National Trust.
There was a house here in the 15th century, but the current Blickling Hall was built on the ruins of the old Boleyn property in the reign of James I, by Sir Henry Hobart. It is a large Jacobean red-brick house with two internal courtyards. The library at Blickling Hall contained and still contains historically significant collections of manuscripts and books.
Outside, there is a formal parterre to the east, and elsewhere a Wilderness garden, a Secret garden, lawns, a kitchen garden, and a large yew hedge on the approach to the house. The wider Park comprises 450 acres of parkland, and beyond that is an estate of 3500 acres of farmlands.
Unusually the service wings, attractively constructed in red brick, are in front of the house, and to either side of the large front lawn. It looks quite impressive, and there is a lot to see inside, with about 18 rooms open to visitors, and quite a lot of interesting contents and impressive plaster ceilings. The Long Gallery is 123 ft long. Outside, I explored the large informal gardens with trees and an Orangery etc, and the formal garden. The large park was big enough to completely lose the preparations for an open-air concert scheduled for the evening of the day I visited. I didn’t see the RAF exhibition. Parking is free (for NT members).
It’s possible to visit Blickling Hall and the nearby Felbrigg in one day. If so doing, it’s advisable to start with the Blickling gardens at around 10am, and to devote more time to Blickling, which is larger and has more to look at.
