Heacham Manor’s Norfolk Christmas gift guide

Season’s eatings

Norfolk is renowned for its fabulous food and drink, and for gourmands there is a veritable feast of delicious goodies to treat them to this Christmas. Make it super easy with a hamper from Hunstanton’s Norfolk Deli which offers a carefully curated selection of treats that are grown, fermented, distilled, brewed, matured, roasted, blended or made in the county. Or build your own with Norfolk Hampers, where you can even select a hamper with products from the recipient’s favourite Norfolk village.

Turkey aside, Christmas isn’t complete without a cheeseboard so treat a turophile to some of Mrs Temple’s Cheeses and, for something different, award winning goat’s cheese from Fielding Cottage. Where there is cheese, there should be chutney, and a jar or two from Candi’s Cupboard, sold widely locally, are the perfect accompaniment for your Boxing Day table.

Switch savoury for sweet with an indulgent selection of chocolates from Hunters Chocolate, handmade by chocolatier Gary Hunter at Helhoughton, near Fakenham. You might even gift a stay at Heacham Manor and one of Gary’s chocolate-making courses with the box for a truly memorable gift.

Norfolk is also home to an incredible array of winemakers, distillers and brewers, so it would be rude not to raise a glass to toast the season with a bottle. Burn Valley Vineyard at North Creake, South Pickenham Estate and, further south in the county, Flint Vineyard, all produce superb, low-volume wines that are well worth adding to someone’s cellar. 

If their favourite time of day is gin’o’clock, Norfolk has plenty to choose, but closest to home is WhataHoot which hand-distills five flavours plus a vodka at its King’s Lynn distillery in the heart of the Hanseatic town’s historic quarter. You can even gift a tour or gin-making masterclass too!

Home comforts

It’s hygge season, so why not give a gift that adds a little home comfort. With a utility store, perfumery & wellbeing pharmacy, and plant & garden store in Holt, Norfolk Natural Living has almost every aspect of domestic life covered, and its scents are heavenly. We’re hotly anticipating this year’s advent candle, perhaps an early gift and a blissful way to count down the days to Christmas. 

At Thornham’s Drove Orchards, Joyful Living also has a cornucopia of stylish homewares including cosy throws and Bamford toiletries, while closer to home Norfolk Lavender has been growing the purple plant since 1932 and sells its own collection of scented products at the Heacham site’s gift shop.