Norfolk Facts
|
| Norfolk has 659 medieval churches - the highest
concentration in the world. Of these, 120 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. |
| |
| The Norfolk coastline stretches for nearly 100
miles - from Hopton on Sea to the Wash. |
| |
| The 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 - was born in Swaffham in 1874. |
| |
| The Norfolk Broads are not a natural phenomenon, but
are the result of flooded peat workings. |
| |
| 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 fourth largest county in England. |
| |
| Norfolk is the driest county in the UK. |
| |
| St. Helen's Church at Ranworth is known as the
'Cathedral of the Broads'. |
| |
| St. Michael the Archangel Church at
Booton (near
Reepham) is known as the 'Cathedral of the Fields'. |
| |
| STANTA (The Stanford Training Area) in the
Brecklands was created during WW2 by evacuating five
villages: Stanford, West Tofts, Buckenham Tofts, Lynford
and Tottington. |
| |
| 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 University of East Anglia (UEA) was opened in
1963 at Earlham - on the outskirts of Norwich. |
| |
| On
The Ball City - Norwich City Football Club's
song - is probably
the oldest football chant still being sung in the UK
today. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| Revelations of Divine Love - written by
Julian of Norwich -
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 Church - which overlooks Norwich
market - is the largest parish church in England. |
| |
Supported
by Norfolk Tourism