It is well worth taking a detour down the maze of lanes to the small inland village of Baconsthorpe where set amongst farming land are the ruins of Baconsthorpe Castle, now managed and maintained by English Heritage. 

This building used to belong to the Heydon family who originally came from the small Norfolk village of Heydon. Sir John Heydon was a lawyer of dubious repute who lived during the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV. He began work on the castle in the 15th century towards the end of the Wars of the Roses.

His family and their descendants lived in the castle until 1920 when one of the turrets collapsed. When the fortune of the Heydon family started to decline they began to demolish the castle and offered the stone for sale. There are award winning tea rooms in the village as well as a small general store and post office for your holiday provisions. 

The village does not have an inn, but the village of Hempstead just over a mile away does.  Easily within reach is the Georgian town of Holt considered to be one of the most attractive small towns in North Norfolk with a main street lined by Georgian buildings.

Here you will find the North Norfolk Railway on the outskirts of the town, with its steam trains that connects Holt with the seaside resort of Sheringham. For holiday accommodation in Baconsthorpe or closeby - self catering - bed and breakfast - camping and caravan - hotel - inns - guest house look at our accommodation pages.

Sheringham six miles away is a bustling seaside town with a market every Saturday and also on Wednesdays during the summer season. There are a number of art and craft and antique shops along with the normal shops that one would expect from a thriving community. Here you will fin a Little Theatre which is a year round art centre, promoting music films and drama.

Sherngham also has a train line that runs all the way into historic Norwich. In the hills southwest of Sheringham lies the home of a Regency gentleman, a house of grey brick in a setting of trees azaleas and rhododendrons. The park now managed by the National Trust was designed by Humphry Repton, one of the great landscape gardeners who followed Capability Brown.

Legend has it that the tunnels that are said to be located in the Guildhall at Blakeney link up with Baconsthorpe even though it is some 8 miles away.

The Heydons were connected to The Boleyns of Blickling Hall through marriage. Anne Boleyns great aunt who was also called Anne, married Thomas Heydon.