Paston
Paston lies on the Norfolk coast between Walcott and
Mundesley. The Paston
family, who were responsible for The Paston Letters,
took their name from the village. John Paston (1421-1466) is buried in
St. Margaret's Church in the village.
At the far end of the chancel are a number of
tombs belonging to members of the Paston family. The
most spectacular is that of Katherine Paston who died in
1628 and features an inscription by John Donne. Beyond
this lie two older table tombs - one of which is
that of John Paston. It is likely that these
tombs were moved from nearby Bromholm Priory (see
Bacton) after it
was dissolved by Henry VIII. The Paston Letters
are a fascinating account of life during the War of the
Roses period detailing the family's life including: legal wrangles, castle sieges and
mismatched marriages. The letters span three generations
of the family and were written during the reigns of
Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III.
Most of the letters were written by John and Margaret
Paston (Margaret was the daughter of John Mautby - who
lived at Mautby near Great
Yarmouth) and their two sons - both of whom were called
John. There were also a number of letters written by
William and Agnes Paston. Three centuries later the
letters were discovered at Oxnead Hall when the estate
there was being sold and fortunately they found there
way into the hands of the Norfolk historian Francis Blomefield. Next to the church stands
the magnificent thatched Paston Barn which was
originally built by in 1581 by Sir William Paston. The
barn is now home to a number of rare barbastelle bats. |
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