Cathedral at Ely
© Rod Edwards / Loop Images / Photononstop
In the popular imagination, East Anglia is a flatland, devoid of interest, fringed by a handful of old-fashioned seaside resorts, and chilled even in summer by the winds from Europe. Its climate and soils mean that much of its gently undulating farmland is in arable cultivation supplying much of England’s food crop, and as a result fields are large with many trees and hedges removed. However, this aside, England’s largest area of low relief is also a region of surprising individuality. Densely populated and wealthy in medieval times, it boasts a rich legacy of ancient villages and small towns. In the early-19C Constable painted it as a rural idyll and pockets of such countryside still remain.
Highlights
1 Attending Evensong, KIng’s College, Cambridge (p340)
2 Put yourself in the picture in Constable Country (p343)
3 Go boating on the Norfolk Broads (p350)
4 The Holkham estate with its palatial Palladian Hall and beautiful beach (p351)
5 The magnificent medieval cathedral at Ely (p354)
Many visitors make their only regional stop in Cambridge and while this is the jewel in the crown a tour of the Stour Valley and an excursion to Bury St Edmunds are very rewarding. The Suffolk Coast has an unspoiled beauty while only geographical isolation prevents the regional capital, Norwich, from being nationally renowned. West of here, great cathedrals arise from Ely and Peterborough to cast their gaze over the marshy Fenlands, the watery playground of the Norfolk Broads, and the North Norfolk coast, which includes King’s Lynn and many fine historic houses.
and around
England’s second-oldest university city (after Oxford), Cambridge established its academic reputation in the early-13C (c.1209), attracting groups of scholars from Oxford and Paris interested in studying theology, church and civil law, and logic. The oldest Cambridge college, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284 and by 1352 seven more colleges had been built, all with their characteristic four-sided enclosed monastic courtyard.
= Population: 95,682.
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p29 or Map 504 U 27.
i Info: Peas Hill. t0871 226 8006. www.visitcambridge.org.
Ñ Location: 58mi/93km north of London on the western edge of the East Anglian fenlands situated on the River Cam. The train station (London King’s Cross 45 mins) is 1mi/1.6km southeast of the centre, off Hills Road. The bus station is on Drummer Street, in town. The main colleges and the Fitzwilliam Museum are tightly clustered in the centre.
w Don’t Miss: St John’s College; King’s College Chapel, particularly listening to the choir; punting on the River Cam.
> Timing: At least two days.
/ Kids: Imperial War Museum.
z Walking Tours: Call t0871 226 8006 for daily guided walking tours: Cambridge including King’s College Chapel, (2hr; £17.50; includes admission to chapel); Cambridge ‘taster tour’ (90min; £10); ghost tour (£6).
õ Parking: Parking in the city centre is very expensive. Park and ride system in operation. City centre closed to motor vehicles during the week 10am–4pm.
CITY AND COLLEGES WALK
Today the 31 colleges are totally independent self-governing bodies while the university undertakes all public teaching and confers the degrees. Each college is an independent institution, with its own property and income.
Cambridge is a showpiece for new architecture, some controversial, both on college sites and on the west side of the city. Some colleges charge entry March to September; most are closed during the examination period May–June.
Kettle’s Yarda
Castle Street. House: open early Apr–mid Sept Tue–Sun and bank hols 1.30pm–4.30pm; mid-Sept–early Apr Tue–Sun and bank hols 2pm–4pm. Gallery: open Tue–Sun and bank hols 11.30am–5pm. Gallery closed in between exhibitions; all areas closed Good Fri, 1 Jan, 24–26, 29 Dec. t01223 352 124. www.kettlesyard.co.uk.
In complete contrast to the academic atmosphere of the Fitzwilliam is Kettle’s Yard, which, according to its creator Jim Ede, is “a living place where works of art can be enjoyed inherent in the domestic setting”. This excellent collection of 20C art includes works by Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Eric Gill, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Miró, most of whom were friends of Ede; the pieces are set about the house among the furniture so that visitors may sit to admire the exhibits or read the books.
St John’s Collegeaaa
Visitors must enter via the Great Gate, St John’s Street. Open daily 10am–5pm; Nov–Feb 3.30pm. Closed 25 Dec–3 Jan. £5. j. t01223 338 606. www.joh.cam.ac.uk.
St John’s (founded 1511) is the second-largest college in Cambridge; its turreted gatehouse is one of the most beautiful.
First, Second and Third Courts are predominantly Tudor; Ruskin called the Second the most perfect in Cambridge. Behind Third Court is the 18C Kitchen Bridge, with its view of Hutchinson’s exquisite Bridge of Sighs. The 13C School of Pythagoras is the oldest medieval stone house in Cambridge.
Bridge of Sighs, St John‘s College
© Eurasia Press/Photononstop
Trinity Collegeaa
Visitors must enter via the Great Gate. Open year-round most days 10am–5pm, see website, call ahead for details, or ask the tourist porter at the Great Gate. Wren Library open Mon–Fri noon–2pm, also Sat in full term time (see website for dates) 10.30am–12.30pm. £3 Mar–Oct. t01223 338 400. www.trin.cam.ac.uk.
The largest Cambridge college, Trinity, was founded in 1546 by Henry VIII; its oldest buildings surround the Great Court – the 1432 King Edward’s Tower (clock tower) and the Great Gate, completed in 1535.
In cloistered Nevile’s Court (1612) stands the Wren Library, completed in 1695 and named after its designer. The bookcases are decorated with limewood carvings by Grinling Gibbons. Among the manuscripts are the 8C Epistles of St Paul, Shakespeare’s First Folio and illuminated 15C French Books of Hours.
Trinity Hall
Down Senate House Passage. Open daily, dawn–dusk. Closed late Jun–mid-Apr 24Dec–2 Jan. College may be closed without prior notice. t01223 332 500. www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk.
Trinity Hall College was founded by Bishop Bateman of Norwich in 1350. Behind the 18C ashlar of Principal Court are three ranges (best viewed from North Court) which date from 1350. Beyond the delightful Elizabethan Library is the garden Henry James called “the prettiest corner of the world”.
Clare Collegea
Old Court, Hall, chapel and gardens. Open Easter–start of term time (around first week Oct) 10.30am–5pm. £3. t01223 333 200. www.clare.cam.ac.uk.
The college was founded in 1326. The 17C ranges are the work of father and son Thomas and Robert Grumbold and are among the most serene in Cambridge.
Clare Bridge was built by Thomas Grumbold, before the 17C ranges. Note the missing segment of one of the stone balls on the bridge’s parapet. He had vowed never to complete the bridge unless he was paid. He never was.
King’s Collegeaa
Tickets: The Shop at King’s (opposite front of College), or North Gate of the Chapel. Entrance: Gatehouse at front (Jul–Aug), north gate of chapel (Sept–Jun). College: open (functions permitting) term-time Mon–Fri 9.30am (Mon 9.45am)–3.30pm, Sat 9.30am–3.15pm, Sun 1.15–2.30pm; out of term-time daily 9.30am (Mon 9.45am)–4.30pm. Choral services: Sun 10.30am, 3.30pm. Mon–Sat 5.30pm; full choir Tue & Thu, Fri–Sun. Closed Easter term Apr–Jun (except chapel). £7.50.t01223 331 212. www.kings.cam.ac.uk/visit.
Founded in 1441 and set back behind William Wilkins’ Gothic Revival screen and gatehouse, King’s is dominated by Gibb’s Building in the Classical style and the soaring late Perpendicular buttresses of King’s College Chapel.
King’s College Chapelaaa
Built between 1446 and 1515 mainly by three kings (Henry VI, Henry VII and Henry VIII), King’s College Chapel is the final and most glorious flowering of Perpendicular. Turner painted its exterior, Wordsworth wrote three sonnets about it, and Wren, marvelling at the largest single-span vaulted roof in existence, offered to make one himself, if only someone would tell him where to lay the first stone.
The dimensions (289ft/88m long, 94ft/29m high, 40ft/12m wide) suggest a cathedral choir rather than a college chapel; the 18 side chapels and door emphasise the height of the 22 buttresses which take the weight of the roof. The 12-bay nave rises upwards on stonework so slender that it forms a mere frame to the 25 stained-glass windows (16C) illustrating episodes from the Old Testament (above) and from the New Testament (below). The vaulting (nearly 2,000 tons) appears weightless. The architect was John Wastell.
Note the splendid early Renaissance screen and stalls by foreign craftsmen and Rubens’ Adoration of the Magi. Above the screen is the organ in its 17C case used for services broadcast live on Christmas Eve across the world featuring the famous King’s College Choir. You don’t have to wait for Christmas however as you can attend Evensong (free of charge) daily, particularly atmospheric in the winter months, by candlelight.
Interior of King‘s College Chapel
© Adrian Zenz/Dreamstime.com
Queens’ Collegea
Visitors’ Gate, Queens’ Lane. Open year-round most days 10am–4.30pm or 2–4pm, see website for details. Closed 3rd week May–3rd week Jun (exams). £2.50 Nov–early Mar free). t01223 335 511. www.quns.cam.ac.uk.
Named after the patronage bestowed by two successive queens, Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, and Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, the college was granted its first charter in 1446. Old Court, completed in 1449, shows late medieval brickwork; in charming Cloister Court the half-timbered building is the President’s Lodge. The Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus taught Greek at Queens’ but his rooms (Erasmus’ Tower) cannot be definitely identified; his name, however, lives on in the brick Erasmus Building (1960) by Basil Spence. Another recent addition is the glass, and, concrete Cripps’ Court (1981) by Powell, Moya and Partners. The famous wooden Mathematical Bridge over the river is a 20C copy (1904), the second, of the original one (1749) designed by James Essex.
The Backsaa
The “Backs” (of the colleges) along the River Cam are as fine as the fronts; they form a wonderful combination of buildings and lawns in a riverside setting and are best viewed from a punt (on hire at Silver Street Bridge).
Trumpington Street. Open Tue–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun and bank hols noon–5pm. Guided tour Sat 2.30pm (£6). jf. t01223 332 900. www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk.
Founded in 1816, the Fitzwilliam Museum houses world-class collections of art and antiquities from Egypt, Sudan, the Ancient Near East, Greece, Rome (look for the marble Pashley sarcophagus, AD 130–150), English and European pottery and glass, sculpture, furniture, armour, illuminated manuscripts, Oriental art, Korean ceramics, coins and medals.
The art collection includes 25 watercolours by J M W Turner (donated by John Ruskin) and a selection of some of William Blake’s best works in addition to works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Stubbs and Constable and an outstanding collection of prints by Rembrandt. The paintings include Old Masters of exceptional quality with works by Domenico Veneziano, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Rubens and Van Dyck. The collection of French Impressionists includes landscapes by Monet, Seurat and Cézanne as well as studies by Renoir and Degas. Representing the 20C are pieces by Picasso, Nicholson and Sutherland.
Cambridge & County Folk Museum
Castle Street. Open Tue–Sat 10.30am –5pm, Sun & bank hol Mons 2–5pm. £3.50. j. f (Sat). t01223 355 159. www.folkmuseum.org.uk.
This charming friendly small museum is set in a higgledy-piggledy 17C building which served as the White Horse Inn for 300 years. It now features nine themed rooms (kitchen, bar, Fens and folklore, childhood…), which explore the lives of ordinary Cambridgeshire people as far back as the 1660s, using original memorabilia and exhibits.
EXCURSIONS
/ Imperial War Museum, Duxforda
Ñ 9mi/14km S on the M 11. Open year-round daily 10am–6pm (4pm late-Oct–mid-Mar). Closed 24–26 Dec. £17.50, child free. jõf. t01223 835 000. http://duxford.iwm.org.uk.
Duxford is Europe’s premier aviation museum as well as having one of the finest collections of tanks, military vehicles and naval exhibits in the country. It began as an airfield in the First World War and also played a vital role in the Second World War. Today its vast hangars, and notably AirSpace, its stunning main exhibition space, house dozens of civil and fighter aircraft, several of which, including Concorde, you can climb aboard. To celebrate the Second World War associations of this former Battle of Britain base with the USAAF it is also home to the American Air Museum in Britain.
Audley Endaa
EH. Ñ 13mi/21km S. House: open Apr–Oct daily 10am–6pm (5pm Sept, Oct); Oct–Mar Sat–Sun only (Feb half-term hol daily) 10am–4pm. £13.40. jõf. t01799 522 842; www.english-heritage.org.uk.
When this estate came into the possession of Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk and Lord High Treasurer in the early-17C, it was one of the greatest Jacobean houses in England. “Too large for a king, but might do for a Lord Treasurer” said James I, who unintentionally helped to finance it at a cost of £200,000, and later imprisoned the earl for embezzlement. It was partially demolished in 1721 when the interior was redesigned by Robert Adam and the grounds by Lancelot “Capability” Brown. The present house, vast enough, is but a shadow of its former glory. The interior is laden with the possessions of the 3rd Baron Braybrooke, who inherited Audley End in 1825, filling it with paintings by Masters such as Holbein and Canaletto.
The restored historic stables, complete with resident horses and a Victorian groom, includes an exhibition where you can find out about the workers who lived on the estate in the 1880s.
and Ipswich
The valley of the River Stour is the southernmost part of East Anglia, where Essex, on the fringe of London, meets rural Suffolk. It is best known for its association with John Constable (1776–1837), whose landscapes of this area are among the most popular and valuable in British art. However, while the Lower Stour is Constable Country, the Upper Stour is Gainsborough Country, named after another great 18C English painter, Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88).
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p23 or Map 504 X 27.
Ñ Location: Ipswich is at the head of the Orwell estuary on the southeast Anglian coast
IPSWICH
i St Stephen’s Church. t01473 258 070. www.visit-ipswich.com.
This bustling county town is mostly Victorian and modern in character. All that remains of the distant past is its Anglo-Saxon street layout and about a dozen medieval churches, some just towers, built when the town was a rich port and trading centre. The area once covered by the Victorian Wet Dock, once the largest in the world, is now known as the Waterfront, with its recently converted warehouses, merchants’ houses and maltings, and makes for an interesting walk.
In the centre of town, within Christchurch Park is Christchurch Mansion (open Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; closed 1 Jan, 24–26, 31 Dec; õf; t01473 433 554; www.cimuseums.org.uk), a much-restored Tudor manor house, set in pleasant parkland and full of treasures from Ipswich and the surrounding countryside. It holds a good collection of paintings by Suffolk-born artists, including works by Thomas Gainsborough and the largest collection of art by John Constable outside London.
Head due south on Northgate Street and take a right onto Buttermarket to see the Ancient House (open Mon–Sat 9am–5.30pm). The exterior of this 15C house abounds in Restoration plasterwork, pargeting (ornamental plastering) and stucco reliefs of nymphs, pelicans and the four (then-known) continents. The coat of arms is that of Charles II who visited the building in 1668. Now a shop, visitors can view several panelled rooms (c.1603) with wall pargeting – a form of exterior decorative stucco work which is a speciality of Suffolk – ornamental ceilings and 18C ceramic tilework.
ΎDRIVING TOUR
STOUR VALLEYa
This tour is quite literally a drive through England’s artistic heritage.
Ñ Take the A 12 south for 8mi/13km, go left on the B 1070 and follow signs.
Flatford Milla
The mill (1773) at East Bergholt was the home of Constable (his father was the miller) and inspired some of his best-loved landscapes – The Haywain, Boatbuilding and Flatford Mill. It is now home to a field studies centre and there is no entry for individuals though group tours may be arranged (t01206 297 110). Adjacent is the picturesque thatched Bridge Cottage, formerly known as Willy Lott’s Cottage, (NT; open May–Oct half-term hol daily 10.30am–5.30pm/ Oct 5pm; Nov–22/23 Dec & Jan–Mar Wed–Sun 10.30am–3.30pm/last three wks Mar 5pm; closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec; õ(£3) f; t01206 298 260; www.nationaltrust.org.uk), which has a free-admission exhibition on Constable and the valley, plus a lovely riverside tearoom.
Ñ Take the A 12 south (3.7mi/6km) or walk along the riverbank path.
This lovely quintessential English village, its main street lined with timber-framed houses, was often painted by Constable and is still recognisable from his works.
Ñ Return to the A 12 and head south.
Colchester
Once the capital of England, Colchester is well worth a visit for its castle and collection of Roman antiquities. Built with 12ft-/4m-thick walls on the vaults of the Roman Temple of Claudius, Colchester Castlea (Castle Park; closed until spring 2014 for major refurbishments, call or visit website for times and prices; jf; t01206 282 939; www.cimuseums.org.uk) is the largest keep ever built by the Normans (151ft/46m by 110ft/34m), half as big again as the White Tower at the Tower of London. It houses one of the largest collections in Britain of Roman antiquities gathered from one site.
Ñ Take the A 134 north and turn right on the B 1087 to Nayland, where the 15C parish church contains The Last Supper by Constable. Continue on the B 1087.
Stoke by Nayland
With its many traditional cottages and timber-framed houses this picturesque village is often cited as the prettiest in the region. The Church of St Mary was a favourite painting subject of Constable.
Ñ Return to the A 134, head north.
Sudbury
The regional centre of the Upper Stour Valley, Sudbury is best known as the birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough, the leading English portrait painter of the 18C. His birthplace, Gainsborough’s Housea (46 Gainsborough Street; open Mon–Sat 10am–5pm; closed Good Fri, 24 Dec–1 Jan; £6.50; t01787 372 958; www.gainsborough.org) is a medieval building set behind an elegant 18C façade. It houses a large collection of Gainsborough’s paintings, drawings and prints. There is also a walled garden with a 400-year-old mulberry tree and used for exhibitions of sculpture during the summer months.
Ñ Take the A 134 north for 3mi/5km.
Long Melford
The long main street (2mi/3km) is lined with 16C, 17C and 18C timbered and pink-plastered houses. It terminates in a spacious triangular green, overlooked by Trinity Hospital (1573), Holy Trinity Church (late-15C) – one of the great “wool churches” of East Anglia – and Melford Halla (NT; open Easter Sat–Oct Wed–Sun and bank hols 1.30–5pm, Apr and Oct Sat–Sun and bank hols 1.30–5pm; £6.60; jõf. t01787 376 395. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/melford-hall).
The house is early Elizabethan, built around three sides of a courtyard, but only the Main Hall has preserved its Elizabethan features. The Drawing Room is splendidly Rococo. The West Bedroom contains the original Jemima Puddle-Duck watercolours by Beatrix Potter, who was a frequent visitor.
Lavenhama
Now a picture-postcard backwater, Lavenham was once one of the wealthiest places in Tudor England. Bypassed, in all senses, by modern developments, it is a superbly preserved medieval wool town, crowded with timber-framed houses. These are zealously preserved and the town is also renowned for its pargeting (Tsee above, Ipswich).
The late-15C Church of St Peter and St Paula (open year-round 8.30am–5.30pm/3.30pm; j), is one of the great “wool” churches with a noble tower and porch and enchanting misericords.
The impressive timber-framed Guildhall of Corpus Christi facing the Market Place dates from c.1520. It stages exhibitions and houses a museum (NT; open Easter–Oct daily 11am–5pm, Mar Wed–Sun 11am–4pm, Nov Sat–Sun 11am–4pm; £4.45; jõf; t01787 247 646; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lavenham) on the East Anglian wool trade and local history.
The historic market town of Bury St Edmunds boasts the ruins of what was once one of the richest abbeys in Christendom, as well as a perfect late Perpendicular cathedral and a wide range of English architectural styles, from secular medieval (The Guidhall) to Georgian (Athenaeum), and Regency (Theatre Royal) to grand Victorian.
= Population: 31,237.
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p22 or Map 504 W 27.
i Info: Angel Hill. t01284 764 667. www.visit-burystedmunds.co.uk.
Ñ Location: 28mi/45km east of Cambridge. The train station (40 mins from Cambridge) is a 10-minute walk north of the centre; the bus station is central, on St Andrew Street North. Bury’s medieval grid layout makes orientation easy. Walking tours from the tourist office.
> Timing: Market days are Wednesday and Saturday.
TOWN
On Angel Hill in the eastern part of town is the parish church, St Edmundsbury Cathedrala (open year-round daily 8.30am–6pm; suggested donation £3 per adult; guided tours Apr–Sept Mon–Sat 11.30am; j; t01284 748 726; www.stedscathedral.co.uk), which dates from 1530 and was originally dedicated to St Denys. It changed its name when it was granted cathedral status in 1914. A composition of nine bays leads the eye to the chancel and transepts (1960) by Stephen Dykes Bower. Note the Flemish stained-glass Susanna window (c.1480) and hammerbeam roof (19C) with angels. It was not until 2005 however that the cathedral was finally completed by the addition of the Millennium Tower, a 150ft/46m Gothic lantern tower. This and other recent works – the North Transept, the Chapel of the Transfiguration, a crypt and East Cloisters – were all added employing traditional materials and methods. The Chapel of the Transfiguration was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2009, and in 2010 a colourful painted and gilded vault was unveiled under the tower. Another popular recent addition is the Edmund Gallery exhibition space. In the grounds behind the cathedral lie the Abbey Ruinsa (Abbey Gardens; open year-round Mon–Sat, 7.30am–30min before dusk, Sun and bank hols 9am–30min before dusk; t01284 757 490; www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk, www.english-heritage.org.uk). Founded in 633 and later renamed in honour of the Saxon king and martyr Edmund (d.870), it was rebuilt by Benedictine monks in the 11C. Today only two of its monumental crossing towers still stand upright. Remnants of nave, chancel and transepts, together with the Abbey Gate, give some idea of its vastness (505ft/154m long). The Norman Tower’s richly decorated gateway frames a bronze of St Edmund by Elisabeth Frink and the cathedral precinct houses, built into the abbey’s west end. Today it is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
Moyse’s Hall Museum
Cornhill. Open Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun noon-4pm. £4. j. t01284 706 183. www.moyseshall.org.
A rare and important example of Norman domestic architecture, Moyse’s Hall dates from the second half of the 12C. It comprises a medieval gallery, exhibitions on social history, a regimental gallery and museum, and a permanent exhibition that showcases the museum’s very fine horological collection.
Under ornate plasterwork ceilings the collection concentrates on clocks but also includes costumes, textiles, portraits and local objets d’art.
North of Ipswich is a delightful stretch of unspoiled coastline now known as the Suffolk Heritage Coast. It includes Aldeburgh, home of a famous classical music and arts festival, and fashionable Southwold, a fine, unspoiled genteel resort.
ORFORD & ORFORD NESS
One of the prettiest villages on the Suffolk Heritage Coast, in the Middle Ages Orford was a thriving seaport from where Eleanor of Aquitaine set off to ransom her son King Richard I (the Lionheart). The gradual silting up of the river has left it a quiet village of brick and timber houses. Orford Castle (open Apr–Oct 10am–5pm, Nov–26 Dec & Jan–Mar Sat–Sun 10am–4pm; 27–31 Dec daily 10am–4pm; £6; t01394 450 472; www.english-heritage.org.uk/orford), built by Henry II in the 12C, and the fine medieval church dominate the skyline. The unique polygonal castle tower keep looks across the water to the largest shingle spit in Europe (some 10mi/16km long), home to Orford Ness National Nature Reserve (NT; access by NT ferry only 10am–2pm: Easter–late Jun & Oct Sat only, late Jun–Sept Tue–Sat; site £8 plus ferry £6, £3.80 NT members; t01728 648 024; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/orford-ness). This mysterious place, closed to the public for many decades, was formerly administered by the Ministry of Defence, which until 1971 conducted secret military tests here during both world wars and the Cold War. You can access some of these dramatic, once potentially deadly, buildings (albeit now empty shells).
ALDEBURGH
In the 16C Aldeburgh was a thriving port and shipbuilding area. By Victorian times it had become a seaside resort. Notable town landmarks include the Moot Hall, the meeting place of the Town Council for the last 400 years, and the Church of St Peter and St Paul, its memorial window designed by John Piper, dedicated to the memory of Benjamin Britten (1913–76). Britten, acclaimed as one of England’s finest ever composers, co-founded the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948 (www.aldeburgh.co.uk) for which the village is famous.
DUNWICH
The “Lost City of Dunwich” sparks the imagination of most visitors. It may have possessed as many as 18 churches at the height of its fortune when it was the main port of East Anglia during the 12C and 13C. However, it was swept away in a great storm in 1286 and today continues to be eroded by the sea at the rate of around a metre each year. Nowadays it’s a tiny village (pop. c.120) with a few fishing boats, a 17C pub, a beach café and Dunwich Museum (open Mar Sat–Sun 2–4.30pm, Apr–Sept 11.30am–4.30pm, Oct daily noon–4pm; t01728 648 796; www.dunwichmuseum.org.uk).
SOUTHWOLDa
Favoured by well-heeled weekenders, Southwold is one of England’s most attractive little seaside resorts, retaining vestiges of its maritime history, but embracing none of the crassness of modern-day resorts. It is much loved for its pastel-hued beach huts, its greens, an award-winning pier, a 100ft-/30m-tall lighthouse and its seaside walks. On the attractive, mainly Georgian, High Street, the Sailors Reading Room (open 9am-5pm, Apr–Sept 3.30pm; www.southwoldsailorsreadingroom.co.uk) contains pictures, ship models and other items of seafaring interest. For more local history visit Southwold Museum (Victoria Street; open Good Fri–Oct 2am–4pm, also 10.30am–noon Aug; t01502 726097; www.southwoldmuseum.org). The Church of St Edmund, King and Martyr has an imposing flint tower. Note the screens, the 15C pulpit, the vast font cover and the choir stalls.
and around
In 1066 Norwich was the fourth most populous city in England, and later grew rich as the centre of the East Anglian wool trade. Today it is one of the country’s best-preserved medieval cities and the surviving towers and spires of over 30 flint churches, many now redundant, etch the skyline. The city is dominated by the hill-top castle; below is the centre of old Norwich, where cobbled streets, lined with half-timbered houses, lead through stone gateways to the cathedral. Its star attractions are its Norman cathedral, castle, and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (part of the University of East Anglia).
= Population: 171,304.
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p31 or Map 504 Y 26.
i Info: Millennium Plain. t01603 213 999. www.visitnorwich.co.uk.
Ñ Location: 62mi/100km northeast of Cambridge. Train station 10 minutes from centre (London Liverpool Street 1hr 50 mins, Cambridge 1hr 15mins). Buses – Surrey Street Station (10 minutes from centre), or Castle Meadow (central). Tourist buses (t01263 587 005; www.city-sightseeing.com).
w Don’t Miss: Cathedral; Blickling Hall.
z Walking Tour: Marked on the map.
NORWICH CATHEDRALaa
Palace Street. Open daily 7.30am–6.30pm; Hostry Visitor Centre open Mon–Sat 9.30am–4.30, Sun noon–3pm. Contribution requested. Guided tour Mon–Sat 11am, noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm. jf. t01603 218 300. www.cathedral.org.uk.
The Norman cathedral was begun in 1096 and consecrated in 1278. Its choir clerestory was rebuilt in Early English style in the 14C and Perpendicular vaults added in the 15C and early-16C. The 15C spire (315ft/96m) is the second-tallest in England after Salisbury.
Inside, above the steadfast Norman nave and transepts the 400 carved and painted bosses on the vaults portray “a strip cartoon of the whole story of God’s involvement with man from creation to last judgement”. Note the misericords of the choir stalls, the ambulatory, St Luke’s Chapel (displaying the famous 14C five-panelled Despenser Reredos) and Jesus Chapel (displaying Martin Schwarz’s Adoration of the Magi (1480). The Prior’s Door, leading from the nave to the cloisters, with its sculptured figures of Christ flanked by two angels, two bishops and two monks, is one of the most beautiful doors of the early Decorated style. The unusual two-storeyed cloisters, the largest in England, were rebuilt (c.1297–1430).
CITY CENTRE
/ Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallerya
Castle Meadow. Open Mon–Sat 10am–4.30pm, Sun 1–4.30pm (Jul–Sept daily 5pm). £7. £1 one hour before closing, also noon–1pm weekdays during school term. Closed 1 Jan, 24–26 Dec. jf. Battlements and Dungeons by guided tours only: Dungeons £2.40; Battlements, see website. t01603 493 625. www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk.
The castle was begun in 1160, built on a commanding hilltop. The high-walled stone keep has retained many of its original features – Norman arches, windows, chapel niche and the well (110ft/34m deep) and makes for an atmospheric display.
The art gallery (ground floor) displays an outstanding collection of works by the Norwich school of painters, greatly influenced by Dutch landscape artists. Also on display are works by 20C East Anglian artists – Alfred Munnings, Edward Seago – as well as Victorian and Dutch works.
History galleries are devoted to Queen Bouadicea; Anglo-Saxon and Viking life in East Anglia, including a remarkable reconstruction of a grave site, and an Egyptian tomb with mummies. The decorative arts galleries trace 600 years of style and design in “The Arts of Living”, while “Trade and the Exotic” exhibits objects brought back from the east.
Market Placea
The square, which is 900 years old and the largest in East Anglia, is occupied six days a week by market stalls mostly selling local produce. To the north is the chequered flint Guildhall, begun in 1407. To the west is the modern City Hall, considered by Pevsner to be “probably the foremost English public building of between the wars”.
The Forum
2 Millennium Plain, Bethel Street. Open year-round daily 7am–midnight. jõf. t01603 727 920. www.theforumnorwich.co.uk.
This spectacular glass building – the landmark Millennium project for the East of England – houses an eclectic mix of free exhibitions, stages events, activities, catering, shopping and learning opportunities (including the most popular public library in the UK), and also the tourist office.
The huge glass atrium windows face south to Norwich’s grandest parish church, St Peter Mancroft, an exemplar of the Perpendicular style, with a fine hammerbeam roof, a great east window with medieval glass, and a 15C font.
To the east is the Art Nouveau Royal Arcade, famously home to Colman’s Mustard Shop (open normal shop hours; t01603 627 889, www.mustardshopnorwich.co.uk) a careful replica of a Victorian trade premises, combining shop and museum, covering all aspects of the history and production of Britain’s most famous mustard, which has been made locally since 1823.
Another colourful museum, the South Asian Decorative Arts & Crafts Collection (open year-round Mon–Sat 9.30am–5pm; closed bank hols; j; t01603 663 890, www.southasiandecorativeartsandcrafts.co.uk) lies on adjacent Bethel Street in an intriguing restored building which was originally a Victorian skating rink, then a vaudeville theatre. It exhibits pictures and prints, architectural items, vernacular furniture and objects which illustrate the everyday arts and crafts of the region.
Elm Hill
This quaint cobbled street, formerly the centre of the weaving industry, is lined with medieval brick and timber houses. At the Tombland end stands the church of St Simon and St Jude, now put to commercial use. Farther along sits the thatched 15C Britons Arms Coffee House & Restaurant (right), and Hungate Medieval Art (open Mar–Oct Mon–Sat, 10am–4pm, Sun 2–4pm; j), an interpretation centre occupying the church of St Peter Hungate, re-built 1460. Across the street can be seen the east window of Blackfriars Hall, which together with St Andrew’s Hall once formed the choir and nave of the Convent Church of the Blackfriars. Both halls, with fine hammerbeam roofs, are now used for public, private and civic functions.
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Artsa
University of East Anglia. 3mi/5km W of the city centre. Open Tue–Sat 10am–8pm, Sun 10am–5pm. jf. t01603 593 199. www.scva.org.uk.
This important gallery is housed in one of the most acclaimed buildings of the 1970s, designed by Norman Foster. Works by Degas, Seurat, Picasso, Epstein, Bacon, Modigliani, Moore and Giacometti, plus African, Pacific, Oriental and Native American art.
EXCURSION
Blickling Estateaa
NT. Ñ 15mi/24km N on the A 140. House open mid-Feb–Oct half-term hol week, Wed–Mon and Tue during school hols, noon–5pm. Guided tours Mon–Tue 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, other days 10.45am. £11.35. jõ(£2.50). f. t01263 738 030. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling.
The splendid turreted and gabled brick-built Blickling Hall was built 1619–25 by Robert Lyminge, the architect of Hatfield House, and is one of the most intact of great Jacobean houses, famed for its long gallery, fine tapestries, paintings and the National Trust’s most important collection of books. A plastered ceiling (120ft/36m) portrays the Five Senses and Learning in the Long Gallery.
Blickling Hall
© VIEW Pictures/Photononstop
One of Britain’s premier wildlife habitats, the Broads – 14 large lakes formed out of medieval peat diggings – are the home of Chinese water deer, kingfishers, bitterns, herons and great crested grebes which are found nowhere else in Britain. Peaceful waterways wind their way through misty fens, cutting between lush woods and open marshes beneath a seemingly endless sky. Over 125mi/200km of these are navigable by boat. The Broads’ villages are famous for their churches, some of which have hammerbeam and thatched roofs.
i Info: Norwich: Millennium Plain. t01603 213 999. www.visitnorwich.co.uk. Hoveton: Station Road t01603 756 907. How Hill (Toad Hole Cottage): t01603 756 096. Whitlingham Country Park: t01603 756 094. www.enjoythebroads.com; www.visitnorfolk.co.uk; www.visitnorthnorfolk.com.
w Don’t Miss: Boating on the Broads in summer.
WROXHAM
The “capital of the Broads”, on the River Bure, is usually the first port of call for the widest choice of boat hire.
HOW HILL
6mi/10km east of Wroxham.
Toad Hole Cottage (open Jun–Sept daily 9.30am–5pm; Apr–May & Oct Mon–Fri 10.30am–1pm, 1.30–5pm, Sat–Sun 10.30am–5pm;t01603 756 096, www.enjoythebroads.com), built 1780–1820, was once home to Broads ‘marshmen’. Now a museum, it tells their story of landscape management.
River Ant near How Hill
© Laurence Gough/Fotolia.com
POTTER HEIGHAM
9mi/14km east of Wroxham.
This is a popular boating centre on the River Thurne. St Nicholas’ Church has a Norman tower and a hammerbeam and thatched roof.
RANWORTH
6mi/10km southeast of Wroxham.
The Perpendicular tower and Decorated south porch of St Helen’s Church (open daily, 9am–6pm; 4pm winter; jf) give no hint of the splendour inside “the cathedral of the Broads”. It is home to the finest rood screen (15C) in East Anglia, a brightly painted array of saints, apostles and martyrs. For a wonderful panorama, climb the winding stone staircase to the top of the tower.
Away from bustling Norwich and the busy boating centres of the Broads, Norfolk is a land of peace and quiet and big, empty skies; excellent for nature-watching.
i Info: Louden Road, Cromer. t0871 200 3071. www.visitnorthnorfolk.com.
w Don’t Miss: A visit to Holkham Hall, or a taste of Cromer crab.
/ Kids: Go seal spotting at Blakeney.
CROMER
24mi/39km north of Norwich.
Cromer reached its height as a fashionable resort with the coming of the railway in the 1880s. Despite, or perhaps because of, failing to keep up with the times, it still has a loyal following, thanks largely to its fine beach, exhilarating clifftop walks, its charming pier, unspoiled by seaside amusements, and the local delicacy of Cromer Crab. Don’t miss the view from the tower (172 steps) of the medieval Church of St Peter and St Paul.
CLEY NEXT THE SEA AND BLAKENEY POINT
Cley is 12mi/19km west of Cromer.
Cley (pronounced ‘cly’) is renowned for its birdwatching, with a recently opened Norfolk Wildlife Trust visitor centre (open year-round daily 10am–5pm; 4pm Nov–Feb; £4.50; jf; t01263 740 008, www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk) offering superb views across Cley Marshes.
Some 4mi/6.5km west Blakeney Point is one of the best places in Britain to see seals. The 500-strong colony is made up of common and grey seals. The common seals pup between June and August. Local ferry operators (www.beansboattrips.co.uk) run seal watching trips from Moston Quay.
WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA
9mi/14km) west of Cromer.
Despite the name you’ll find this attractive little town a mile inland from the sea. Largely unaffected by 20C commercialisation, it retains many of its fine Georgian houses and is also the area’s only working port. In summer a narrow-gauge railway runs out to the beach.
HOLKHAMaa
11mi/18km west of Cromer.
The seat of the Earls of Leicester and of Coke of Norfolk (1754–1842) – the inventor of modern agriculture – the Holkham (pronounced “hokum”) Estate is the grandest in the region. Holkham Hallaa (open Easter hol week–Oct Sun, Mon, Thu noon–4pm; £9, combined ticket with Bygones Museum £12; j; õ£2.50; f; t01328 710 227. www.holkham.co.uk) was designed in the palatial Palladian style by William Kent. Most monumental of the interiors is the Marble Hall. The Grand Drawing Room has works by Claude and Poussin and the Saloon boasts Rubens and Van Dyck. In the South Sitting Room hang works by Titian, Guido Reni, Gainsborough and Battoni; the Landscape Room is devoted to Poussin and Claude.
Housed in the stable block is the Bygones Museum (open same dates as Hall, daily 10am–5pm; £7) ranging from mechanical toys, household implements and agricultural tools, to vintage cars and massive steam engine. The sweeping park that surrounds the hall is home to fallow deer and a small herd of red deer.
The estate is also blessed with Holkham Beacha, voted the best beach in Britain 2009, 2010 and 2011. With 4mi/6.4km of golden sand and pine woods to explore, it has changed little in centuries and was famously used for the final scene in the movie Shakespeare in Love.
North Norfolk Coast
Set amid the marshes, in what is known locally as the Fenlands, King’s Lynn dates from the Norman Conquest (1066). In the Middle Ages it was a bustling port and member of the Hanseatic League, exporting cloth and wool. Today’s fine townscape is especially rich in medieval merchants’ houses; many with their own well-constructed warehouses line the River Ouse. Within a short distance are some outstanding country houses, including a royals’ retreat, and some superb churches.
= Population: 41,281.
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p30 or Map 504 V 25.
i Info: The Custom House, Purfleet Quay. t01553 763 044. www.visitwestnorfolk.com.
Ñ Location: On the River Ouse 44mi/71km north of Cambridge. The train station is a five-minute walk east.
w Don’t Miss: At least one of the area’s stately homes.
> Timing: Allow 4–6 hours; more for excursions.
zWalking Tours: May–Oct Tue, Fri Sat 2pm. Jun & Jul also 7pm. £4. t01553 763 044. www.visitwestnorfolk.com.
TOWN CENTRE WALK
Begin at Tuesday Market Place, a large open space at the top of King Street, surrounded by well-preserved Georgian and Victorian buildings. King Street presents a delightful succession of houses of varied dates and materials including St George’s Guildhall, the largest surviving medieval guildhall in England, where Shakespeare is supposed to have acted. On the right is the Dutch-inspired Custom House (17C), on the corner of Purfleet Quay, leading to the River Ouse, part home to the tourist information centre and part home to a maritime exhibition (open year-round daily Mon–Sat 10am/10.30am–3.30pm/4.30pm, Sun noon–3.30pm/4.30pm; £1; t01553 763 044; www.visitwestnorfolk.com) housing displays on the merchants, customsmen and smugglers of Lynn.
King’s Staithe Lane, which is the next lane south, contains 16C and 17C warehouses; in cobbled King’s Staithe Square stands a grand double-fronted red brick house, with a statue of King Charles I.
In Queen Street, which is mainly Georgian in character, stands Thorseby College, founded in 1502 for training priests but later converted into a merchant’s house with a 17C courtyard.
This leads to Saturday Market Place and /Tales of the Old Gaol House (open Easter week hols–Oct half-term hols Wed–Sat 10am–4pm; £3.30; t01553 774 297; www.west-norfolk.gov.uk). Occupying the chequered flint Guildhall (1421), visitors pass through the old police station with its tiny cells and bleak history. The Regalia Room features civic silver and the King John Cup (1340). Turn right onto Church Street to see St Margaret’s Church (open year-round daily, 7.45am–5.45pm (7.45pm Sun); j; t01553 772 858; www.stmargaretskingslynn.org.uk), a twin-towered church originally built in the 13C. Surviving glories include 14C screens, a Georgian pulpit and a 17C moon clock.
Walk back towards Saturday Market Place and turn right onto St James Street, then left onto Tower Street, left into Blackfriar’s Street, fork right onto Paradise Parade, which will lead you to Market Street and the Lynn Museum (open year-round Tue-Sat 10am–5pm £3.70, free Oct-Mar; j; t01553 775 001; www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk). This is the town’s main collection and pride of place goes to Seahenge, a remarkable meticulously crafted c. 4,000-year-old timber circle found on the beach.
Return to Paradise Parade, turn right onto New Conduit Street, then walk straight ahead via Broad Street, Chapel Street and St Anne’s Street. Turn right onto North Street, home to True’s Yard (open year-round Tue–Sat 10am–4pm, also Mon Jun & Jul; closed 25 Dec–3 Jan; £3; t01553 770 479; www.truesyard.co.uk) where two cottages house a small museum illustrating the social history and hardships of the town’s former fishing community.
EXCURSIONS
Houghton Hallaa
Ñ 13mi/21km east via the A 148. Open mid-May–Sept, Wed–Sun, bank hols 11am–5pm. £18. jõf. t01485 528 569, 01603 598640 (tickets). www.houghtonhall.com.
Houghton Hall, which is transitional between Baroque and Palladian, was built (1722–35) for Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister. Its main rooms by William Kent are dedicated to “taste, expense, state and parade”. Its joys are its ceilings and Kent furniture, Sèvres porcelain, thrones by Pugin and 17C Mortlake tapestries.
Oxburgh Hallaa
NT. Ñ 18mi/29km SE. House: Open 2nd wk Mar–Oct half-term hol Sat–Wed 11am–5pm (daily during school hols). Closes 4pm Oct. £8.10. jõf. t01366 328 528. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oxburgh-hall.
This romantic moated manor house was built as a status symbol in 1482. Its gatehouse and flanking ranges are 15C; the hall range is 19C. The interior presents elaborate embroideries depicting mammals; letters from Henry VIII, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I; woodcarvings by Grinling Gibbons and a secret priest’s hole.
Oxburgh Hall
© Cyril Privezentzev/Dreamstime.com
Sandringhama
Ñ 8mi/13km NE. Open Easter Sat–Oct half-term hol daily 11am–4.45pm last entry (3.45pm Oct). Closed usually last wk Jul for one wk, see website. £13 (gardens, country park, Visitor Centre and museum only, £9). jõf. t01485 545 408. www.sandringhamestate.co.uk.
“Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world”, wrote George V of the Royal Family’s country home, a Revival Jacobean house acquired in 1862. The large Saloon is hung with family portraits and 17C tapestries. The corridor is adorned with intricately wrought Oriental arms and armour. In the main Drawing Room is Russian silver and Chinese jade.
FENL AND CHURCHESa
The glories of the Fens are its sunsets and churches, admirably complemented by the flat and featureless landscape.
St Clement’s Church (Terrington St Clement; t01553 828 430; www.tsc-church.org.uk) boasts a splendid west window and northwest tower. The interior has exquisite Georgian panelling.
St Peter’s Church (Walpole St Peter; t01945 780252, www.walpolestpeterchurch.org). Huge plain-glass windows illuminate the magnificent interior of the 14C “Cathedral of the Fens”.
St Mary’s Church (West Walton, t01945 583667; www.ely.anglican.org/parishes/westwalton) is mid-13C Early English at its most profuse and extravagant.
All Saints’ Church (Walsoken; t01945 583 740; www.allsaintswalsoken.co.uk). Dating from 1146, “the grandest Norman parish church in Norfolk” presents a hammerbeam tie-beam roof, an eight-sided font portraying the Seven Sacraments and Crucifixion, and a 16C wall painting, the Judgement of Solomon.
Once called Elig or Eel Island because of the abundance of eels, Ely lies on the River Ouse. It has been a place of worship since St Etheldreda, a Saxon queen, founded a religious community and built an abbey here in the 7C. The small town is still dominated by the cathedral and monastic buildings and retains many medieval houses. In 1066 the legendary rebel, Hereward the Wake, made his last stand against the Normans in Ely. Oliver Cromwell lived here mid-17C.
= Population: 10,329.
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p29 or Map 504 U 26.
i Info: Oliver Cromwell’s House, 29 St Mary’s Street. t01353 662 062. http://visitely.eastcambs.gov.uk.
Ñ Location: 16mi/26km north of Cambridge. Ely station (Cambridge 15 mins) is a minute’s walk from the centre. Regional buses stop by the cathedral.
CATHEDRALaa
Open daily 7am–6.30pm. (5.30pm Sun in winter). Stained Glass Museum closed 25–26 Dec, Good Fri. £7.50, free Sun before 9am and after 5pm. Additional charges: Octagon and West Tower (£6.50 each, £9 each on Sun when free admission to cathedral). Stained Glass Museum £4. Combined tickets: cathedral and either tower £14; cathedral and Stained Glass Museum £10.70; all areas plus tea/coffee £17.20; Guided tours (free) daily. jf. t01353 660 344. www.elycathedral.org. www.stainedglassmuseum.com.
The superb Norman nave and transepts contrast with the surprises beyond: the wonderful Decorated east end and Lady Chapel, and that 14C masterpiece, the Octagon. The present church was begun in 1083; in 1250 the east end of the original Norman building was reconstructed. In 1321 work started on the Lady Chapel. The following year the great Norman crossing tower fell down. The solution, cutting off the four Norman corners of the crossing and building an octagonal space on the eight points, was a triumph of engineering. The cathedral is best viewed from the northwest to appreciate its length, castellated west tower, Early English Galilee Porch, the Decorated Octagon and the wooden lantern above it.
The richness of the colours emanating from ceilings, stained-glass windows and stone pillars is awe-inspiring. The southwest transept (c.1200) is an outstanding example of the Romanesque period. Above all else, the eye is led to the Octagon. Its eight pillars support 200 tons of glass, lead and timber; below its high windows are panels decorated with angels. The Octagon is separated by a 19C screen (by George Gilbert Scott) from the beautifully vaulted Early English choir, with its splendid 14C choir stalls. In front of the High Altar lies the shrine of St Etheldreda. The light and spacious Lady Chapel was the largest single span of vaulting in its time; most of its treasures were lost during the Dissolution.
The Stained Glass Museum in the triforium shows stained-glass and lead-cutting processes.
The group of medieval domestic buildings, together with the ruined cloisters, is the largest of its kind in England; some form part of the King’s School.
CROMWELL’S HOUSEa
29 St Mary’s Street. Open Apr–Oct daily 10am–5pm. Nov–Mar Sun–Fri 11am–4pm, Sat 10am–5pm. £4.60. j. t01353 662 062. www.olivercromwellshouse.co.uk.
Born and bred in East Anglia, for 10 years Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, lived in this 13C house in Ely. The furnished rooms are few – kitchen, bedroom, study – but the flavour of the age is very well evoked.
and around
Peterborough began life as a village around a monastery. It became a town around a cathedral and then a city dominated by brickworks. It is now a high-tech centre for financial institutions but ancient survivals include the cathedral, the 17C arcaded guildhall, the church of St John the Baptist in Cowgate and some Georgian houses in Priestgate.
= Population: 134,788.
T Michelin Map: Michelin Atlas p29 or Map 504 T 26.
i Info: 9 Bridge Street. t01733 452 336. www.visitpeterborough.com.
Ñ Location: 25mi/40km north of Cambridge. The train station (London Kings Cross, 45 mins) is a short walk from the centre. Queensgate Bus Station is close by.
w Don’t Miss: The cathedral’s west front, 13C nave ceiling and fan vaulting.
> Timing: Allow half a day in Peterborough.
/ Kids: One of the Specials Days at Nene Valley Railway.
CATHEDRALaa
Open year-round Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–3pm, Sun noon–3pm. Closed 26 Dec. Donation invited. Photography/filming permit £3. jõ(wheelchair users only). f. Guided tours (£7) Apr–Sept Mon–Sat 2pm (Wed 11.30am); Tower tours Easter Sat–early Nov, most Sats & Weds, see website (£10), booking recommended,t01733 355 300. t01733 355 315 (general enquiries). www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk.
Alongside Ely (Tsee opposite), Peterborough was one of the two great monasteries of the Fens. The present building was started in 1118 and consecrated in 1238. In 1643 Cromwell’s men destroyed the stained glass, the high altar, the cloisters and statues.
The Early English west front is fascinating with its three giant arches and its rich early Perpendicular (14C) porch. The interior is a superb example of Norman architecture. The nave has an uninterrupted vista towards the altar. The transepts and choir with their Norman elevations are a robust expression of faith. The 13C nave ceiling is a wonderful example of medieval art with figures of bishops, saints and mythical beasts. The 15C wooden ceiling in the sanctuary is decorated with bosses and the superb fan vaulting at the east end (in the New or Eastern Building) is late -15C Perpendicular. In the north choir aisle Catherine of Aragon is buried and in the south choir aisle Mary Queen of Scots was temporarily laid to rest (1587–1612).
EXCURSIONS
Flag Fen Archaeology Parkaa
Ñ The Droveway, Northey Road. 3mi/5km east via the A 47 and A 1130 (signposted). Open Apr–Sept daily 10am–5pm. £3. jõf. t01733 313 414. www.flagfen.org.
Described as the finest Bronze Age archaeological site in Northern Europe, Flag Fen is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Britain; home to the country’s oldest wheel and a 0.6mi/1km-long wooden causeway and platform that’s been perfectly preserved in the wetland for 3,300 years.
/ Nene Valley Railwaya
Ñ Wansford Station, Old Great North Road, Stibbington. 8mi/13km west on the A 47 and south on the A 1. Mar–Oct plus specials; visit website for times and dates. From £13.50, child £7.20. jõf. t01780 784 4404 (timetable), 01780 784 444 (enquiries); www.nvr.org.uk.
Steam locomotives with shiny wooden fascias puff between Wansford and Peterborough (15mi/24km – 90min return) in a scene from yesteryear. At Wansford are displays of railway memorabilia and old rolling stock, some from abroad, and some from the movies.
„ STAY
CAMBRIDGE
q Avalon B & B – A1. 62 Gilbert Road. t01223 353 071. www.avaloncambridge.co.uk. ;. õ. 2 rms. A pleasant 20-minute walk or 5-minute bus ride from the centre, this 1930s detached house offers pleasant unfussy bedrooms, a warm welcome and hearty breakfasts.
q Brooklands – A2. 95 Cherry Hinton Road.t01223 242 035. www.brooklandsguesthouse.co.uk. õ. 7 rms. One mile from the city centre, and five minutes from the train station, this simple guesthouse has lovely boutique-style bedrooms (one of which has a jacuzzi and four-poster bed).
q Warkworth House – A2. Warkworth Terrace. t01223 363 682. www.warkworthhouse.co.uk. õ. 3 rms. In the city centre, this small Victorian B&B offers a handsome spacious double room, and simple family and single rooms.
_ Arundel House Hotel – A1. 53 Chesterton Road. t01223 367 701. www.arundelhousehotels.co.uk. õ. 103 rms. Arundel House occupies one of the finest hotel sites in town, a few minutes’ walk from the centre, overlooking the River Cam and open parkland. It has a beautiful garden and conservatory. Chintzy bedrooms.
_ Hotel du Vin – 15–19 Trumpington Road. t084473 64253. 41 rms. Opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum, set in an historic ex-University terrace, the luxurious ultra-stylish bedrooms and traditional Oxbridge lounge/library ooze atmosphere and class. Cosy cellar bar, exemplary staff, excellent dining.
IPSWICH
q Sidegate Guest House – 121 Sidegate Lane. t01473 728 714. www.sidegateguesthouse.co.uk. õ. 6 rms. In a residential area, 2mi/3km from town, this attractively decorated and furnished guesthouse has modern light cosy rooms and is very popular.
_ Salthouse Harbour Hotel – 1st Neptune Quay. t01473 226 789. www.salthouseharbour.co.uk. õ. 30 rms. On the marina, this rejuvenated warehouse has been converted into a striking contemporary space containing an eclectic blend of urban and country, vintage chic and cutting-edge design.
EAST BERGHOLT
. The Granary Flatford – Flatford Mill. t01206 298 111. www.granaryflatford.co.uk. õ. 2 rms. Next door to a thatched granary once owned by John Constable’s father, an 18C wool store has been tastefully converted into a characterful B&B accommodation with exposed beams and leaded windows. It opens onto a beautiful garden bordered by the River Stour.
COLCHESTER
^ The Red Lion – High Street. t01206 577 986. www.brook-hotels.co.uk. õ. 24 rms. This 15C inn has been furnished and decorated sympathetically in period style with modern touches. Four-posters available.
BURY ST EDMUNDS
_ The Angel Hotel – 3 Angel Hill. t01284 714 000. www.theangel.co.uk. õ. 70 rms. Opposite the abbey gardens, this fashionable hotel, behind a classic Georgian façade, offers contemporary-traditional styling, some rooms with shabby chic. The restaurant serves fine Modern British cuisine (^).
NORWICH
. Edmar Lodge – 2. 64 Earlham Road. t01603 615 599. www.edmarlodge.co.uk . õ. 5 rms. Traditional cosy rooms, recently refurbished, in family-run B&B a 10-minute walk from the city centre. DVD library and bedroom DVD players.
q number17 – 17 Colegate. t01603 764486. http://number17norwich.co.uk. 8 rms. Family-run boutique-style B&B in the heart of the old city with bright cheery bedrooms and a small courtyard. Family suites also available.
WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA
_ The Victoria – Holkham. t01328 711 008. www.holkham.co.uk/victoria. 10 rms. This beautiful ‘Modern Colonial’ themed hotel, formerly a pub, lies on the glorious Holkham Estate a few minutes’ walk from Holkham Beach. The restaurant (^) serves excellent local dishes.
q Cathedral House – 17 Mary’s Street. t01353 662 124. www.cathedralhouse.co.uk. ;. õ. 3rms. Set almost in the shadow of the cathedral this lovely cosy quiet Georgian house offers simple pleasant white bedrooms. Min two-night stay at weekends.
ƒ EAT
CAMBRIDGE
w Look on Regent Street, Bridge Street and along Quayside. There are over 100 pubs and bars throughout the town, the most famous being The Eagle, on Benet Street, off King’s Parade.
q Galleria – A1. 3 Bridge Street. t01223 362 054. www.galleriacambridge.co.uk. This light airy brasserie serves excellent Modern European dishes (and snacks at lunchtime) on a pretty riverside terrace.
^ Hotel du Vin – 15-19 Trumpington Road. t084473 64253. Top quality candlelit French bistro-style dining in an atmospheric old ex-University building. Superb choice of wines expertly matched to uncomplicated dishes. Excellent service.
_ Midsummer House – Midsummer Common. t01223 369 299. www.midsummerhouse.co.uk. The only Michelin two-star establishment in East Anglia, Cambridge’s finest enjoys an idyllic location beside the Cam, with conservatory dining. The French-Mediterranean cuisine offers inventive detailed cooking.
_ 22 Chesterton Road – 22 Chesterton Road. t01223 351 880. www.restaurant22.co.uk. Closed Sun–Mon. Critically acclaimed high-quality dining from a prix-fixe dinner menu (hefty supplements on certain dishes).
NEAR CAMBRIDGE
^ The Three Horseshoes – High Street, Madingley, 5mi/8km west Cambridge. t01954 210 221. www.threehorseshoesmadingley.co.uk. A picture-perfect thatched pub, with an airy stylish interior and Modern British menu.
IPSWICH
^ Mariners – Neptune Quay. t01473 289 748. www.marinersipswich.co.uk. High-quality French Brasserie cuisine is served from prix-fixe menus aboard a much-travelled late-19C wooden sailing ship, with polished beams and gleaming brass.
COLCHESTER
q The Lemon Tree – 8 St Johns Street. t01206 767 337. www.the-lemon-tree.com. The exposed brickwork in this atmospheric restaurant is the town’s historic city wall, though everything else is very contemporary, including the popular British and European dishes.
NORWICH
w Look on St Giles Street, Upper St Giles Street, Elm Hill and St George Street.
. The Britons Arms – Elm Hill. t01603 623 367. www.britonsarmselmhill.co.uk. Open Mon–Sat 9.30am–5pm. This long-established cosy place serves quiches, salads, cakes and more with a delightfully secluded terraced garden and an open fire.
. The Waffle House – 39 St Giles Street. t01603 612 790. This buzzing café bar specialises in sweet and savoury Belgian waffles individually cooked to order using organic and free-range ingredients.
KING’S LYNN
q Bankhouse – King’s Staithe Square. t01553 660 492. www.thebankhouse.co.uk. The restaurant of this beautiful Georgian hotel serves modern brasserie food, from burgers, steaks, pastas and salads, to the more exotic, and may be enjoyed in any of three dining areas, or in the summer on a riverside terrace.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Cambridge Folk Festival (late Jul/early Aug), is Britain’s best music festival of its kind (t01223 357 851; www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk).
SHOPPING
Cambridge is excellent for individual shops; try Rose Crescent, Trinity Street, Bridge Street, Magdalene Street, St John’s Street, Green Street. In Market Square there is a general market (Mon–Sat).
