The woods, or plantations, about Houghton are extensive, and thought very fine. “In the road from Syderstone (says the Author of the _Norfolk Tour_) they appear we think to the greatest advantage; they are seen to a great extent, with openings left judiciously in many places, to let in the view of more distant woods; which changes the shade, and gives them that solemn brownness which has always a great effect. The flatness of the country, however, is a circumstance which, instead of setting them off, and making them appear larger than they really are, gives them a diminutive air, in comparison to the number of acres really planted. For were these vast plantations disposed upon ground with great inequalities of surface, such as hills rising one above another, or vast slopes stretching away to the right and left, they would appear to be almost boundless, and shew twenty times the extent they do at present. The woods which are seen from the south front of the house, are planted with great judgment, to remedy the effect of the country’s flatness; for they are so disposed as to appear one beyond another, in different shades, and to a great extent.” Next to Houghton (if that expression may be allowed) the very best house in all this part of the kingdom is HOLKHAM HOUSE, the splendid Seat and residence of Thomas William Coke, Esq. the far-famed patron of the Norfolk agriculturists, and one of the representatives of the county in this and several of the preceding parliaments. Mr Coke is also a descendant of the famous Lord chief justice of that name, who was himself a Norfolk man. Holkham is not of so long standing as Houghton: it was begun in 1734 by the Earl of Leicester and completed by his dowager countess, in 1760.