Blickling Estate

About the museum

The Blickling estate was the site of a medieval manor that belonged to Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king. In the fifteenth century it passed to the Boleyn family, and Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was probably born here. After the family’s fall the house declined.

In 1616 the lawyer Sir Henry Hobart bought the estate and employed the architect Robert Lyminge to build a new family home on the remains of the Boleyn house. Hobart kept the medieval moat and reused the Tudor fabric, and the red-brick result is an outstanding Jacobean house. Its lavish interiors include the Long Gallery, which has one of the most important Jacobean plaster ceilings in the country. In 1742 John Hobart, later Earl of Buckinghamshire, received the book collection of his uncle Sir Richard Ellys, and the library now housed in the Long Gallery is one of the most significant in the country. Georgian interiors were added later, and the parkland was laid out around the house.

The estate then passed to the Lothian family, who left it to the National Trust. In the 1930s the garden designer Norah Lindsay created the parterre and the Temple Walk. During the Second World War the nearby airfield at Oulton was used by the RAF, and a small museum in the East Wing recalls its history. Today Blickling is a complete Norfolk estate, with a house, gardens, parkland, lake and farmland.

Highlights

• Jacobean house of about 1616 with a Long Gallery and plaster ceilings
• One of the most important historic libraries in the country
• Gardens with a parterre and the Temple Walk
• RAF Oulton Museum in the East Wing
• Parkland with lake walks and a multi-use trail

Permanent exhibitions

• The house – The Jacobean mansion with the Great Hall, the Long Gallery with its library, the 1930s-style Brown Drawing Room and the kitchen.
• RAF Oulton Museum – A small museum in the East Wing about the wartime airfield at Oulton.

Founded

1616

Operated by

National Trust

Admission & discounts

Admission covers the house and garden (prices for 2026 without Gift Aid; with Gift Aid the adult ticket costs £19.80). Entry is free for National Trust members. Car parking costs £5 per vehicle for non-members, paid by contactless or the JustPark app. Visitors who arrive without a car get 20% off entry.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Blue Badge parking is in the main car park, about 385 m from the house and garden entrance, with some accessible parking and a drop-off point in the Farmyard. Ramps lead into the East Wing, the house and the gardens, though some are steep, and there is gravel on the main drive and in the gardens. There is a limited lift in the house, for visitors who can leave the building by the stairs in an emergency. A Changing Places toilet is in the Farmyard (radar key from the shop), and accessible toilets are in the main car park, the East Wing and the Farmyard. Manual wheelchairs, mobility scooters and all-terrain wheelchairs can be borrowed; booking is recommended. Braille and large-print guides are available, and fixed induction loops are at all tills. The RAF museum is up stairs on the upper floor of the East Wing. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the house.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Baby changing facilities

Family activities include spotting trails in the house, hide and seek in the gardens, and cycling and den building in the woods. Baby changing is at the Estate Barn, near East Wing reception and in the Farmyard; high chairs are in the Stables Café and bottles can be warmed in the cafés.

Getting there & parking

The estate is on Blickling Road (old B1354), signposted from the A140 Norwich–Cromer road. Blickling is on the Weavers’ Way footpath, 2 miles from Aylsham, and cycle routes such as Marriott’s Way and the Bure Valley route lead to it.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Stables Café and Muddy Boots Café, a shop with plants, gifts and books, and the largest second-hand bookshop of any National Trust property. The Bucks Arms, a seventeenth-century pub (not run by the National Trust), is on the walk down from the main car park. Picnic benches are in the garden, the Farmyard and near the Estate Barn.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit