When Albion has need of him, King Arthur will return. So says Arthurian legend. But Norfolk has its own stories. Local folklore tells of a great king who loved Norfolk so well he built a Fine City, long before the days of the Romans. All hail King Gurgunt! Gurgunt rests in enchanted sleep, sword in hand, deep below the green mound of Norwich Castle, until he rises again to save his beloved land.

Norwich Castle should be one of everyone’s top ten days out in Norfolk. Now a museum, it’s full of natural, social and fashion history alongside important artworks. And, as it’s been both a castle and prison, there are plenty of ghosts, most of them friendly!

Heroes like Gurgunt have roamed the English imagination and landscape since time beyond memory. You could substitute England with many other places, for similar archetypal myth cycles echo across the world. Tales of a King Under the Mountain existed long before being summoned by Tolkien, the recurring motif of a messianic leader who will return at a time of great peril. King Gurgunt resurfaced when Queen Elizabeth I visited Norwich during her royal progress in 1578. It’s said the mythical King stepped from the crowd as if to speak with her. Alas, a violent shower of rain made the queen run for shelter, and Gurgunt never delivered his message. Ancient spirit whose words might have changed the course of history, or Tudor actor whose prank was thwarted by the weather? You decide!