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30th September 2016

The best UK Holiday at Cranmer Country Cottages

We recently had the pleasure of welcoming guest Martin Smith and his family, including dog Tilly, to stay at our dog friendly, End Cottage. They had a fantastic two weeks with us making the most of our facilities and exploring all the many things to do around us in beautiful North Norfolk.

Tilly felt very at home
Martin says:
“Staying at End Cottage. Just excellent. Welcomed with homemade cake and milk in the fridge for that well-earned cuppa from travelling. Both front and back gardens were dog proof, and large! All the beds were comfortable and we especially enjoyed the master bedroom with its double aspect. I will really miss looking out at the birds in the hedgerow each morning with my cup of coffee!
The “freshen up” service after the first week was a very nice touch, with the bedding being replaced and the house cleaned through.
The indoor swimming pool was such a bonus – a swim before dinner for the whole family after a day out was greatly appreciated. We also had a lot of fun playing tennis.
Around the cottages there was plenty of wildlife to watch. Rabbits made the kids smile, and the birdlife included kestrels, wrens, chaffinches and goldfinches, pied wagtails nesting and a pair of Tawny owls at night calling each other.”


Martin has also kindly recommended his top picks of things to do in North Norfolk:
  • ·         Visit Fakenham Fairways for Pitch and Putt.
  • ·         Enjoy a boat trip to see the seals.
  • ·         Have a walk around Holkham Estate to see the house and the deer.
  • ·         Visit Langham glass to blow your own souvenirs.
  • ·         Take in the beach at Brancaster
Martin is a keen bird watcher and also adds:
“I really enjoyed a couple (or 3) trips to RSPB Titchwell and was particularly pleased to be able to tick a few more rare species off the list, especially the Bearded tit and the Spoonbill. We also walked around SculthorpeNature Reserve and although not as much wildlife, we were entertained by the Nuthatches at very close quarters.
We ate out at the Mill house, Sculthorpe which wasn’t bad, the Plume of Feathers at South Creake (actually very good, and much larger servings) and the Bowling Green. Another favourite was the Café at Creake Abbey. The food, a little pricey, was very good, as was the coffee. The surrounding shops were also very tempting!
Partly due to the weather, but also the accommodation and North Norfolk coast has made the last two weeks probably the best UK holiday we can remember!”
Autumn and winter are great times of year to visit Norfolk, there tend to be less people about but an abundance of wildlife!
Call us on 01328 823135 or visit our website to check availability and book your best UK holiday!
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10th February 2015

Channelling your inner Wolf Hall

We are kicking off February half term this year by ‘chanelling our inner Wolf Hall‘. Despite all things Tudor having been explored again and again by dramatists and historians, this BBC series has shone a fresh light on this fascinating period of our history.
Cranmer is a great place to explore Norfolk’s Tudor history and links with Wolf Hall. First of all we have Blickling Hall, Anne Boleyn’s birthplace. Although the original Tudor manor house no longer exists, Anne Boleyn’s ghost is said to the haunt the Jacobean hall on the anniversary of her execution. Oxburgh Hall once welcomed Henry V11 and his wife and Henry V111 and his wife, Catherine of Aragon were frequent visitors to the Augustinian Priory at Walsingham, just 5 miles from Cranmer. In her will, Catherine asked for someone to go on pigrimage to Walsingham and distribute money on her behalf on the way and records show that Anne Boleyn announced her intention of visiting Walsingham on pilgrimage during the heady period of her history with Henry.
Henry V111 is reported to have stayed at East Barsham Hall where he broke his journey before walking barefoot to the Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham. Although the house is in private hands, you are able to see this magnificent Tudor house from the road from Fakenham to Walsingham.
In 1538 Thomas Cromwell ordered the dissolution of the Priory and what you can see today is the ruins including the magnificent East window arch. In the crypt you will find a timeline of the history of Walsingham but what makes the Abbey so special at this time of year is the magnificent carpet of snowdrops in the 20 acres of grounds. It’s well worth a visit.
Walsingham Priory before the Dissolution
The connection with Wolf Hall gets even stronger – some of the books used in the series were created by Allan Barton, who runs the Martlet Gallery in Walsingham High Street – well worth a visit for his handmade paper and notebooks.

If Game of Thrones is more your thing, there is plenty of violence and bloodshed in Walsingham’s history. During the period leading up to the dissolution, reports were made to Cromwell of the dissipation and corruption of the Priory and there were even rumours of ‘dark arts and the philosopher’s stone’. In 1537 several ‘conspirators’ were condemned to be ‘hung, drawn and quartered’ including the Sub-prior who was executed in Walsingham. The village itself is also very interesting with shops, places to eat and drink. Lose yourself in its history.

If history doesn’t appeal there plenty of other things to do at half-term. The North Norfolk Railway is running its steam trains from Holt to Sheringham and for wildlife lovers Pensthorpe has special events planned for the holiday.Further afield is the magic kingdom of Bewilderwood.
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21st February 2013

A flexible events venue with a green twist

The Green Room was the final barn to be fully refurbished at Cranmer and opened in October 2012. The aim of this room was to offer a fully functional events venue that’s available to local businesses to book and use for meetings and events whilst also being an intimate venue to host yoga classes, showcase holistic therapies and exhibit local artwork and photography displays.

In addition to this, the Green Room is also available for our cottage residents to use, to hold celebrations and parties. It’s even a great private dining area which can be utilised when large group bookings can’t all fit in one cottage dining area and they need some extra space.

This flexible venue combines traditional and contemporary features and can accommodate up to 25 people. It’s equipped with state of the art technology including a large flat screen TV, AV equipment & WIFI internet connection. Specialist lighting has also been installed to offer ambience lighting to suit any occasion.

The venue is self-contained with toilet facilities and a small galley kitchen and all facilities are situated on the ground floor making it wheelchair accessible.

As part of our Green Tourism Gold Award and to support our green ethics, the venue is eco-friendly and powered from our on-site wind turbine and solar panels. In addition to this, we offer recycling facilities, supply recycled pens, pencils and paper, ensure that any unused water is used to water our plantsand only serve fairtrade tea and coffee.

If you’d like to learn more about using the Green Room to host an event, class or party, we’d be delighted to discuss your requirements and organise a venue viewing. Contact us by calling 01328 823135 or drop us an email to bookings@norfolk-luxury-cottages.co.uk 

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15th November 2012

The Green Room is officially open!

When we were deciding on how we could use our last remaining redundant farm building, we felt that we could fill a huge gap in the North Norfolk market by offering a high quality, environmentally friendly meeting and events venue. After months of planning, preparation and building work, we were delighted to officially open The Green Room on Wednesday 14th November. 


The venue was officially opened by David Cobham (pictured), a UK wildlife film maker and vice president of the Hawk and Old Trust, who cut the ribbon in front of over 30 local businesses. 

Walsingham Farm Shops provided an array of a range of local produce supplied for guests to sample and also kindly donated a Christmas hamper which was raffled off in a prize draw. 

During the opening, guests also had the opportunity to test their archery skills courtesy of the Fakenham Bowman, learn the art of clay pigeon shooting from Claybusters and also take a tour of Cranmer’s holiday cottages and surrounding grounds. 

The Green Room has been created to offer state of the art meeting facilities within a quiet rural setting. It is ideal for small group meetings, training events and team building days. This purpose build venue accommodates up to 25 people, offers delegates ground floor access, galley kitchen and toilets. Audio-visual presentation equipment includes a 60”TV screen with cinema sound, LAN and Wi-Fi internet access and themed lighting. 


The venue is also available to hire for cottage residents to hold social gatherings and is also an ideal setting to for local artists and photographers to display their work. We are currently exhibiting a range of local wildlife and landscape photography taken by Stephen Mole, Bill Pound, Martin Hayward-Smith & Roger Savell.

We have already received a lot of interest and enquiries to hire The Green Room and are pleased to have bookings in place already. 

Thanks to everyone who has been involved with the development and launch of The Green Room, your input and support has helped us create and launch a new project which is already proving to be a success. 

View The Green Room website for further details. 

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