A steady stream of movie makers searching for ready-made period sets find their quarry in the stunning stately homes and time-capsule towns of rural Lincolnshire. This sparsely populated corner of Eastern England has a reputation of being flat, plain and proper, although on closer inspection it’s remarkably varied and uncommonly friendly. County capital, Lincoln, is the perfect place to start, with a stunning Gothic cathedral, Tudor streetscapes and a dramatic hilltop location.
For such a small and stringy village, self-important Long Melford has a lot to boast of. For starters there are its two fine stately homes and a 2-mile High St that claims to be the longest in England, not to mention the stunning timber-framed buildings and antique shops that line it. Here too is a magni-ficent church, which presides over a sprawling village green that’s totally disproportionate to the village’s size.
A bustling market town of narrow lanes lined with Georgian and Victorian architecture, Louth straddles the River Lud between the Wolds to the west and the marshes of the Lincolnshire coast. The town is cleaved into two hemispheres, as the zero longitude line splits the town; it is marked by a plaque in Eastgate and sculptures dot the line as part of the Louth Art Trail. Louth’s other claim to fame is that it was the scene of a dramatic if short-lived revolt against Henry VIII in 1536.
There’s an old saying that folks in Norfolk ‘have one foot on the land, and one in the sea’ although in truth there’s a whole watery grey area in between. Seemingly spread by palette knife in a wide coastal arc, Norfolk is drizzled with inland waterways. The idyllic Norfolk Broads beckon for boating holidays. Bird-watchers flock to its marshy nature reserves, and the county’s shingly coastline is a largely unspoilt crescent, fringed by pretty flint houses and boats hauling in fresh shellfish. And when you’ve had enough peace and quiet, you can always head for bustling county town, Norwich; which in addition to castle, cathedral and medieval churches galore has the liveliest pubs, clubs and restaurants around.
Nature lovers, birders, boaties and anyone fond of splashing about in the water will undoubtedly want to linger in the county’s most beautiful attraction, the Norfolk Broads. A member of the national park’s family, the Broads are a mesh of navigable slow-moving rivers, freshwater lakes, wild water meadows, fens, bogs and saltwater marshes, flourishing nature reserves and bird sanctuaries that together form 125 miles of lock-free waterways.
Once described as having a pub for every day of the year and a church for every Sunday, vibrant Norwich (pronounced ‘norritch’) still has both in abundance and plenty more besides. These days the fabulous medieval wool churches that crop up on almost every street corner house everything from cybercafés to a puppet theatre in a heart-warming demonstration of how preservation and innovation can go hand in hand. Choice modern developments and the city’s artsy student population further ensure that its steep zigzagging warren of historic streets brim with activity. The city is home to a remarkable Norman keep and a marvellous cathedral, and while the city’s economic clout has waned considerably since its medieval heyday, Norfolk’s capital is still one of the region’s most appealing cities after Cambridge.
It was from this major medieval port that the Pilgrim Fathers – the first white settlers of the US – began their break for the freedom of the New World in 1607. These religious separatists suffered persecution and imprisonment, yet when word of their success made it back here, a crowd of locals followed them across the Atlantic to found a namesake town in the new colony of Massachusetts. Lying near the mouth of the River Witham, in the bay known as The Wash, the town is now a mere blip on the map in comparison to its US namesake, but it has hung onto much of its medieval appearance, timber-framed Tudor buildings and labyrinthine street grid with two main streets flanking the river and linked by footbridges.
The sprawling shopping-mad city of Peter-borough is home to a remarkable cathedral that alone justifies it as a day-trippers’ destination from Cambridge or London. And while the city’s high-gloss shopping malls are unlikely to quicken the pulse of visitors, they do inject a lively buzz into its streets. A scattering of other mildly interesting attractions beef up the town’s credentials, but really, see the cathedral and you can leave happy.
A new buzz with an old message has settled over the genteel market town of Bury St Edmunds of late. Once home to one of the most powerful monasteries of medieval Europe, the town has just seen the completion of its fine cathedral with a new Gothic lantern tower – a mere 500 years after the present building was begun.
One of the very prettiest of Eastern England’s seaside resorts, Southwold sits atop sturdy cliffs that have largely protected it from the fate of its increasingly subaquatic neighbours. Its reputation as a well-heeled holiday getaway has earned it the nickname ‘Kensington-on-Sea’ after the posh district of London, and its gorgeous sandy beach, pebble-walled cottages, cannon-dotted clifftop and rows of beachfront bathing huts are all undeniably picturesque. The occasional whiff of roasting malt is also a reminder that Southwold is home to the Adnams Brewery (727200; www.adnams.co.uk; Adnams Pl, Sole Bay Brewery), so what better excuse to try its creamy ales in one of the town’s old coaching inns.