Country Houses of North Norfolk

“This seat, on an open barren Estate

Was planned, planted, built, decorated

And inhabited the middle of the XVIIIth Century

By Tho’s Coke Earl of Leicester”

So reads an inscription above the main entrance to the Marble Hall at the heart of the spectacular Palladian mansion of Holkham in North Norfolk. The sweeping landscapes and seascapes of this beautiful part of the county, with their endless vistas and wide skies, were populated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by a series of remarkable country houses built for notable patrons of the arts – including Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first ‘Prime Minister’.

We will enjoy visits to many properties showcasing the work of William Kent, that eminent architect of buildings, landscapes and interiors who pioneered the Palladian style in eighteenth-century Britain. Raynham Hall, praised as one of Norfolk’s finest country houses, dates from the seventeenth century but its interiors were redesigned by Kent from 1725. His work is also evident at Holkham and Houghton.

Houghton was built in the 1720s to house Walpole’s great collection of Old Master paintings, later sold to Catherine the Great; the estate is home to the Cholmondeley family who have in recent years commissioned a number of pieces of contemporary sculpture by artists including James Turrell for the eighteenth-century parkland designed by Charles Bridgeman.

Other highlights of our tour will include visits to two breathtaking Jacobean properties: Blickling Hall, once in the possession of the Boleyn family, and Felbrigg Hall, with its contrasting east and west wings exemplifying the architectural styles of the early and late seventeenth century respectively.

Meanwhile, Wiveton Hall – known as the setting for the BBC observational series Normal for Norfolk – provides an exquisite example of the style archetypal to Norfolk, with its flint facing and Dutch gables, nodding to the county’s historical relationship with the Low Countries. This style can be seen on a smaller scale at the charming Shell Museum in nearby Glandford, built in 1915 and reminiscent of a cabinet of curiosities.

This tour will take a holistic approach, considering the histories of the owners and families who have shaped these great estates, as well as the architecture, collections and individual works of art. We will also enjoy the opportunity to explore grounds and gardens, which often tell their own important stories. For instance, the renowned architectural designer Kit Martin restored the historic designed landscape at Gunton Park, winning a Country Life ‘Genius of the Place’ Award in 2007.

We begin and end in Norwich where a visit to the wonderful Romanesque cathedral will conclude our tour.

This tour will be based at the four-star Pheasant Hotel, a relaxing country house hotel close to Holt and Blakeney in the heart of North Norfolk.

This tour will be led by Oliver Gerrish, MSt, an architectural historian who studied at the University of Cambridge. Oliver has written for Country Life, featured in a number of television series on architecture, and organised and led numerous tours to many of Britain’s historical buildings. He is the former Chairman of The Young Georgians, the youth chapter of The Georgian Group, which he re-founded. Oliver is a trustee of the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust, and in addition to his architectural expertise is a countertenor and impresario.