Norwich Castle and Viking Legend For Summer!
I talk about it ALL the time but the family annual passes for Norfolk Museums are stuff of legends – for under £100 a family of 2 adults and as many kids as you have can have access to all ten museums in the Norfolk Museums fleet (including Norwich Castle) for 12 months! What’s even better is that the annual pass will also afford you entry to the museums on special days which usually cost a visitor more than a general ticket admission price. Take Gressenhall for example, they will often have special themed days which do generally cost a fraction more to get in for the day but if you’re an annual pass holder like us, then of course you walk straight through as you would on any other visit! I have to start any blog post about Norfolk Museums by giving this information because don’t you think this just HAS to be the best value annual pass going? And I love how totally inclusive it is because most budgets and ALL family sizes are definitely catered for! I know we utilise ours something brilliant!
Anyway, talking about legends, this is exactly the topic at Norwich Castle right now! The new summer exhibition, with loads of hands on fun for children, is actually called Viking: Rediscover The Legend! And we were there yesterday to help host an influencer party showcasing all that’s on offer for the holidays – kids had an absolute blast!
The exhibition focuses on the 9th to 11th centuries, to illustrate how the Vikings re-shaped Britain’s political, economic, religious, social and artistic life and how Viking culture was transformed by 200 years of British contact.
The main exhibition houses artefacts found (one of them with its own Blue Peter Badge after having been pulled out of a lake by a child who told the programme of his findings many years ago) and usually housed in other museums but which are on loan for the summer. As well as lots of information given in a very visual way for the adults there are lots of hands on elements to the exhibition which lend an immersive experience for children. We’ve all been there as a kid, taken to a museum and dragged around a stuffy room not really knowing or caring what’s inside the boxes but at Norfolk Museums they really do try to stay a world away from that focus. The information is there to pour over and quietly take in for each artefact of course, but for the concentration span of a smaller child there are also quirky pieces of information and things to DO! Like rowing a long boat or making up a map of the UK with the names places were given in viking times!
At the back of the main exhibition room is a storytelling tent where we were treated to a rendition of Scadi’s Husband’s Feet – Brilliantly told (acted in fact) while sat around a camp fire on cushioned logs – it was such a lovely thing to do and all the children had wide eyes watching (storytelling sessions are on throughout the summer but it’s best to find out the timetable ahead of your visit so that you don’t miss out) and it was totally wonderful!
And outside of the main exhibition space there are lots more hands of fun for children all based around the Vikings such as the selfie station which is just a bit of fun but everyone LOVED! And upstairs in the Norwich Castle keep (soon to be taken back to its Norman roots with a major make-over of gargantuan proportions) there was a helmet making craft station where the kids could get stuck in making a replica of a helmet they’d seen downstairs!
The craft activities, like the story telling sessions, do change daily and when you arrive at the museum you will be given an itinerary of what’s on for that day but one thing which is a constant for this Viking: Rediscover The Legend exhibition is the Viking trail! Again a really fun things for the children to do while learning and not just things to look at making those things seem boring. The trail brings the artefacts to life and encourages children to find out what they are and why they are there without them noticing that they are learning anything!
The children all had a great time at the museum including afterwards going to see their favourite permanent exhibitions like Boudica (the chariot ride entices them) and the Egyptians (grizzly mummy and her mummified hand poking out does it every time) as well as the natural history exhibit.
We also had a really yummy lunch courtesy of the cafe (which you can visit even if not visiting the museum) who catered for all the special dietary requirements in our party beautifully and fed our children super fun kid’s lunch boxes!
Another fabulous family day out which doesn’t cost the earth – thanks for having us Norfolk Museums!
A top tip for visiting the castle before I go is that visiting with a twilight ticket (one hour before closing) will cost you just £2 (if not a member of course) which is well worth it if you’d like to try before you buy or if you need a bribe to get the kids around the shops (a little visit before home always perks them up and the promise definitely makes the shopping experience easier)!
We love Norwich Castle Museum and there are great things coming for them aside from this super summer programme so watch this space as I’ll be talking about them again for sure!
I’ve been working with Norfolk Museums on a number of projects but I bought my own annual pass and am under no obligation to write about my experiences when we visit.
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