Our first full day in Norfolk! We had brought breakfast food with us - and it was lovely to sit on the balcony in the warm sunshine, savouring the coffee and greeting Mr Seagull. Since the hotel screwed up our three-night reservation, we had to check out. Last night, Alison found a B&B near the beach ... more on that later!
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| An old church in Norfolk |
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| Lord Leicester wants Holkham Hall to be "the UK’s most pioneering and sustainable rural estate". |
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| The Countess says Play the piano if you can!!! |
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| Don't sit on the chair! |
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| Lady Anne Osborne, who married Robert Coke in 1672, Artist: Godfrey Kneller |
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| The photo was signed by the two princesses and the Queen. |
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| The Earl of Leicester's art collection is breathtaking. A visit to Holkham Hall is recommended, as the house is full of history and great art. The gardens and beach are also impressive. |
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| The couple has four children: Lady Hermione (1998), Lady Juno (2000), Edward, Viscount Coke (2003), and Lady Elizabeth (2006) |
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| This garden is not open to the public. |
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| Deer have the run of the estate. |
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| Cute geese |
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| A flotilla |
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| and they keep coming |
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| Michael Rhodes by the fountain |
After a quick lunch at Holkham's cafe and shopping in their store, it was time to head back to the car for the drive to Blicking Hall.
The Holkham Hall guidebook is 162 pages.
The Blicking Estate is run by the National Trust. Anne Boleyn's father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, inherited Blicking in 1505. As Anne's date of birth has never been confirmed, it is not certain where she was born: at Blicking or at Hever Castle. Sir Thomas died in 1539, and the estate passed to relatives, the de Clere family. In 1616, Sir Edward de Clere's widow sold Blicking to Sir Henry Hobart, Bt.
It was the Hobart family who celebrated Blicking as Anne Boleyn's place of birth. Sir Henry had the original Tudor home demolished. A new Jacobean mansion was built. The architect was Robert Lyminge, who also designed Hatfield House.
The fifth Baronet, John Hobart, was created the Earl of Buckinghamshire. He restored the family finances, leaving his son, John, the 2nd Earl, with a large inheritance. The 2nd Earl made "extensive changes" to the house.
The estate was inherited by Lord Buckinghamshire's second daughter, Caroline, who was married to William Assheton Harbord, Lord Suffield. As he had no surviving sons, the earldom passed to his half-brother, George. When Lord Suffield died in 1821, Blickling passed to his wife's nephew, John Kerr, the 7th Marquess of Lothian. As Caroline survived the 7th Marquess by seven years, the estate was inherited by his son, William, 8th Marquess of Lothian.
Lord Lothian was only 18 when he took possession of the house and property. He was only 38 when he died, and his wife (and first cousin), Constance, ran the estate for many years. When she died, the estate passed to a nephew, Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian.
Blicking was Lord Lothian's primary English home. He was the "driving force behind a change" to the National Trust Act of 1937. The Country House scheme was created, which allowed "historic houses to be given to the nation in lieu of taxes, with the land held as an endowment to preserve the house and contents."
The Blicking Estate was the first to benefit from the new law. Lord Lothian died in 1940, and Blicking was bequeathed to the National Trust.
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| Michael Rhodes took this of me: I asked George III: Take us back, please. |
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| From Cromer to Holkham to Blicking to Gunton Arms to Bracton/Walcott |
