Horatio Nelson was born in North Norfolk at Burnham Thorpe in 1758. His Father was Reverend Edmund Nelson and the church at Burnham Market has many interesting “Nelson” artifacts.  The rectory where Horatio was born, has long since been demolished sadly.  Throughout his victorious battles at sea, Horatio remained proud of his Norfolk roots and declared “I am a Norfolk Man and Glory in being so!”  In his will he asked to buried in Burnham Thorpe, but Parliament at the time, decided upon his tragic death at Trafalgar, that Norfolk wasn’t grand enough and so Nelson was interred in a magnificent black marble sarcophagus (originally meant for the notorious Cardinal Wolsey), in the crypt of St Pauls Cathedral.

We think he is the Greatest British Hero of all time – but we Norfolk Folk are totally biased!