Recent Events

A completely different kind of Paston event was held at Dragon Hall on May 31. Called Reading the Pastons, it concentrated on the literary side of the Paston family and featured talks from three Norwich-based experts – two from the University of East Anglia and one from the Castle Museum.

The Paston Heritage Society celebrated a remarkable year with a gathering for members at Bacton Village Hall on the evening of December 7. 

Happily the hall survived the previous day's storm surge without damage, though just down the road at Walcott it was a different story. As a result routes to the hall were limited (the coast road was closed at Walcott), but this did not deter stalwarts and friends from enjoying the evening, during which we looked back at all the events organised during 2013 as a result of receiving the All our Stories grant. Even founder Lucy Care was well enough to attend, despite her recent problems.

Our members' meeting on March 19 at Bacton Village Hall welcomed author Susan Curran for the first time. Speaker for the night was chair Rob Knee, who gave us an expert insight into Edward and the junior branch of the Pastons.

27/03/14

October 16th & 17th 2010

The Paston Heritage Society made a successful appearance in costume at the 4th Norfolk Living History Fayre at Mannington Hall and Gardens, courtesy of Lord and Lady Walpole. The event featured Black Knight Historical, the re-enactment company led by Ian Pycroft, who arranged a spot for PHS in the Dining Room at the Hall. The Pastons' Country handmade book was on display, as were John Fenn's 1787 transcriptions of the Paston Letters. 

www.blackknighthistorical.co.uk

October 23rd to 26th 2010

The Pastons' Country book and exhibition were on display at the Cromer and Sheringham Arts Festival at the Garden Gallery, Garden Street, Cromer.

On the evening of the 23rd, the Gallery held a launch night with poetry readings from five of the Paston poets – Caroline Gilfillan, recent winner of the EDP-Jarrolds East Anglian Book Award for her poetry book, Yes (Hawthorn Press), Tim Lenton, Rob Knee, Adrian Ward and Dot Cobley.

The COAST exhibition (http://www.casaf.co.uk) ran from October 23 to 31 and featured art, film, sculpture trails and interactive workshops.

There was an Easter Fayre at St Margaret's Church, Paston, on Saturday and Sunday, the 2nd and 3rd of April, 2011. This was a craft fayre, with homemade chocolates, jewellery, stained glass ornaments, candles, bespoke miniature wooden cabinets (French polishing), silk flowers and homemade cards, as well as the PHS Souvenir Stall and delicious light refreshments. There was also an area for children to make necklaces, bracelets and Easter bonnets.

An opportunity to discover the world of the Paston Letters in the home of one of the Paston family – the magnificent Oxburgh Hall – was offered  on the weekend of September 4-5, 2010.

Oxburgh Hall is the home of descendants of the Paston family and provided an ideal place to experience many facets of the lives of some of the most important people in the history of Norfolk. The exhibition continued until September 15 and in beautiful weather got an enthusiastic response from both the public and from the National Trust, which owns the property.

The new poetry book

Part of the Dragon Hall exhibition

Jo Berry, PHS chairman, at the private view

The Pastons had an unusual opportuinity to go on show in Norwich for a week in November – with an exhibition open to the public all week, and  workshops and other events. It was put on jointly by the Paston Heritage Society and Dragon Hall, and opened with a private view on the Monday evening (14th), when the new poetry book, Another Country, was successfully launched.

The date had been set, and at that time it had seemed a long way off.  But now here we were, a week to go and I'm wondering!

An opportunity to experience Paston in Norwich was offered on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at St Peter Hungate Church, at the junction of Elm HIll and Princes Street. This was once the parish church of the Pastons, who had a house in Elm Hill, and Walter Paston was buried there. There are many other connections, both in the church and locally.