Deepdale Backpackers & Camping Blog

Castle Acre and Bailey Gate
The delightful village of Castle Acre boasts an extraordinary wealth of history.
Situated on the Peddar’s Way, a major trade and pilgrim route to Thetford, Bromholm Priory and Walsingham, it is a very rare and complete survival of a Norman planned settlement, including a castle, town, parish church and associated monastery.  All this is the work of a great Norman baronial family, the Warennes, mainly during the 11th and 12th centuries.
First came the castle, founded soon after the Conquest by the first William de Warenne, initially as a stone ‘country house’.  During the first half of the 12th century, however, more disturbed conditions prompted its progressive conversion into a strong keep, further defended by stone walls and an immense system of ditched earthworks.  Still impressively visible, these are perhaps the finest village earthworks in England.
Visitors to Castle Acre can likewise trace the ancient street layout of this now peaceful village, lined with attractive flint or brick houses, before exploring both the great castle earthworks and the extensive priory remains.
It is open year round and your K9 pal is allowed on a lead.  And the best news of all….it’s free!
www.english-heritage.org.uk

Castle Acre Priory
Among the ruinous walls and towers of this extensive site, there are superb examples of rich mouldings, blind arcading and ornate carved detail, absolutely typical of late Norman architecture.  Although most of the ashlar facing has been stripped from the walls and piers of the church, and nothing substantial has survived beyond the crossing to the east end, the West Front stands almost to full height and retains much of its magnificent decoration.
Castle Acre Priory presents an image of contrasts: there’s such splendid detail and completeness in some of the buildings, yet much of the ruinous site comprises little more than strange, craggy lumps of flint, almost unrecognisable; there’s a distinct ‘monastic’ presence, yet the apparent opulence is more in keeping with a grand old manor house; and, finally, there is plenty of evidence of different building periods, yet the detailed history of Castle Acre Priory appears very sketchy.
With the attractive ruins of Castle Acre Priory set in Norfolk, a county renowned for its ‘gentleness’ and less-hurried pace of life, this provides a perfect combination for the visitor seeking a place of calm and serenity. This must be a welcome refuge, if only temporarily, from today’s fast-moving world.
A wonderful historic visit for you and your pooch!

Castle Rising
Castle Rising Castle is one of the most famous 12th Century castles in England.
The stone keep, built in around 1140ad, is amongst the finest surviving examples of its kind anywhere in the country and, together with the massive surrounding earthworks, ensures that Rising is a castle of national importance.
In its time Rising has served as a hunting lodge, royal residence, and for a brief time in the 18th century even housed a mental patient. The most famous period in its history was when it came to the mother of Edward III, Queen Isabella, following her part in the murder of her husband Edward II.
The castle passed to the Howard family in 1544 and it remains in their hands today, the current owner being a descendant of William D’Albini II, the Norman baron who raised the castle.
Dogs are very welcome everywhere – including in the shop – as long as they are on a lead. As with everything else please remember to clean up after your dog – it won’t pass as an antique!

Thetford Priory
Roger Bigod had accompanied William the Conqueror throughout the Norman invasion of 1066, but his act for a community of Cluniac monks in a remote Norfolk village was a more peaceful affair altogether.  It was Bigod, by now an old man, who founded Thetford Priory, and who laid the foundation stone of the new church in September 1107 before he died the following week.
By the end of the 12th century Thetford Priory church and many of the domestic buildings had been completed, but extensive improvements and elaborate additions were carried out almost to the end of its monastic life. Largely due to the legend of powerful miracles surrounding an image of ‘Our Lady’ that once adorned Thetford Cathedral but was later moved to the priory, the monastery became a noted place of pilgrimage for the sick and this, in turn, increased the wealth of Thetford Priory. A beautiful Lady Chapel was incorporated at the north east end of the church as a result of one of the ‘miracle cures’, and this was further extended when the presbytery was lengthened and squared off during the 13th century.
A very different picture greets the unsuspecting visitor today. Thetford Priory is now a sadly ruinous site with few remains standing to any height. The fragments that have survived are little more than eroded lumps of barely recognisable structures showing nothing of their former ornate glory, the rest consists of column bases, reconstructed stone altar bases, and a few scattered relics such as a small oven in the sacristy.
About a mile or so from Thetford Priory is another medieval structure, thought to be the house of the prior’s gamekeeper. Although standing today in an enclosed forest, the late 14th century/early 15th century square building known as ‘Thetford Warren Lodge’ can be viewed from the perimeter fence. Much closer to Thetford Priory is the site of another small priory, belonging to the Church of the Canons of The Holy Sepulchre. Only a quarter of a mile south of Thetford, the 14th century remains of this priory consist mostly of rough flint and rubble walls along the nave of the church. Although there is so little to see, it is well worth a trip as they are the only remains in England of a building of this religious order, and there is quite a bit of history available.
A well learned escort will now accompany you and pass judgment on those loveable K9’s still chasing their own tails!

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You can usually meet Merlin and Jazz at Deepdale Backpackers & Camping on the beautiful north Norfolk coast – www.deepdalebackpackers.co.uk
Eco-friendly backpackers hostel, campsite, tipis, yurts and group hostel

You can read about Merlin and Jazz’s adventures on the Deepdale Backpackers & Camping Blog – www.deepdalebackpackers.co.uk/blog