Castle's Cast

Norfolk has eight castles. DOMINIC CASTLE decided to embark on an epic quest visit them all – in one day

 

HERITAGE and castles; they go together like toast and marmalade, gin and tonic, Morecambe and Wise.

As no edition with history as a theme would be complete without a smattering of motte, bailey and keep I wondered which of Norfolk’s fine monuments I’d include in this issue. And then a lightbulb moment – all of them; and I’d visit them all, in a day, in a 21st century quest.

I had no mighty warhorse, but I did have a bright yellow motorcycle; I had no suit of chain mail and burnished steel helm, but I did have trews of kevlar and a helmet of polycarbonate. I checked the labels but they spoke only of resistance to abrasion; no mention of protection against halberd and boiling oil but no matter, the quest was on.

Plotting the route was simple enough. I’d run clockwise from my home just west of Norwich, spin through the fortresses which are mostly on our county borders and end up at the daddy of them all, Norwich Castle.

So on a sunny Saturday morning I pointed my trusty steed in the direction of the first port of call, New Buckenham Castle, surely one of our less well-known historic sites, tucked away on the edge of the village near Attleborough.

It is so tucked away that I couldn’t find it, but a friendly local gave me directions, instructing me to knock on the door of the big house nearby and borrow the key to the gate – the castle is privately owned.