_Where to find Normans in Norfolk

The biggest landscape and cultural impact in Norfolk’s history was the arrival of the all-Conquering Normans. And what they’ve left behind, a thousand years on, is a rich heritage of monuments to their ecclesiastical piety and military prowess.

Who were the Normans?

The Normans who conquered England in 1066 were originally Vikings (Norman derives from Northmen) who settled in northern France, in what became Normandy. They gained a reputation for their military conquests and cultural influence across Europe and into the Mediterranean.

Norfolk is one of England's greatest Norman counties and it was actually the Normans’ administrative system from which the county comes – the invaders resolved the issue of the North and South peoples of the East Angles by making Norfolk and Suffolk and creating a sheriff over both.

The Normans also changed the way we called ourselves – they were keen to have surnames (note the French first syllable) that indicated a flag under which you would fight or a duke to whom you had allegiance. 

Norwich's role as the county capital dates from the post Conquest era when the Normans built the castle, now Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, and Bishop De Losinga moved his headquarters from Thetford and founded Norwich Cathedral. Norwich became England's second largest medieval city after London and today is our most complete medieval city.

Where can I see Normans in Norfolk?

There's so much Norman heritage around Norfolk – here’s our top Norman places to visit.

Norwich Castle

There have been castles by the Romans, the Tudors and the Saxons, but it was the Normans who came to the country in 1066 who really knew how to make stone edifices that dominated their surroundings and stand the test of time. Norwich Castle is testament to that.

They weren’t defending against invasion, but to show who the boss was – they made a statement of conquest. Norwich Castle was established in 1067 by William the Conqueror as a wooden fort, continued by his son William ‘Rufus’ and completed as a stone Royal Palace by his brother Henry I in 1121.

The castle was built in Caen stone, brought from France and transported along the river system to a special canal built next to Pull’s Yard, demonstrating Norwich’s wealth at the time. (Talking of castles, it was Norfolk-born Sir Edward Coke, Queen Elizabeth I’s Lord Chief Justice, and the man who began the family dynasty that resulted in the building of Holkham Hall, who coined the phrase, An Englishman’s home is his castle’).

Having suffered centuries of erosion, the castle we see today was actually refaced in Bath limestone in the 19th century.

Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral is the most complete Norman cathedral in the UK, founded in 1096 by Bishop Herbert de Losinga. The main building and many of the monastic buildings were finished in 1140 by his successor Bishop Everard de Montgomery.

The Cathedral was actually built as a penance. De Losinga had bought the Bishopric and full of remorse he travelled to Rome to see the Pope who ordered the building of the cathedral in order to be forgiven.

Castle Rising Castle

Castle Rising Castle near King's Lynn was built by William D'Albini (1109-1176). Building of the castle was begun in 1138 by the Norman lord William d'Albini for his new wife, the widow of Henry I, and the keep, one of the largest, best preserved and most lavishly decorated keeps in England, was completed around 1140. It is surrounded by 20 acres of mighty earthworks.

In the 14th century it became the luxurious residence of Queen Isabella, widow (and alleged murderess) of Edward II.

Wymondham Abbey

In 1107 a priory was founded at Wymondham as a daughter house of the Benedictine Abbey of St Albans.

The abbey church was built with stone specially imported from Caen in Normandy and was originally modelled on Norwich Cathedral.

Though the priory was a Benedictine monastery, the founder, William d'Aubigny, who served Henry I as Chief Butler, insisted that the church should also serve as the parish church for Wymondham.

Unfortunately, an argument ensued over who had control of the Abbey and, referred to Pope Innocent IV in 1249, he wisely divided responsibility equally.

In 1538 the abbey, like other monastic houses in England, was dissolved by Henry VIII, who appointed a local man John Flowerdew to administer ‘his’ abbey.

This Flowerdew allowed his men to destroy parts of the church which the townsfolk had raised money to purchase and preserve for their own use.

Flowerdew's actions helped galvanise support for the short-lived Kett’s Rebellion of 1549.

Binham Priory

One of the most complete and impressive monastic ruins in Norfolk, this Benedictine priory near Wells-next-the-Sea was founded in 1091 by Peter des Valoines, a nephew of William the Conqueror. The building was not finished until the middle of the 13th century.

It’s said many of the priors were unscrupulous and the priory’s history is one of almost continuous scandal!

The impressive church, which shared the site, survived the 16th century Dissolution of the Monasteries and the nave, with splendid 13th century west front and fine tiers of Norman arches, is still used as the parish church.

Castle Acre

Castle Acre near Swaffham is a planned Norman settlement comprising the castle, church, village and priory (run by English Heritage) established after the Conquest by William de Warenne.

New Buckenham Castle

New Buckenham Castle near Attleborough and New Buckenham village were created by William D'Albini around 1145. The castle was completed in 1176 and the village is renowned for retaining its original medieval street pattern. There’s not a lot left, but the nearby countryside is idyllic.

Thetford Castle Mound

Thetford Castle Mound comprises the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle, built soon after 1066 and dismantled in 1173. It is one of largest man-made mounds in the country.

Thetford Priory

Established in the early 12th century, Thetford Priory was one of the most important East Anglian monasteries and was the burial place of the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk for 400 years.

Walsingham Abbey

Walsingham, ‘England's Nazareth' was one of the great medieval pilgrimage destinations and continues to this day as a Christian pilgrimage centre.