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Paston Footprints
Experience Trails in Norfolk
Uncover the remarkable story of the Paston family
on countryside, town and city walks, or by cycle rides in Norfolk's Paston country.
Use this site to find routes, immerse yourself in the Paston story and access free resources. Choose below between heritage, wellbeing, child-friendly and creative experience walks.
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Discover Norfolk's Medieval to Tudor history with Paston characters, who are waiting to be your trail guides on free podcasts! History beyond kings and queens, they share family life in the landscapes where they happened.
Make sensory connections with nature, learn by doing and be rewarded by the griffin. Plan a day out with nearby things, including the beach, steam train and a castle.
Who are the Pastons?
One of Norfolk’s most prominent families in the Medieval and Tudor periods, the Pastons have a remarkable rag-to-riches story, until they fall into 'whirlpools of misadventure'.
We hear the story in their own voices through their letters, which is the world’s earliest and largest family letter collection detailing day-to-day life, including the first-ever Valentine's letter. The Paston women and men display resilience during the adversities of the Bubonic plague, civil unrest during the Wars of the Roses and religious dissent in the Reformation age.
You can now travel with Paston characters in Norfolk's outstanding landscapes. Experience the globally famous stories and discover previously untold tales from the archives. We pay particular attention to creative access, centralising embodied, sensory and cognitive varieties in storytelling to be inclusive for all.
Paston Walking Styles
The Pastons were 'Experts-by-Experience' walkers. Fleeing the putrid Norwich air, trailing around London markets to find treacle, or foraging for herbs mark coping strategies to deal with pestilence. Going to church, walking around tenants’ lands and to the markets were well-trodden routes. Travels between houses tell stories of family dynamics and social ambitions. Scribal networks, conveyancing of letters, and walks to lend books map literary networks. Royal entries and funeral processions speak to ritual walking. Hidden walks for lovers to meet, fleeing domestic abuse, and encounters with boisterous neighbours take place. Unexpected walls blocking paths, feeling invading foreigners along the coastal path expose contested walks. Refusing to walk out of your home under siege reveals personality!
How would you describe the types of walking you have done in the past 24 hours?
2022 UEA Cultural and Social Impact Winner
2023 Bishop of Norwich
2023-24 Jinty Nelson Fellowship