Norfolk Leasing

Did You Know?

Norfolk has the most number of churches with round towers in the country. Norfolk 125, Suffolk 42, Essex 7, Sussex 3, Cambridgeshire 2, Berkshire 2.

Nelson's Birthplace. Horatio Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, where his father was rector, and he learnt to sail at nearby Burnham Overy Staithe. Nelson of course went on to become the greatest naval commander this country has ever seen.

North Norfolk is one of the few places in the UK where you can see the northern lights, or aurora borealis. Kelling Heath and Wiveton Downs, both have Dark Sky Discovery Status, which means the area is unaffected by light pollution.

The Blickling Pyramid. It’s quite unusal to find a pyramid in north Norfolk, but you can find one here! Built as a mausoleum, in 1794 for the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire, the pyramid can be seen in the Great Wood at the National Trust’s Blickling Estate.

When the Romans came to Norfolk in AD46, Great Yarmouth didn’t exist – it hadn’t yet been established by longshore drift. Now its beaches are a great place to go roamin’.

The Queen's Country Retreat. North Norfolk is home to the Queen’s country retreat, Sandringham; the Royal Family’s only private home and estate in England. And when unoccupied by Royalty, Sandringham is open to the public.

The stretch of coast from West Runton on the north coast of Norfolk to Happisburgh on the east, has earned the name the 'Deep History Coast' because of three historical, unique discoveries.

Back in 1990, West Runton residents discovered a pelvic bone in the cliffs exposed after a December storm. It was confirmed to be a bone of a large mammoth and 85% of a mammoth skeleton was later recovered by excavators. It’s the most complete skeleton of its species to be unearthed and is estimated to have weighed around 10 tonnes.

Cromer on the Norfolk coast is home to the last end-of-pier theatre offering a full summer season, just like piers used to do. While Cromer Pier has suffered its fair share of weather-related incidents (a rig crashed into it in 1993 and cut off the theatre from the pier), but it’s still active and a rite of passage for anyone looking for things to do in Norfolk.

One of our favourite facts about Norfolk is that one of the things the county is primarily known for was actually one huge manmade accident! For generations, it was believed that the Norfolk Broads were natural features of the county’s landscape until it was discovered in the 1960s that they were flooded medieval peat excavations.