how impressive this property is.
After the house we enjoyed cake and coffee in the café. The heavens had also opened at this point, so it was welcome shelter and a good opportunity to discuss the history and objects we had seen.
The gardens are also delightful. They are a mixture of formal borders and parterres and overgrown wilderness. Apples and pears grow up the garden’s attractive brick wall in the orchard and the herbaceous border is full of bushy seasonal blooms. In July you can see clematis, poppies, lavender and lilies and butterflies and bees create a melodic buzz as you walk past.
There is a kitchen garden that grows courgettes, pumpkins, rhubarb, tomatoes and salad leaves, in addition to dahlias and sweet peas. A number of the homegrown produce was available for you to take, they just asked for a small donation in an honesty box. Many of the vegetables grown from seed are heritage varieties, including a lettuce that back to 1859 and skirret, a forgotten Tudor root vegetable. There is also a charming glasshouse that houses cacti, succulents and geraniums.
We could not leave without letting Obi, Julie’s chocolate Labrador, enjoy a doggy ice cream. Enjoyed in his own private suite at the back of the car, Obi lapped up – eyes closed in ecstasy – the banana, strawberry and apple dairy-free pot. Tummy full, he slept and snored on the drive home.
On our way back we stopped briefly in the charming little village of Great Massingham that boasts a number of waterfowl-full ponds and pretty little cottages.
That evening we walked to Babingley Social Club for a drink. It is a funny little ‘pub’ that looks like a forest log cabin but the drinks are great and very cheap. It is only a ten minute walk through woodland from the Sandringham caravan site, and is a popular place not only for members and locals but also for visitors like us!
We packed so much into five days that this blogpost will be in two parts. Find Part II here.