Some Interesting facts about Norfolk
Published date: October 2018

If you were born and raised in Norfolk, you might know many of the following Norfolk facts. However, some are quite obscure; how many are you familiar with?
- Norfolk has over 650 medieval churches
- North Walsham market cross was originally built in the 16th Century
- King's Lynn Custom House was initially built in 1683
- Castle Rising, a Norman fortress was built around 1140
- Sandringham Royal Family's Estate, is where the Queen spends Christmas
- In Old Hunstanton, the ruins of St Edmunds Chapel is said to commemorate the landing of the King of the East Angles in 850 AD
- Castle Acre Priory, dates back to the 12th century
- Thetford Forest covers an area of around 80 square miles
- Grimes Graves are 4,000 years old and were once Neolithic flint mines
- Queen Boudicea and the Iceni tribe lived in Norfolk some 2,000 years ago
- Caister Castle was the first brick castle to be built in England and was erected in the 1430's
- Happisburgh lighthouse was constructed in 1791
- Acle was granted permission to hold a market in 1272 and, to this day, one is held every Thursday
- Caistor St Edmond has the remains of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum
- Hingham is an ancient settlement, and as early as 925 AD it is recorded as being the property of King Arthelstan
- Humphrey Repton designed Sheringham Park in 1812
- Blickling Hall dates from the early 17th century
- Oxburgh Hall was built by the Bedingfield family in 1482
- The Norfolk Broads were created by the flooding of ancient peat diggings
- St Benet's Abbey was founded in around 955AD and was once an important Benedictine monastry
- Stalham's gabled hall dates back to 1670
- The Norfolk Broads are made up of twelve large and twenty-four small lakes or meres
- The Swallowtail butterfly, the largest butterfly in Brittain, can now only be found in the Norfolk Broads
- Aldborough village is listed in the Domesday Book
- Most of Attleborough's town was destroyed by fire in 1559
- Aylsham was famed for its linen and canvas industry during the 14th century
- Cromer's best known feature is its pier, and was built in 1900
- Cromer's lighthouse was built in 1833
- Dereham's Church of St Nicholas was built by the Normans in the 13th century
- The Doomsday Book in 1086 AD states that Fakenham had a population of 150
- St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth, is the largest parish church in England
- Gresham's public school, Holt, was originally founded in 1515
- In 1349 AD the Black Death struck King's Lynn and nearly half of the town's population perished
- Thetford Castle Hill is England's tallest medieval earthwork
- Medieval Norwich had an incredible 57 churches within the city walls
- Norwich Cathedral has attracted many pilgrims for over 900 years
- Norwich Cathedral's construction commenced in 1096. However, the Cathedral was not finally consecrated until 1278
- In 1272 the original Norwich Cathedral cloisters were destroyed in a fire
- Norwich Castle was built by the Normans in the 12th century
- Norwich was the largest walled town in medieval England
- In 1549 an army of 20,000 rebels, led by Wymondham farmer Robert Kett, took over control of Norwich
- By the early 1670's Norwich had a population of around 21,000 and was probably the largest provincial town in England
- Norwich originally had three railway stations
- Admiral Lord Nelson was born in 1758 at Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk
- Colman's Mustard was founded by Jeremiah Colman in 1814
- Sir Thomas Bignold was the founder of the insurance business, Norwich Union, known today as Aviva
- The Gurney family helped to found what is now known as Barclays Bank
- Start-rite Shoes has been in Norwich for over 400 years
- A. J. Caley began making chocolates at Chapelfield and the brand still exists today
- The name Bowthorpe came from either Denmark or Norway and was originally spelt Boethorpe
- Old Catton was inhabited as far back as the Stone Age
- Costessey Park House, was built around 1450
- From 1882 to 1959 Drayton had a railway station
- In 1086 Sprowston was first officially mentioned in the Domesday Book
- Taverham Hall was built by the Rev. J. Nathaniel Micklethwait in 1859
- The Norfolk coastline was the first part of Britain settled by early man
- Norfolk is one of the few counties that doesn't contain any stretches of motorway
- The spire of Norwich Cathedral is 315 feet high, second only to that of Salisbury
- The Norfolk accent is very hard to imitate, with many nuances that are difficult to capture
- A bishy barnabee is the Norfolk name for a ladybird
- Norfolk is England's fifth largest county
- The Norfolk coastline is nearly 100 miles long
- Norfolk's highest point is Beacon Hill, near West Runton, 338ft above sea level
- Howard Carter the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen grew up in Swaffham
- 'On The Ball City', Norwich City Football club's song, is the oldest football chant that is still being sung in UK football clubs today
- The Adam and Eve public house in Bishopgate is Norwich's oldest pub and was built in 1249 for workers building Norwich Cathedral
- In 1963 the Grosvenor Rooms on Prince of Wales Road, Norwich played host to a Beatles gig

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