All roads appear to lead to North Walsham in this part of North Norfolk. A market town bordering the River Ant and the Norfolk Broads and with a lineage that extends all the way back to Saxon Times. In the Domsday Book the town name was written as 'Walsam' and roughly translated from Anglo Saxon means Homestead of a Settler.

Here you will find a busy market town, whose numbers swell slightly during the summer months, but its streets at any time of the year are always astir with locals.  The town is in the North East Corner of Norfolk conveniently situated for both coast, the Broads and the City of Norwich which is just fourteen miles away.  The town has a train station which runs between Sheringham on the coast and inland to the City of Norwich with all its history and shopping experience.  In Norwich is the wonderful Norwich Cathedral.

North Walsham is a town of slim side streets, whilst walking around note the narrowness of the depth of the shops, a result of them having begun their lives as medieval stalls set in the churchyard. On the south side of the market place is Waterloo House which dates from 1790 and near it  three alleyways named Bank Loke, Swan Loke and Cross Keys Loke.  The word loke is the old word for alleyway.

The tiny Popes Passage on the north side of the churchyard was named after one William Pope who kept the adjoining shop early in the last century. if you traverse this narrow passageway you will find yourselves in the churchyard.

The Church - The beautiful south porch of the church of St. Nicholas, has a display of patronage and royal heraldry. In the gable niches is a modern statue of St. Nicholas, also St. Mary a previous patron and St. Bennett.

The large opening opposite the church itself is known as the ‘church opening’ . This is where the town crier and public dignitaries used to make their speeches from.

Up the road is the weaving village of Worstead where each year they hold the Worstead Festival.

The Market Cross dominates the market square and is both an ancient monument and a grade I listed building.There used to be a toll house in this area as early as 391. The market cross was built in the middle of the 16th century by one Tomas Thirlby who was then the Bishop of Norwich and lord of the manor of North Walsham and was used to collect market tolls, it was destroyed by fire in 1600 and subsequently rebuilt in 1602. In 1787 John Juler a watch-maker fitted a clock which had been taken from Worstead Hall and it subsequently became known as the town clock. It then passed into the hands of the ecclesiastic commissioners in 1830 and then was sold to the town and completely restored in 1899 and then again in 1983. The town clock is still used as a rendezvous and trysting place for young people as it probably used to used hundreds of years before.The adjacent drinking fountain was erected to commemorate the coronation of George v and queen Mary on 20th June 1912.

  On the west side on the Market Cross is a stone setting out the history of the cross.


There are many interesting tombstones, amongst them is the ornate tomb of Sir William Paston who founded the Paston School in 1606 an eminent member of a local family, famed for its letters.Sir William is shown in repose in armour resting comfortably on one elbow. The schools best known pupil was Horatio Nelson who left in 1771 at the age of 13 to join the crew of the Raisonable.