Oxburgh Hall has been the home of the Bedingfeld family since Sir Edmund Bedingfeld built it in 1482, and the family still live in part of the moated brick manor. As Catholics after the Reformation they paid dearly for their faith, and the house keeps a priest's hole from the 1580s beneath a trapdoor in a garderobe. Inside are embroidered hangings worked by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick during Mary's captivity, and the Queen Esther tapestry, sold in 1924 to pay death duties and back on the wall since a curator spotted it at an art fair. Beyond the parterre and orchard, woodland trails, late-winter snowdrops and swans on the moat reward a longer stay. Only assistance dogs go inside. Reviewers single out the knowledgeable volunteers and the terracotta tombs in the nearby parish church. Tips from regulars: parking is free, the hall is a flat 250-metre gravel walk from the car park, and the estate closes in high winds.
