Aylsham

Featured  hotels

Featured  cottages

Tourist information

Aylsham is a thriving market town, situated beside the upper reaches of the River Bure, in rolling countryside, and within easy reach of both the beautiful North Norfolk coast and the unique Norfolk Broads. Predating the Norman Conquest, the town's name is thought to be Saxon, and was referred to as 'Elesham' in the Domesday Book (1086). For over 500 years, Aylsham was a national centre of textile production, first for the manufacture of linen, and later worsted fabric.

Centrally positioned in the town, and adjacent to the pretty Georgian market place, the Blackboys public house has been a popular watering hole since the 17^th century, especially on Monday market days, when the crowds throng to Keys Auction Rooms to buy everything from fine antiques and paintings to garden plants and implements. A flourishing farmers market is held on the first Saturday of the month.

Just one and half miles north west of the town lies the stunning National Trust property of Blickling Hall. A sumptuous Jacobean hall, surrounded by well-manicured parklands and gardens, the house was once the ancestral home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I. Both Anne, and her father Sir Thomas, are reputed to haunt the Hall.

Close to Blickling Hall, the newly-refurbished 17^th century Buckinghamshire Arms, and the local über-delicatessen, Samphire, provide the visitor with the very best in Norfolk produce: from rare breed sausages and Gloucester Old Spot pork pies, Cromer crab and Colmans Mustard, to Norfolk cider and beer from the Adnams, Woodforde's and Wolf breweries. Only slightly further afield, the Walpole Arms at Itteringham offers an award-winning pub and scrumptious food.

Ecclesiastical architecture buffs need to look no further than the amazing churches at Salle, Cawston and Booton. Close by too, at Heydon - one of only 12 privately-owned villages in Britain - visitors to this unique cul-de-sac village can choose between the delights of the Village Tea Rooms and the Earle's Arms, before viewing the wall paintings in the church of St Peter and St Paul, or walking in the grounds of Heydon Hall.

For the more energetic visitor, Aylsham is well-placed for some of the best in rural walks, horse riding and cycling. Utilising decommissioned railway lines, the footpath and bridleway offers one of the longest (26 miles) traffic-free cycle routes in the country, linking the 21 miles of the Marriott's Way (Norwich to Aylsham) and the nine miles of the Bure Valley (Railway) Walk (Aylsham to Wroxham), with the 56 miles of the Weaver's Way (Cromer to Great Yarmouth), and forming part of the National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 1. Part of the Marriott's Way, the Thelmelthorpe Curve, is believed to have been the sharpest bend in the British Rail network, and was constructed in 1960 to maintain a link with concrete production at Lenwade.