Other special places to visit

Bedfordshire

Willington Dovecote, Bedfordshire
© NTPL

Part of a historic manorial complex, this majestic Tudor dovecote has room for 1,500 nesting pigeons. The buildings contain stones that were probably taken from local priories during the dissolution.

Cambridgeshire

Houghton Mill

This is the last working watermill on the Great Ouse and is beautifully set on an island in the river. Milling is still done here on certain days and the stone-ground flour is often available to buy.

Ramsey Abbey Gatehouse

The Gatehouse is a 15th-century fragment of one of the oldest English monasteries, founded as early as the 7th century, when Ramsey was an island in the Fens.

Essex

Bourne Mill

Originally built as a fishing lodge, this delightful building was converted in the 19th century to become a fulling mill for processing woollen cloth and later a flour mill. It is set in a tranquil oasis in suburban Colchester beside a stream and millpond.

Coggeshall Grange Barn

This majestic building is one of the oldest surviving timber-framed barns in Europe and was originally part of a Cistercian monastery. It was restored in the 1980s and now contains a small collection of farm carts and wagons.

Paycocke's

This fine half-timbered house is evidence of the wealth generated by the East Anglian wool trade in the 15th and 16th centuries. It contains unusual panelling and woodcarving and houses a display of Coggeshall lace.

Rayleigh Mount

This motte and bailey mound is what remains of the castle erected by Sweyn of Essex and dates from the period following the Norman invasion of 1066.

Norfolk

Elizabethan House Museum

In this splendid quayside house visitors can experience the lives of families who lived here from Tudor to Victorian times. It has a children's playroom filled with toys from the past and there are lots of hands-on activities for the whole family.

St George's Guildhall

This is the largest surviving English medieval guildhall and was originally used by the Guild of St George for meetings and entertaining. The hall has had many uses but has often been used as a theatre; indeed Shakespeare is reputed to have once performed here. It now houses the King's Lynn Arts Centre.

The National Trust

Other special places to visit