Bellarine-Traveller2 : Norfolk

Travelling to Norfolk we expected to see a lot of very flat land as we had been told to expect miles of flat lowland. We did see some flat land where there was a some market gardening but where we are staying is undulating farm land. We decided to do a farm-stay so we could see more of the country areas rather than stay in a city or town. We are staying near Holt in a small hamlet called Hempstead on a property that has 300 acres of arable land. There are a variety of animals here including cattle, donkeys, a horse and heaps of ducks of all kinds, chickens and a couple of roosters who do wake us up each morning. The farm has several acres of sugar-beet planted. This is used to produce sugar. Much of the sugar used in the UK is made from beet rather than imported cane-sugar. Hempstead Hall, like all the public buildings and houses are largely made of various sizes of rounded, water washed stones taken from the seaside.

One of the donkeys at Hempstead Hall - all very friendly.

Hempstead Hall where we stayed. The house & fence is typical of what you see in this area.

The reason we travelled to this part of Norfolk was so MH could follow-up on some family history. He is a direct descendant of Thomas Bilney who is sometimes known as ‘Little Bilney’ and was born in East Bilney Norfolk, in 1495. He was a scholar at Cambridge and then became a great Preacher. His conversion away from Catholicism sparked off the Reformation in England. In 1527 while preaching in Ipswich he was arrested, taken to London where he went on trial and was imprisoned for a time. In 1531 he was again preaching in Norfolk, Suffolk and London and was arrested again and shut in the Tower of London. On 19 August 1531 he was taken to Norwich and burnt at the stake. His ashes were buried at St Mary’s Church in East Bilney and were accidently found when they were digging a grave site in the churchyard.

We did visit St Mary’s Church in East Bilney where there is a ‘Bilney Window’. There are 2 stained glass panels showing Thomas Bilney. One panel shows him with a new translation of the bible and one shows him bound by chains with red flames curling around him with Norwich Cathedral in the background.

The stained glass "Bilney" window at St Mary's Church in East Bilney.

Outside Thomas Bilney's house in East Bilney.

On our last day in Norfolk we decided to have a last look at the North Sea and drove to Sheringham, a coastal holiday and retirement market town. Being a Saturday it was market day and very busy. It was also rather cool and windy and the North Sea was very grey and very rough. We then went onto Felbrigg Hall and Gardens, another National Trust Property. This estate was in the hands of the Felbrigg family as far back as the 15^th Century. In 1863 the estate was bought by a Norwich merchant, John Ketton who had made a fortune from oil cake and cattle feed. The estate today is well looked after and many rooms in the house have been restored. The walled garden is wonderful and includes many varieties of espaliered pear and apple trees. The other unusual thing about this walled garden is that allotments are offered to local people so they can grow their own produce and many locals have taken up this option.