About Paston Footprints
We help to bring creative practitioners and experience seekers, along with the wellbeing sector and heritage enthusiasts together to experience connections with and tell stories about 'Paston Country' (a.k.a. Norfolk). Celebrating the 600th anniversary since the first Paston correspondence, we launched in 2018 and are still going strong. Co-production is at the heart of our work with, to date, over 60 Norfolk and national organizations. We welcome individuals and groups to get in touch to join the Paston Footprints mission.
We are grateful for support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, UEA's PVC Impact fund for our Creative Health work, Bishop of Norwich First Nature Prize for our children's wellbeing work, North Norfolk District Council HAZ funding for the North Walsham walk, and the Arts Council for the Collisions Theatre performances.
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The Directors are Dr Karen Smyth, Associate Professor of Literature at UEA and Dr Rob Knee, educationalist, local historian and Paston re-enactor. A dedicated walks team brings a range of expertise to the project. A large team of wonderful and diverse volunteers contribute to the vision, design, and delivery of interpreting and visualising walking in Paston footprints. Research underpinning and arising from the project can be explored here.
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The Paston Footprints Mission
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to entice and empower 21st century people to become curious about, and to participate in, the Paston story.
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to connect the legends, letters and landmarks of the Pastons through heritage walks and cycle rides.
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to be the first facilitation of bringing together professional and community based heritage, educational, wellbeing, creative, religious, commercial, leisure and tourism sectors to promote the globally significant Paston heritage.
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Image: Actors from Collisions Theatre group, re-enacting Paston lives in the grounds of Oxnead Hall.
Invest in People
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through active engagement with Paston heritage, enabling new audiences to participate. Currently our focus is with:
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Creative Health and Wellbeing - mind, body and soul groups.​​
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Families, schools and youth groups.
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Experience-seekers (locals, regional, national and international markets).
We promote passion for heritage by enhancing opportunities for social wellbeing, community investment in local heritage, stimulating a sense of belonging, and in the active physical engagement with the heritage through trail walking and cycling.
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Image: Heritage Hunters from The Millennium Library, making 'Rosie's' Plaques' for the Paston Women, at St Peter's, Hungate, in Norwich.
Creative Access to Paston heritage
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opening access to seeing and understanding the Paston heritage, from the archives to privately owned buildings (through digitisation and 3D modelling, with accompanying interpretative scaffolding and deeper learning exercises);
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lasting all-age learning activities – in churches, in interpretation centres, and online;
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schools’ impact – enabling schools’ to be active research centres, enabling teachers to use the Paston heritage more prominently through learning resources.
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Image: Animation figure of Margaret Paston (by Craig Smith) outside Caister Castle (photograph by Charlotte Knee).
Contact Us
Contact Karen and Rob at:
Interact with us on Facebook: paston600
Talk to us on X (formerly twitter): @pastonfootprint We will soon be transferring to Bluesky
Follow us on Instagram @pastonfootprints
Watch more Paston videos: Paston Footprints - YouTube
Meet the Walks Team
Paston Heritage
Paston Footprints' Director: Dr Rob Knee.
Strategy, history lead , walk guide and community delivery.
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Rob has had careers in education, training and research at both a local and a national level. Rob delivers costumed talks in roles to audiences across Norfolk and Suffolk. See Home | Dr Robert Knee He is also a published poet and was the Chair of the Paston Heritage Society. Rob can also be contacted to lead walking tours of the Paston trails.
University of East Anglia
Paston Footprints' Director: Dr Karen Smyth.
Strategy, partnership manager, creative health lead, web content creator and designer.
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Associate Professor in Medieval and Early Modern Literature, UEA. Former posts at the University of Nottingham, Queen's Belfast and Harvard University. Karen publishes and is a cultural storyteller. Her areas of speciality are Medieval East Anglian literature; critical heritage studies, contemporary creative and cultural adaptations of the premodern; autoethnography and Applied Arts in Health Humanities.
Marketing & Communications
Brand consultancy and marketing strategy for Paston Footprints
Norfolk County Council
NCC's Environment and Community team audited, waymarked and maintain the trail routees.
Paul Thorogood (pictured), Chris Brough and Matt Hayward, assisted by Sophie Cabot.
Children's Resources
Paston Fooptrints' Freelance Education Consultant.
Georgia Knee, is the director for the children's activities and learning materials.
ThisIsPaston - The Paston Heritage Portal
Peter Stibbons, PHS trustee, is Digital Director for Paston Footprints and editor of thisispaston.co.uk our sister site, which acts as the Paston web portal for community researchers.
Drama Director
Dr Holly Maples. is Professor of Theatre at the University of Essex and Director of Collisions Theatre Company. Holly with Karen authored the drama trail podcasts. Holly produced the podcasts and performances were by:
Paston Holly Maples, Deborah Yau
Bacton and Mautby: Holly Maples,
Gresham:
Norwich:
Oxnead:
Blofield:
Character Animator
Craig Smith, former student of Paston College and Graduate of Derby University, has created the Paston character animations, drone piloting and video editing.
3D Graphics
James Mindham, a 3D Graphics artist, has created the digital reconstructions of Paston Hall, St Margaret's Church, Bromholm Priory, Gresham Castle, Oxnead Hall, Sir William Paston's tomb.
Walks Photographer
Charlotte Knee.
Walks Photographer
Glenn Hands is a UEA Landscape History graduate and a photographer (Sports, Events, Drone, Street, Landscape, and Portrait). See evocative image.
