The Ham Nomads

25 Oct 2014. <GB-ENG> Norwich, & Castle Acre, Norf —

We woke up to a lovely morning, with the sun streaming through the trees picking out the light mist. The condensation on the inside of our windscreen has to be seen to be believed — pretty, especially when picked out by an autumn leaf or two on the outside!

We spent a little time in the van packing up another box of guidebooks and brochures to send home — this will be the fourth! Then we bid goodbye to Hevingham and went into Norwich, to the car park we found yesterday (well, almost — we ended up in a pay-and-display car park just round the corner, which allowed us to stay a little longer. We walked into the city centre and sent off the box of goodies. Then we looked around the market — the largest six-day market in the UK, and right in the centre of the city!

Then we wandered down to the Cathedral. We couldn't get into the nave, as Norwich City College was having its graduation ceremony in there, but we were able to wander through the Cloister, the Choir, the Presbytery, and the side Chapels, which were quite enough to get on with!

The cathedral, a great Norman church, was founded by Herbert de Losinga in 1096, and the Cathedra (the Bishop's throne) is still situated where he placed his, directly behind the High Altar, facing straight down towards the nave. We were able to look into the nave, where the graduation ceremony was in progress, but only from a distance.

The vaulted ceiling about 72 feet overhead is spectacular to say the least, and the cathedral is 72 feet wide across the nave and aisles — is this coincidence? It's 407 feet long, and its spire reaches up to 315 feet. Does the word HUGE come to mind? Yet, in spite of its sheer size, it has an elegance that you cannot help but admire.

The altar pieces are exquisite.

We explored the cathedral for about an hour, but then had to get back to the van before our time ran out. We then set off for Castle Acre, a village about 20 miles westward. There's an old Priory there, that dates to about the same time as Norwich Cathedral. But, whereas Norwich was Benedictine, Castle Acre was Cluniac. (We had visited the Abbey at Cluny during our trip in 1980, because Warren had studied the Cluniac reforms as part of his Medieval history studies!) This priory is a ruin, thanks to Henry VII and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but the Prior's quarters are fairly intact, still roofed, as they were so grand that they were worth converting into a manor! This is the largest and most intact priory in the UK dating back to this period!

The village itself is a little hair-raising to navigate — there's a warning as you go in that vehicles larger than 6'6" wide cannot get through — and we're a little wider than that. Tried it, and made it. We were hoping they incorporated a little leeway in their measures!

After wandering the Priory for an hour or so, we left Castle Abbey and retired (via a McDonalds we had noticed) to a large layby on the A47, about 3 miles from the village.

Distance driven — today, 22 miles ( 46 km ); to date, 9,191 miles ( 14,792 km )