The market town of Swaffham, just south of the wild
Breckland landscapes, was also a favourite of Nelson and Lady Hamilton and they would no doubt approve of the stylish surroundings that today greet you at Strattons. Once home to Howard Carter – the archaeologist who famously discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb – this Queen Anne Palladian villa has been transformed into an award-winning, independent, family-run, boutique hotel. As well as naval and archaeological connections,
Top: The shingle spit of Blakeney Point is the best place in Britain to see seals. Above: Brent Geese take flight in Norfolk, the birdwatching capital of Britain.
Above right: Norwich
Cathedral boasts the second highest spire in the UK
Without doubt, the most famous Norfolk figure is
Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, the fearless figure of the Royal Navy who led the English to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, where he was killed in 1805. He was born in 1758 in the quiet village of Burnham Thorpe, where his father was rector. The young Horatio was educated at several schools across the county, including King Edward VI School in Norwich. Although he was buried at St Paul’s Cathedral, Nelson’s memory lives on in Burnham Thorpe church. The lectern and a cross in the chancel are made from timbers that came from his ship, HMS Victory, and a bust in marble looks down over his father’s tomb.
Norfolk has had important political links. Some 361 years ago, Great Yarmouth was a Parliamentarian stronghold during the English Civil War. Lore records it was in the Conspiracy Room at the town’s Elizabethan House Museum that Oliver Cromwell’s men hatched their plan to kill King Charles I. Norfolk has more than 90 miles of coastline, where
the golden windswept sands stretch out to sea against a backdrop of fragile cliffs. Although bright and breezy Victorian resorts like Cromer and Sheringham throng with carefree crowds, the authorities have a very serious job on their hands when it comes to preserving this coast. Erosion
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