Wednesday 31 August, all day
The main purpose of the day is a rare and
privileged visit to Raynham Hall, the home
of 8th Marquess Townshend.
The day includes a tour of Raynham Hall,
hopefully by Marquis Townshend himself, and
afternoon tea there. Raynham is one of the
three great privately owned houses of Norfolk,
the others being Holkham Hall and Houghton
Hall. It is of enormous architectural interest,
being one of the first country houses to be built
in the classical style in Britain. Raynham was
started in 1622 by Sir Roger Townshend who, it
is thought, was his own architect but he
employed a local freemason, William Edge, as
draughtsman and master mason, although the
façades show the influence of Inigo Jones,
architect of the Queen's House in Greenwich
and the Banqueting House in Whitehall. Most
of the interior was remodelled by William Kent
in c.1728-9 for the 2nd Viscount Townshend,
better known as 'Turnip Townshend', an
agricultural reformer who promoted the
Castle Acre Priory
Norfolk Splendour
Raynham Hall
adoption of a crop rotation system involving
turnips. The Raynham estate extends for some
7,000 acres.
Castle Acre Priory dates back to 1090. The
ruins include the west wall of the priory church
with its tiers of intersecting arches, further
portions of the church, the remains of the
monks' living accommodation and, most
remarkably, the virtually complete Prior's house.
English Heritage has recreated a medieval herb
garden, which would have been used by the
monks for medicinal and culinary purposes. A
display of archaeological finds and an exhibition
can also be seen. The castle comprises
extensive Norman earthworks and stone
remains, while the village has a 13th-century
gatehouse and a large, late medieval parish
church.
For more information contact Richard Gray
Itinerary: The coach will leave Kings Lynn at and take us to the ʹCrownʹ in the village of East Rudham where we will stop for an early buffet lunch before continuing on to tour nearby Raynham Hall followed by afternoon tea there. On leaving Raynham the coach will take us to Castle Acre for an optional short visit to the Priory. Event prepared by Richard Gray Event open to JF members and their guests
Important! Booking and advanced payment is essential and places are limited.