About
Blickling Hall in north Norfolk is one of England's greatest and most romantically beautiful Jacobean country houses — a building that combines architectural splendour with an extraordinary site history, legendary associations with Anne Boleyn, and collections of the very highest quality. Built between 1616 and 1627 for Sir Henry Hobart, Lord Chief Justice of England, Blickling is a house that takes your breath away at first sight: the long approach through ancient yew hedges, the perfectly symmetrical red-brick facade with its corner towers and shaped gables, framed by the yews' extraordinary height and darkness.
The house was built on the site of an earlier manor house that was the birthplace of Anne Boleyn (circa 1501-1536), second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. Local legend holds that Anne's ghost haunts the estate on the anniversary of her execution (19 May each year), riding in a phantom coach carrying her severed head on her lap. Whether or not one credits the ghost, the knowledge that this ground was associated with the woman who changed the course of English history gives Blickling an atmosphere of melancholy romance entirely appropriate to its setting.
The interiors are magnificent and varied. The Long Gallery — an outstanding room of some 44 metres — has one of the most spectacular Jacobean plasterwork ceilings in existence, its complex barrel vault decorated with emblems, mythological figures, and allegorical scenes in high relief. This ceiling is considered one of the glories of English decorative plasterwork and repays prolonged study. The Peter the Great Room contains a remarkable tapestry depicting Peter the Great of Russia at the Battle of Poltava — a diplomatic gift of considerable rarity and beauty.
The library of Blickling Hall is one of the finest country house libraries in England — some 12,000 volumes assembled across the centuries by the house's various owners, preserved in their original room and retaining their historic arrangement. These books represent not merely a collection but a working intellectual environment — the reading matter and working tools of generations of educated English families.
The formal gardens — parterres, wilderness walks, an orangery, and the Diagonal Walk — are maintained to the highest standard. Beyond the gardens, the 4,777-acre Blickling Estate encompasses woodland, farmland, a lake created in the eighteenth century, and the quiet Norfolk countryside. Blickling is one of the National Trust's most important and most visited properties in East Anglia.
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Highlights
The Long Gallery and its Jacobean Ceiling
The Long Gallery at Blickling Hall is one of the most extraordinary rooms in English architecture — a room of exceptional length (approximately 44 metres) whose barrel-vaulted plasterwork ceiling is considered among the finest examples of Jacobean decorative plasterwork in existence. Created in the 1620s, the ceiling is divided into panels containing emblems, heraldic devices, mythological figures, and allegorical scenes modelled in high relief — a programme of decoration of great sophistication and visual richness.
To walk the length of the gallery looking upward is to experience one of the defining pleasures of English country house visiting.
The Library — 12,000 Volumes in Situ
Blickling Hall contains one of the most significant country house libraries in England — approximately 12,000 volumes assembled by the house's various owners across several centuries, preserved in the original room with their historic arrangement largely intact. The library includes manuscripts, printed books from the fifteenth century onwards, travel accounts, histories, and literary works that give a remarkable picture of the intellectual life of the educated English gentry and aristocracy across three hundred years.
This is not a decorative library — these books were read, used, and valued by the people who owned them.
The Peter the Great Tapestry
The Peter the Great Room at Blickling Hall takes its name from an exceptional tapestry — one of a set depicting Peter the Great of Russia at the Battle of Poltava (1709), where his armies defeated the Swedish forces of Charles XII. Presented as a diplomatic gift, the tapestry is a work of considerable artistic quality and historical rarity, depicting the Russian Tsar at the moment of one of the most consequential military victories in European history.
The room in which it hangs has been arranged to display it to full advantage.
The Jacobean Facade and Entrance Front
The approach to Blickling Hall through the ancient yew hedges — some of the tallest in England — and the first sight of the red-brick Jacobean facade is one of the great architectural experiences in Norfolk. The house was designed with theatrical effect in mind: the long avenue, the flanking yews, the symmetrical facade with its matching corner towers, shaped gables, and central tower create a composition of calculated grandeur.
Built between 1616 and 1627, the house shows the influence of the Dutch-inspired English baroque that was fashionable in the early seventeenth century.
Collections
The State Rooms
The principal state rooms of Blickling Hall including the Long Gallery, library, and furnished apartments, with interpretive displays throughout.
Anne Boleyn and Blickling's History
Interpretation of the site's long history including the earlier manor and its connection to Anne Boleyn.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.