In the grounds of the Earl of Leicester's Hall stands the church of St. Withburga.

Said to originally have been founded by the King of East Anglia's youngest daughter Withburga who grew up around these parts.  

The church stands high up on a mound and before the trees grew up around the building, it  used to be a landmark for passing ships in medieval times when the village of Holkham was also sited here.

Substantial restoration work to the building was carried out in the 1760's by the Dowager Countess of Leicester.  

In the distance across the gravestones stands the majestic  Holkham Hall.

At Holkham Hall deer freely roam the grounds, which we are sure would have pleased Saint Withburga greatly.

Below : A carving of St. Withburga herself.

In 654AD Withburga settled in East Dereham where she established a nunnery. 

During the building of her nunnery money was short and the nuns had little to eat  or to feed their workmen.  One night it is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to Withburga and told her to send two of her women down to the stream each morning where two doe's would come and allow themselves to be milked.

The next day Withburga sent two of the nuns to the stream and two deer did appear and continued to come each day to the same place where the nuns were able to milk them and use their milk to make butter and cheese to aid in both the nuns and the workmens diet. 

 Alice Emily White - wife of Thomas William Coke 27/09/1855 to 24/04/1936.