Oxborough – Oxburgh Hall (Limited Re-opening)

Oxburgh Hall was in the first wave of National Trust houses to re-open after the enforced period of closure and the only one in Norfolk. It was essential to pre-book, and non-members needed to pay, in advance on the web-site although this was an easy process to navigate.

Signage was suitably clear and there was an engaging staff member at the entrance to the property checking names and explaining what was happening.

Gateways such as this were one-way only, with visitors routed around to ensure sufficient space.

There was a one-way system through a few parts of the gardens where there was limited space, such as the herbaceous border. Visitors could also enter the house itself and I was warned there might be a queue for this, although it transpired that I was able to walk straight around with no wait.

After crossing the bridge over the moat, visitors are met at the entrance to the house and another friendly guide explained where to go. It was all rather relaxed and I didn’t have to queue at any point, the National Trust hadn’t tried to cram too many people in.

Visitors need to go through the courtyard, where there are also toilet facilities, and then enter the rooms at the far left. Only a few rooms were open, but there’s probably a limit to what they can do given the nature of the historic property that they have. More on these rooms, and indeed other elements about Oxburgh Hall, in other posts though.

All told, this was very well-organised, although most things involving the National Trust usually are, albeit perhaps sometimes a little over-managed in some areas. Their one minor issue which was probably only temporary, they had run out of maps and they knew that they had more, but couldn’t work out who had them. But, they kept everyone safe and had managed to open up something, so that seemed a positive result to me.