Places to see Directory

The earthworks at Castle Hill have been dated to a number of periods, and local folklore even links it to the Devil. Castle Hill motte and bailey castle is one of the most impressive examples of this type of monument in the region; the motte is the highest in the county of Norfolk, and the surrounding earthworks, including those parts Read more…

Named after the legendary warrior and Queen of the Iceni whose tribes once inhabited the area, the Boudicca Way runs for approximately 36 miles between Norwich and Diss, roughly parallel with the old Roman ‘Pye’ Road (now the A140). View an overview map of Boudicca Way (PDF download 280kb) or view Boudicca Way on the interactive map. Boudicca Way passes through the rural, Read more…

Just over a mile from Thetford, heading towards Brandon, you’ll find the ruins of Thetford Warren Lodge on the left hand side of the road. This was a small tower house built in the late medieval period to house the gamekeeper who protected Thetford Priory’s rabbit warren from poachers. In those days Thetford was surrounded by sandy heathland, not the Read more…

The BTO’s Nunnery Lakes Reserve is a County Wildlife Site which lies to the south of Thetford between the Rivers Thet and Little Ouse. It follows a series of lakes created by old gravel workings, and contains a rich variety of Breckland habitats within a relatively small area. These include dry, sandy heathland, wet woodland and flood meadow, which are Read more…

Angles Way is a 93 mile walking trail following the county boundary of Norfolk and Suffolk, gently meandering from Great Yarmouth through to Thetford. After Breydon Water (near Great Yarmouth) Angles Way follows the Waveney Valley to the source of the River Waveney, passing through open countryside, broad river valleys, pretty villages and the ancient market towns of Beccles, Bungay, Harleston Read more…

The Little Ouse Trail walk is approximately 15kms (9 miles) in length with opportunities to make detours or develop your own circular walk using rights of way and forest tracks. The route from Thetford to Brandon train station is predominately flat following the slowly winding course of the Little Ouse River and allows you to experience the wide range of Read more…

Breckland is one of the UK’s biodiversity hotspots and the designation of much of Knettishall Heath as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) reflects this. Despite its name, Knettishall Heath is in fact a diverse mosaic of habitats with woodland and riverside meadows, as well as large areas of heath. It extends to over 430 acres. The open landscape Read more…

Grime’s Graves is the only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in Britain. This grassy lunar landscape of 400 pits was first named Grim’s Graves by the Anglo-Saxons. It was not until one of them was excavated in 1870 that they were identified as flint mines dug over 5,000 years ago. A small exhibition area illustrates the history of this Read more…

Visit the extensive remains of Thetford Priory one of the most important East Anglian monasteries, the Cluniac Priory of Our Lady of Thetford and the burial place of the earls and dukes of Norfolk for 400 years. Founded in the early 12th century, it owed much of its prosperity to a miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary, whose statue here was Read more…

The Priory of the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre was an Augustinian house, found in 1148 by William of Warenne on the south bank of the river, opposite the site of St Mary’s Priory. The priory was endowed with lands by Warenne and by King Stephen, and the possession of a holy relic, the comb of Thomas Becket, ensured that Read more…