Sights in Eastern England
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Cambridge & County Folk Museum
Next door to Kettle's Yard, this 300-year-old former inn now cluttered with a wonderfully diverse collection of domestic tools and equipment from 1700 onwards.
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Doddington Hall
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Church of St Peter & St Paul
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Church of St Edmund
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Burghley House
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Belton House
About 3 miles northeast of Grantham, Belton House is a dream location for English period dramas – indeed, the mansion crops up in numerous period romps from the BBC, including Jane Eyre, Tom Jones and the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice. Built in 1688 in classic Restoration style, the house features some stunning period details, including ornate woodcarvings attributed to the master Dutch carver Grinling Gibbons, as well as elegant formal gardens. Centrebus 9 (15 minutes) and Stagecoach bus 1 run here from near Grantham train station.
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Waterside Antiques Centre
The largest place in East Anglia for antiques and collectables.
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Usher Gallery
A handsome Edwardian building, decorated with carvings of cow skulls, houses the town gallery's impressive collection of works by such greats as Turner, Lowry and English watercolourist, Peter de Wint (1784–1849).
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True's Yard
Housed in two restored fishermen's cottages – the only remainder of the bustling, fiercely independent fishing community that once lived in this part of the city – this museum looks at the traditions and difficult lives of the fishermen and their families, who were packed into such cottages like sardines.
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Trinity Hall College
Henry James once wrote of the delightfully diminutive Trinity Hall (‘Tit Hall’ to students), 'If I were called upon to mention the prettiest corner of the world, I should draw a thoughtful sigh and point the way to the gardens of Trinity Hall'. Wedged cosily among the great and the famous, but unconnected to better-known Trinity, it was founded in 1350 as a refuge for lawyers and clerics escaping the ravages of the Black Death, thus earning it the nickname, the 'Lawyers' College'. The college's 16th-century library has original Jacobean reading desks and chained books (an early antitheft device) on the shelves, while the chapel is one of the most beautiful of the…
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Trinity College
The largest of Cambridge's colleges, Trinity is entered through an impressive Tudor gateway first created in 1546. As you walk through, have a look at the statue of the college's founder, Henry VIII, that adorns it. His left hand holds a golden orb, while his right grips not the original sceptre but a table leg, put there by student pranksters and never replaced. It's a wonderful introduction to one of Cambridge's most venerable colleges, and a reminder of who really rules the roost.
As you enter the Great Court, scholastic humour gives way to wonderment, for it is the largest of its kind in the world. To the right of the entrance is a small tree, planted in the 1950s and…
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Tombland & Elm Hill
In the heart of the city, near the cathedral, lies leafy Tombland, where the market was originally located. Despite its ominous overtones, 'tomb' is an old Norse word for 'empty', hence the space for a market. Cross over and follow Princes St to reach Elm Hill – Norwich’s prettiest street, with its medieval cobblestones, crooked timber beams and doors, intriguing shops and tucked away cafes. It's one of the oldest intact streets in the city and now the centre of the local antiques business.
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Toad Hole Cottage
This tiny cottage was home to a marshman and his family and is restored in period style, showing how the family lived and the tools they used to work the marshes around them. Nearby is a beautiful thatched Edwardian mansion and a picturesque nature trail.
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Sutton Hoo
Somehow missed by plundering grave robbers and left undisturbed for 1300 years, the hull of an enormous Anglo-Saxon ship was discovered here in 1939, buried under a mound of earth. The ship was the final resting place of Raedwald, King of East Anglia until AD 625, and was stuffed with a fabulous wealth of Saxon riches. The massive effort that went into his burial gives some idea of just how important an individual he must have been.
Many of the original finds and a full-scale reconstruction of his ship and burial chamber can be seen in the visitors centre. The finest treasures, including the king's exquisitely crafted helmet, shields, gold ornaments and Byzantine silver,…
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St Mary's Church
With the longest nave of any parish church in England, St Mary's contains the tomb of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII's sister and a one-time queen of France). Built around 1430, it also has a host of vampire-like angels swooping from its roof, and a bell is still rung to mark curfew, as it was in the Middle Ages.
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St Helen’s Church
Known locally as the 'Cathedral of the Broads', this 14th-century church dominates the pretty village of Ranworth. Inside there's a magnificent painted medieval rood screen, some wonderful stained glass and in a bulletproof cabinet by the main door, a 15th-century antiphoner, a rare illustrated book of prayers. The second antiphoner from the church is in the British Library in London.
For wonderful views of the surrounding broads, climb the series of ladders to the top of the tower. There's also a small visitors centre in a converted coach house next door with displays on East Anglia's churches.
The church is next to a large nature reserve. Follow the leafy woodland path to…
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St Bene't's Church
The oldest structure in the county, the Saxon tower of this Franciscan church was built around 1025. The round holes above the belfry windows were designed to offer owls nesting privileges: they were valued as mouse killers.
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Scott Polar Research Institute
The Scott Polar Institute, founded with part of the relief fund set up in the wake of the ill-fated Scott expedition to the South Pole, these days takes a lead role in climate change research and has an excellent museum that focuses on polar exploration, charting the feats of the likes of Amundsen, Nansen and Scott himself. Regardless of whether you see Scott as a valiant explorer or a vain, poorly prepared expedition leader whose bad decisions led to the demise of his team, it’s difficult not to be moved by the collection of artefacts, such as paintings, photographs, clothing, equipment and maps, journals and last messages left for loved ones by Scott’s polar crew.
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Mustard Shop
Though it's more shop than museum, this replica Victorian shop tells the 200-year story of Colman's Mustard, a famous local product, and sells every type of mustard you can think of. It's in the lavish art-nouveau Royal Arcade, which has been a shopping gallery since the late 19th century.
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Museum of the Broads
Learn about the traditional Broads' boats, the wherries, the marshmen who gathered reeds and sedge for thatching and litter, and the history and lifestyles of the area at this modest museum. There are displays on everything from early settlements to peat extraction and modern conservation. Visitors can also take a trip on a steam launch (adult/child £3.50/2.50) hourly from 11am to 3pm.
The museum is about 5 miles north of Potter Heigham off the A149.
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Lawn
The lush grounds of the town's former lunatic asylum contain the ornamental Dawber Gardens and the Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory, containing descendants of some of the plants brought back by the botanist who accompanied Captain Cook to Australia.
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King's College Chapel
In a city crammed with show-stopping architecture, this is the show stealer. Chances are you will already have seen it on a thousand postcards, tea towels and choral CDs before you catch your first glimpse of the grandiose King's College Chapel, but still it inspires awe. It's one of the most extraordinary examples of Gothic architecture in England, begun in 1446 as an act of piety by Henry VI and finished by Henry VIII around 1516. Its steeples have long been a magnet for night climbers.
While you can enjoy stunning front and back views of the chapel from King's Pde and the river, the real drama is within. Mouths drop open upon first glimpse of the inspirational …
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Kettle's Yard
If you like snooping around other people’s houses (let’s face it, most of us do!), you’ll love this very personal glimpse into the incredible home of HS 'Jim' Ede, a former curator at the Tate Gallery in London. Ring the bell of this deceptively small cottage (which turns out to be much bigger on the inside, like the TARDIS) and then wander around the rooms at your leisure, where all the furniture, ceramics and art – such as the collection of 20th-century works by the likes of Miró, Henry Moore and others – is arranged just so, and you get a real sense of the man’s personality. Look out for the pebble spiral and don’t forget to peek into the attic. There are also…
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Jesus College
This tranquil 15th-century college was once a nunnery of St Radegund before the Bishop of Ely, John Alcock, expelled the nuns for ‘improvidence, extravagance and incontinence’. Highlights include a Norman arched gallery, a 13th-century chancel, and art-nouveau features by Pugin, William Morris (ceilings), Burne-Jones (stained glass) and Ford Madox Brown. Illustrious alumni include Thomas Cranmer, burnt for his faith in Oxford during the Reformation, and long-running (58 years!) BBC radio journalist Alistair Cook. And no, in spite of what some tour guides may tell you, Jesus did not attend Jesus College.
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