Burnham Thorpe

Burnham Thorpe is a hamlet and civil parish on the River Burn and near the coast of Norfolk, England. It is famous for being the birthplace of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of Britain's greatest heroes. At the time of his birth, Nelson's father, Edmund Nelson, was rector of the church in Burnham Thorpe.

The house in which Nelson was born was demolished soon after his father's death, though the rectory that replaced it and the church at which his father preached can still be seen. The site of the former rectory is marked by a roadside plaque.

The village’s name means 'Homestead/village on the River Burn' or perhaps, 'hemmed-in land on the River Burn'. 'Thorpe', meaning 'Outlying farm/settlement' was added to distinguish it from the other Burnhams in Norfolk.

The village's main public house was built in 1637 and was known as The Plough until 1798 when it was renamed The Lord Nelson in honour of the victory at the Battle of the Nile. Nelson held a dinner here for the men of the village prior to his departure to join HMS Agamemnon (1781). The pub survives to this day.

Burnhamthorpe Road in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada was named after this settlement.

All Saints Church
A church at Burnham Thorpe was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1087. The present building has an arcade dating from the 13th-century, aisles from the 14th-century and the clerestorey, north porch and chancel date from the 15th-century. A bell tower of three stages at the west end also dates from the 15th-century. A 13th-century baptismal font of Purbeck marble was where the infant Horatio Nelson was Christened by his father. The church includes a number of monuments including an 1803 statue of Reverend Edmund Nelson by John Flaxman. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Famous people from or associated with Burnham Thorpe

 * Sir William Calthorpe (1410- 1494), High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk
 * Horatio Nelson, naval commander
 * Miranda Raison, actress
 * Lord Zuckerman, scientist and civil servant