Mannington Estate 🌳🐦
We’re always on the lookout for good Norfolk walks, and we found a great new destination today!
Mannington Estate – a 25 minute drive from us, it’s a brilliant spot for a walk with a bit of everything: well-kept gardens, woodland trails, meadows, an arboretum, and even a boardwalk out across a wild wetland full of wildlife. If you have a canine friend, it’s all dog-friendly (on leads), and it’s a genuinely peaceful place to while-away a few hours. The formal gardens are paid-for (£12pp) and open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10am – 4pm. The rest of the estate is free and you can roam to your heart’s content.
We decided to walk around the nature trail first. We took the boardwalks through the superbly-conserved wildlife meadows and ended up at a bird hide which overlooked a lake. We sat there quietly, watching the activity, and suddenly the sound of many frogs, croaking their excitement about whatever it is that frogs get excited about. We wished we’d brought binoculars with us, though! We both agreed we could have easily sat there for an hour, just enjoying the tranquil views.
We walked in a loop and ended up back at the visitors centre and car park (parking is £2, btw, and payable in the visitors centre, but they don’t publicise it onsite – we didn’t see any signs and it was only when we read the leaflet on our return home when we realised – oops).
There’s also a cafe with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating serving a large selection of delicious pastries and cakes. We can personally vouch for the chocolate brownie (so large and rich I couldn’t finish it!) and the pistachio danish, which Paul said was amazing.
Next to the cafe stands Mannington Hall in all its splendour. Moated, 15th century, wisteria-draped, and home to Lady Walpole. It’s closed to the public, but it’s so lovely to walk around and look at from every angle.
We also stumbled across the Chapel Gardens, which is across the road. A hidden chapel ruin among pretty woodland.
TOP TIPS FOR VISITING MANNINGTON ESTATE:
✨️ Wear long legs, as there can be nettles if you walk off-piste into the public footpaths
✨️ Take binoculars if you want the best experience, pocket ones will do!
Make a weekend of it – stay at No4 Cromer
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We’ve done our best to make things easy, so you can get on with the important stuff, like making memories. We hope you’ll love it here.
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Lovely stuff.