Heritage and History

Heritage and History are always fascinating subjects and we are extremely fortunate to have so many museums, stately houses, ruins, Churches and other historic buildings and landscapes in The Brecks. We are extremely fortunate to have the old Workhouse at Gressenhall, showing what life was like for our ancestors. This amazing museum has a working farm, as well as the workhouse exhibits, allowing us all to see heavy horses working. Dating from the Stone Age, right up to today, you will be able to find something for all interests.

Grimes Graves is the only Neolithic Flint Mine open to the public in the country and, with pits, which were dug to 12m, quite impressive! The activity of early man is to be seen all over the area, as Bronze Age Burial Mounds appear in the fields all over The Brecks and you may even find yourself driving along a road which follows the route laid down in the Iron Age, or walking along a road once the main route for the Roman Armies to get to the North Norfolk coast.

The area, with nearly two hundred villages in the past, is covered with Medieval Churches and there are various ruins, including castles, priories, a cathedral, warren lodge, Churches and many other types of buildings. Houses range in size from the tiny, thatched C16th Bishop Bonner’s Cottages in Dereham to the amazing C15th moated manor house at Oxburgh and, within Breckland, there were many other stately homes, some of which are still lived in today. Within a few miles, there are several other houses worthy of a visit and Sandringham, the private home of Her Majesty The Queen, is just out near Hunstanton on the West Norfolk coast.

Tours of Breckland

If you are looking for a tour of the area, you are in luck because we have our very own tour company based in the area.

Norfolk-Tours arranges totally bespoke tours of where you want to go and what you want to see. Although the company specialises in family history, tours can be tailored for any subject.

Past tours have included: Medieval Ecclesiastical Settings for a novelist researching her next novel, Church Furnishings for a Professor researching her next project, Birding for a very passionate ornithologist and Antique Centres for an avid collector.

Whatever your interest and wherever you want to go, from Norfolk to Wales and from Cornwall to Scotland, Norfolk-Tours is happy to arrange everything for you. If you would like assistance in putting together you own tour, just drop an email to us and we will be happy to help you.