HISTORIC NORFOLK

Spend time exploring this peaceful county, whose stately homes are a grand counterpoint to its unadorned rural landscapes

- NATASHA FOGES

Travelling along the flat Fens under broad, open skies to Britain’s easternmost county, you feel as though you’re approaching the ends of the Earth. On the way to nowhere, North Norfolk is a place of windmills and watery vistas, of cosy pubs and flint-stone villages.

This sleepy region is less populated now than it was in the Middle Ages, when the capital Norwich was England’s second-largest city, a hub for the lucrative wool trade. The peaceful landscape is dotted with medieval church spires (Norfolk has the highest concentration anywhere in the world), remnants of the county’s distant heyday.

These days, North Norfolk is famous for its beaches. The coastline, to which holidaymakers flock in summer, is head-turningly picturesque – which might explain why a wealth of historic attractions, tucked away inland, can get overlooked. Wait till the first brisk autumn breeze sends the beach crowds packing, and embark on a tour of the area’s historic houses, each seemingly grander than the last.

This far-flung rural landscape holds not just an abundance of stately homes but four so-called ‘power houses’: in the 18th century, Norfolk was home to some of the country’s most politically powerful men, who carved out vast estates as a reflection of their wealth and influence.

Holkham Hall, seat of the Earls of Leicester, is the best known of the quartet. This serene Palladian-style house a mere pebble’s throw from the coast was built in the mid 18th century by Thomas Coke, the first Earl, who was Postmaster General of England. He chose William Kent, the leading architect, and designer of the day, to create the house’s grand interiors.