Make the trip for …
North Norfolk is peppered with grand houses with impressive art collections. Houghton Hall near King’s Lynn, which was built for Robert Walpole in the 1720s, is no stuffy stately home. Its parkland is a treasure trove of modern sculpture by Rachel Whiteread, Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore and more. Some large-scale pieces are in full view, but many others are hidden. Armed with a numbered map, visitors search mazes, walled gardens and woods to track down the artworks – so it’s great fun for kids, too.
The first sculpture to be commissioned, one of James Turrell’s Skyspaces, created in 2000, is still one of the most impressive, while Jeppe Hein’s Waterflame is mesmerising. This year, Sean Scully has a sculpture exhibition in the grounds, plus paintings in the house and the Contemporary Gallery (23 April-29 October, adult from £20/under-18s free). There is also an exhibition of artists and makers based in East Anglia, East to East, and a model soldier museum. The house itself is a Palladian mansion with sumptuous state rooms.
