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Norfolk Facts

Norfolk has 659 medieval churches - the highest concentration in the world. Of these, 125 have round towers - more than any other county in the UK. (Suffolk has 42, Essex 7, Sussex 3, Cambridgeshire 2 and Berkshire 2.)
 
At 160 ft, the tower of St. Peter and St. Paul's church in Cromer is the highest in the county. St. Giles' church tower is the highest in Norwich at 120ft.
 
The Norfolk coastline stretches for nearly 100 miles - from Hopton on Sea to the Wash.
 
The highest point in Norfolk is Beacon Hill near West Runton - standing at  338 ft above sea level.
 
The second highest point in Norfolk is Piggs' Graves crossroad at Swanton Novers which is 331 ft above sea level.
 
Lord Nelson was born at the rectory at Burnham Thorpe on 29th September, 1758.
 
The name 'Norfolk' derives from the Anglo-Saxon for the place of the North folk. ('Suffolk' being the place of the South folk.)
 
Howard Carter - the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen - grew up in Swaffham.
 
The Norfolk Broads are not a natural phenomenon, but are the result of flooded peat workings.
 
There are 41 broads in Norfolk. The largest is Hickling which covers 141 hectares and the second largest is Barton. Horsey Mere is the only broad to be called a mere.
 
Thetford Forest is the largest lowland forest in Britain - covering an area of 80 square miles; it was first established in 1922.
 
Thomas Paine - author of The Rights of Man - was born in Thetford in 1737.
 
Norfolk is the fifth largest county in England.
 
Norfolk is the driest county in the UK.
 
Norwich is the most easterly city in the UK.
 
The largest village green in the county is at Old Buckenham.
 
At only five miles in length, the Thurne is Norfolk's shortest river.
 
In 1990 the bones of an early elephant were discovered in the cliffs at West Runton; the animal would have been 4 metres tall at the shoulder.
 
Norfolk has more than 150 deserted medieval villages - more than almost any other county. Nearly 30 of these are located in the Brecklands where the soil is light and sandy.
 
St. Helen's Church at Ranworth is known as the 'Cathedral of the Broads'.
 
At 23,000 sq ft, St. Nicholas' Church in Great Yarmouth is the largest parish church in the country
 
St. Michael the Archangel Church at Booton (near Reepham) is known as the 'Cathedral of the Fields'. It was designed by the Rev Whitwell Elwin who was a descendant of Pocachontas.
 
The market town of Reepham appears to have two churches - but one belongs to the parish of Whitwell. They are joined together by a passage way from the chancel at Whitwell to the nave at Reepham.
 
There are two place names in Norfolk beginning with 'Q' : Quidenham (10 miles NW of Thetford) and Quarles (4 miles SW of Wells).
 
There are two place names in Norfolk with only three letters: Oby (10 NW of Yarmouth) and Hoe ( 2 miles N of Dereham).
 
STANTA (The Stanford Training Area) in the Brecklands was created during WW2 by evacuating five villages: Stanford, West Tofts, Buckenham Tofts, Lynford and Tottington.
 
Norfolk was largely unaffected by the industrial revolution.
 
Robert Hales (1820-1863) - the 'Norfolk Giant' - is buried in West Somerton churchyard; he grew to the height of 7ft 6in.
 
Dragon Hall, in King Street in Norwich, is the only medieval merchant's trading hall known to have survived in western Europe.
 
Coypus were finally exterminated in the Norfolk Broads in 1989.
 
The Cromer-Holt ridge is the terminal moraine of a glacier.
 
Norfolk is underlain by a bedrock of chalk. On top of this -  earth, sand and gravel from retreating ice sheets were deposited.
 
The University of East Anglia (UEA) was opened in 1963 at Earlham - on the outskirts of Norwich.
 
The ancestors of President Abraham Lincoln came from Swanton Morley and Hingham.
 
On The Ball City - Norwich City Football club's song - is probably the oldest football chant still being sung in the UK today.
 
Norwich City Football club's mascot - the canary - was first brought to the city by Flemish weavers or 'Strangers' as they were known locally.
 
The spire of Norwich Cathedral is 315ft high - second only to that of Salisbury. The Caen stone, which was used to build the Cathedral, was brought to Norwich from Normandy.
 
The built-up churchyard of St. George's in Tombland in Norwich is estimated to hold up to 10,000 dead bodies.
 
The Domesday book shows that during the 11th century - Norfolk was one of the most heavily populated counties. This remained the case until 1600.
 
From c.1350 to c.1750 the wool/weaving trade was the most important economic activity (not including agriculture) in the county. However, with the advent of the industrial revolution, the focus of this work shifted to Yorkshire and Lancashire.
 
Revelations of Divine Love - written by Julian of Norwich (c.1342- after 1416) - was the first book to be written by a woman.
 
The Adam and Eve pub in Bishopgate is the oldest in Norwich and was built in 1249 as a brewhouse for workers building the Cathedral.
 
Elm Hill - the most famous street in Norwich - was only saved from demolition by the casting vote of the Lord Mayor in 1924.
 
In 1963 The Beatles played a gig at the Grosvenor Rooms on Prince of Wales Road, Norwich. In 1967 Jimi Hendrix played at the Orford Cellar (Norwich) and in 1989 Nirvana played at Norwich Arts Centre.
 
St. Peter Mancroft's Church - which overlooks Norwich market - is the largest church in the city and is often mistaken for the cathedral.
 
At 365 feet, the balcony of Norwich City Hall is the longest in the UK.
 
 

 

 

 

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