Holkham Hall is a gorgeous stately home surrounded by 3,000 acres of land, both of which are privately owned by the Coke family (ancestors to the first Earl of Leicster) and open to the public. The hall itself is only open on specific days for the public to tour, if you’d like to know more, click here.

The Park is open all year round for walkers and cyclists, the park is inhabited by a herd of Fallow Deer and a smaller herd of Red Deer, the Lake and Farm walks take you right through the deer’s most popular resting land, which we will definitely be doing this year. You can take your pooches but they need to be on lead throughout the park for the safety of not only your dog but the wildlife too.

We chose to do the Park Walk last October, (when the weather was warmer than now) the four mile walk (that we did backwards) took us a few hours, taking us past the house to the bottom of the lake, past the ice house and down to the Obelisk, which is pretty fantastic. We went through farming fields and round to the Great Barn, following the path up to the Broom Covert Wood, through the trees onto the other side which has tall hedges bordering grazing land for the cattle – who I am not fond of sharing fields with – continuing on to another wooded area that borders the Almshouse Gates entrance to the park, following the main path back to the car park. The main path is where you can really see the deer in their glory, rutting and grazing the land as you walk by.

The walk was pretty great, one of the best we’ve done, and we’ve done a lot. If you’ve ever wanted to see or photograph deer pretty close up, then you will love it. We watched photographers and other walkers get astonishingly close to the deer, who weren’t bothered at all. We’ll definitely be doing the Lake Walk this year (as soon as the weather warms up) to get closer to the deer and see the gorgeous lake and Monument to the Coke of Norfolk.

Our Route

Starting the Park Walk

 

passing the lake on our right

 

walking up to the ice house on the hill

looking at the back of the hall on our left

leaving the hall and lake behind us

meeting Edward the 7th Earl of Leicester with his dog Swazi, created by Penelope Reeve, 1998, commissioned by his wife when he passed, placed in his favourite spot to look upon the hall

try as we might to recreate the pose, Fin wasn’t having any of it

walking up to the obelisk

 

continuing on the path before turning left through the fields

leaving the obelisk behind

where we came from, and where we’re going

coming up to the barn

keeping left past the barn, continuing on past fields bordering the woods in the distance

through the woods and on to the other side, taking the path sandwiched by hedges and fields of cattle…moo

through the woods that border the main gates

on the main path past the deer

finishing up at the car, all three of us completely worn out!

 

I recommend visiting Holkham Hall to anyone who loves beautiful views and walking next to deer, it’s a great day out for families, there were lots of parents with their children nearer the hall, you can take the tour tram/car up to the obelisk and back so you don’t have to walk at all. We got by-passed by the tour a couple of times on our way up to the obelisk with tourists looking at us like we were crazy for walking in the heat. What they didn’t know is that we walked another 3 miles after they had left.

Take lots of water for your pooch and yourselves! We always start walks thinking “four miles is easy” until we get half way and decide that it actually isn’t that easy when you have a little dog with little legs who wants to sit down and you have to carry him!

On this walk I’m glad to say he didn’t give up, with lots of terrain changes it kept his paws happier than the heat of the path, there were nice shady parts and trees to wee on to keep his spirits up to walking the distance. We certainly had a great day!

Let me know if you decide to go for it, especially if you decide to do the six mile farm walk! Happy Walkies!