East Is East

Eleanor Doughty writes a love letter to Norfolk, praising its charming villages, unspoilt coast and rising market–not to mention a good number of pubs

- Eleanor Doughty

NORFOLK is easy to love. It’s got dramatic beaches—vast Holkham, for example, is popular with the Household Cavalry on its summer holidays —and countless beautiful houses, such as Houghton Hall, Raynham Hall and Sandringham. Although Yorkshire may be known as ‘God’s own county’, it was Britain’s beloved Sir John Betjeman who said ‘I am still reeling at the soaring majesty of Norfolk’ when he visited in 1974.

‘There’s a lot more to Norfolk than Alan Partridge and Delia Smith,’ points out Lucy Harley-McKeown, a journalist who was raised in the county. ‘It was a great place to grow up in, not only for the sprawling countryside and miles of coastline, but also for Norwich’s cultured city centre, with its idiosyncratic shops.’

Ian Burnaby-Parsons, associate director at Strutt & Parker (01603 883602), has recently moved back to the county following a decade in London. ‘There is a romantic charm about Norfolk,’ he says. ‘It harks back to the simple life.’ He nominates the county town of Norwich as a place of particular interest, which is often overlooked.

With its cathedrals—one Catholic, one Church of England—Norman castle, hidden Plantation Garden and popular open-air market, there’s an awful lot going on in Norwich. Once upon a time, it was said that there were 365 pubs in Norfolk, as well as a church for every week of the year. ‘I think the latest pub count is about 120,’ says Mr Burnaby-Parsons.