Clifton House, Norfolk

Probably the finest surviving merchant's town house in England, Grade I-listed Clifton House provides 'the most remarkable catalogue of building periods from the middle ages onwards' (Pevsner). 

As well as Tudor, Stuart and Georgian interiors and a magnificent staircase by Henry Bell, the tour includes the famous Elizabethan tower with its Jacobean murals and spectacular views.

The Elizabethan tower at Clifton House

The house was begun in 1250 and subsequently remodelled by owners up to the Georgian period. The huge medieval wine cellar is the earliest brick structure in Norfolk; the kitchen has the largest domestic medieval tiled pavement in England (visible through hatches) and the five-storey tower, built in the 1570s, is unique. After half a century of institutional use the property is now the home of Simon Thurley and Anna Keay, and is being restored as a family house. 

Tickets £22.50 including a tour of the house and the Elizabethan tower led by the owners, followed by tea, coffee and cakes.

Disabled access: very limited

Visitors' views:
Quite amazing. Unlike any other house we have seen. Simon, the kind, friendly and knowledgeable host told us so much about the house as well as the history of King's Lynn. You just have to go there.

Please see our cancellation policy below:
If you cancel more than two weeks before the tour is scheduled to take place, we will fully refund your ticket money excluding any phone booking fees. If it’s less than 14 days before a tour, for any reason, we regret that we cannot refund your ticket money unless we can resell your ticket(s). If we cancel at any time, we will fully refund your ticket money. Although we make every effort to avoid it, sometimes a tour has to be cancelled at short notice due to circumstances beyond our control. In this case, we cannot accept responsibility for, or refund, any consequential losses, such as money spent on travel or accommodation.