Saturday, April 7, 2018

Norfolk Rhapsody

On our bucket list was a trip to the coast. We settled on Old Hunstanton Beach in Norfolk (click here for a map):
  The main draw (for me) was the red cliffs:



Next stop, Castle Rising, once owned by Isabella, "The She-wolf of France," and her grandson Edward, "The Black Prince":

In 1544, King Henry the VIII either gave or sold the castle to Thomas Howard, and it has remained in the Howard family ever since--which makes me wonder: Did my ancestors live here?

(My great-great-great-grandfather, Barnabas Howard, was born in Pennsylvania in 1791. I have not yet been able to trace a connection back to Thomas Howard or to his niece, Catherine, Henry's ill-fated 5th wife.)


Of the three Norman castles we have visited in England, Castle Rising was by far the most fun, partly because it doesn't take itself too seriously:
It also has particularly well-preserved earthworks or "baileys":







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