Mautby heritage walk
A 5 mile walk with panoramic views across farmlands and marsh exploring the home of Margaret Mautby Paston - the 'captainess' of the Paston family.
Walk alongside wayside flowers as you discover the story of the first 'woman of letters' narrated by Margaret herself in the walk audio tour. Look out for the ruins of Caister Castle which was owned by her cousin Sir John Falstoff.
Walk details
Length: 5 miles​ (8km) . Download a walk map or follow the walk overview on your phone.
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Parking: St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Mautby. NR29 3JB TG 480123.
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Bus stop: the nearest is at the junction of Mautby Lane and Main Road A1064 1km from Mautby Church. (Filby) Bus number 6.
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Amenities: the amenities of Caister are 1.6km from this walk.
When St Peter and St Paul's Church in Mautby is open, there is a toilet and sometimes refreshments are for sale.
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Mautby walk overview
Park at the Church of St Peter and St Paul.
When the Church is open please visit inside, where there is a permanent display telling the story of Margaret Mautby Paston, the 'captainess' of the Paston family and most prolific medieval woman writer.
Before setting off on the walk
explore the churchyard to find the memorial plaque to Margaret Paston
Leave the church, bear left and follow the road to the first bend and keep straight along the footpath.
Follow the Circular Path to the finger post then to the next road and go straight on for 50 metres. At the next bend take the footpath straight on and follow this diagonally across the fields to Lower Wood Farm.
Pause and glimpse Caister Castle in the distance between the trees to your left.
Bear left along the road for a 100 metres and the take the marked footpath between the buildings.
Follow across the meadow, crossing the Pickerill Holme dyke, stop2. Pickerill Holme was the waterway which supplied Caister Castle, first with the bricks needed for construction and later as the main route to the River Bure for Yarmouth, Norwich and Coltishall. The marshes would have been heavily grazed by the Paston and Clere sheep flocks.
Follow the path through some trees to emerge between a house and a paddock. Turn right and follow the road down to the marshes.
At the end of the road take the bridleway to the left and follow along the base of the sandy bluff which marked the old boundary of the estuary. Great Yarmouth can be seen in the distance. In the 15th Century the marshes of Caister and Mautby had the largest number of saltpans in Norfolk.
As the road comes to an end at the edge of the marsh take the footpath on the left
The path runs along the edge between the higher ground and the marsh land which was once a great estuary.
At the next road, turn left up Clink Hill
This was the old route linking Yarmouth and Norwich and one of the reasons why Caister Castle was built here. ad past the primary school on your left.
At the crossroads at the top of the hill, turn left. Caister Castle can be viewed from here.
The great tower was needed to provide a view towards Yarmouth and the possibility of attack by French ships. Sir John Fastolf was a leading knight in Henry V’s wars with France. Fastolf was also an astute businessman and had amassed over 80 estates in Norfolk and Suffolk. He also had a great house opposite the Tower of London with a staithe for his small fleet of ships.
Continue for a further 600 metres and retrace your steps down the footpath on the right between the house and a paddock.
Follow the path across the muddy area by the Pickerill Holme and up between the buildings to the road. Turn left here and follow the road round to the left and then follow the track past a pond.
The track becomes a footpath which will bring you up by a small warehouse and along a gravel drive to a road junction opposite Paston Farm.
Bear right and then left at the crossroads and follow the road past Mautby Hall. The original Mautby Hall is described in Margaret Paston’s will.
Mautby Hall had a chapel, a Great Chamber and a Chapel Chamber. The parlour included green wall hangings and a curtained bedstead. In a letter from John Paston the Younger to his older brother John, he explains that their mother would like John to remove some of his belongings from here into a place of his own.
Follow the road back up to Mautby Church passing Osier Farm on the left (Osier indicates Willows).
This last stretch is slightly uphill and ideal for fitness walking.
Share your walk experience
We'd love to hear about the highlights of your walk. Tag your photos #pastonfootprints for a chance to win local prizes.
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Explore the Paston story further
Permanent Paston exhibition in Mautby church
You can see permanent external and internal Paston displays at St Peter and St Paul's Church in Mautby.
A taster can be seen below, there's more to explore on location!
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