Lakeside Fishing & Camping, Onehouse, near Stowmarket, Suffolk

It seems that at least a week has passed since I last posted, but I see that it is fact only a matter of three days. Such is the sense of imprisonment I have felt stuck inside under virtual caravan arrest. But truth be told the results have been worth it and I managed to convince my “gaoler” this morning that we should head on out for a breath of fresh air now I could manage that without collapsing into a paradox of coughing.

We headed off after breakfast with our eski packed with lunch, heading up toward Swaffham in the county of Norfolk, an hour distant.  A few days ago when I was engaged in the sedentary task of marking our new National Trust directory with places we had visited in the past, I had spotted a fairy-tale- like moated castle in the East of England section, and drawn it to Chris’s attention. He was more intent on seeing me well rather than any forward planning, sensible man he is, however I bookmarked the page for future reference.

Oxburgh Hall is a country house built in 1482 by Sir Edmund Bedingfeld, and while some of the architectural features within the property suggest it might have once been a kind of fortress, it has only ever been a family home to all the Bedingfelds that have come after, even today in the ownership of the National Trust.

The property was auctioned off in 1951 in a desperate attempt to recoup some semblance of economic face, and while the great estate of farmlands and village was divided up, the Hall fell into the hands of an outfit buyer intending to demolish the palatial residence and sell off the bricks and bits for profit. Learning of this, Bedingfeld family members, outside the direct line of baronets, passed around the hat and sold off their personal homes, thus managing to scrape enough together to buy the Hall back, for the grand sum of £5,000. The property, such as remained, was then gifted to the National Trust on the proviso that the three women, the heroines of this story, were allowed to live in part of the house. And so it is today that the 10^th Baronet resides from time to time in one corner of the Hall with water views across the carp and other course fish filled moat.

The Trust has also been able to buy back some of the adjacent land along with some of the chattels that had been dispersed in that 1951 auction, and so today there is not only  this many times altered family home, but walled and extensive gardens, woodland walks and the very ornate chapel to enjoy. The Beningfeld family have remained staunchly Catholic through the centuries which, as we have discovered in our earlier travelling history lessons, has not been an easy road to travel. 

Among the treasures to be found throughout the rooms open to the public are beautifully decorative carved elephant tusk ivory, a spread-eagled tiger skin complete with head and the Oxburgh Hangings, needlework hangings handcrafted by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick. 

After wandering along the walkways in the glorious sunshine, we investigated the Hall and while entranced by the wonders laid out before us, I was disappointed in the lack of family tales, giving the Hall the soul that so often National Trust volunteers do so well. But after lunch we joined the Garden Tour and then learned so much more about the Hall and its inhabitants as well as the heritage pip fruit being nurtured in the garden, the flowers lined up for planting in the parterre being so lovingly prepared by a team of more volunteers and the fallen timber waiting for collection by a builder providing bonus income to the Trust . We should have joined the morning Garden Tour and then would have been so much better prepared for our exploration of the house. 

It was well after 3pm when we left Oxburgh Hall, heading back through the Thetford Forest, stopping briefly at Thetford’s Tesco where we invested in a sandwich maker; maybe we will vary our lunchtime menu tomorrow?

We have not been entirely lazy over the intervening days; we have booked our accommodation out for the next fortnight, leaving this charming spot by the lake this coming Sunday and heading to South East London for a week. 

We have mixed feelings about this little camping spot; I managed a gentle wander around the artificial reservoir yesterday afternoon, checking out the level of the River Rattlesden and the flora and fauna. Despite the fact that England is in the grip of a drought, a situation nearly as noteworthy as the approaching election, this particularly river and lake seen unaffected.  

This spot is indeed picturesque however the facilities are not as well attended to as last year. And tonight there is a very large group of bikers (or bikies) gathered at the café which has opened specially for them and their entertainment, a very noisy heavy metal band. We may seek out a different camping spot when we are next in the area.