Population 205 (2011 census) Civil parish Thursford Country England Area 6.02 km² District North Norfolk UK parliament constituency Broadland | OS grid reference TF979344 Region East Sovereign state United Kingdom Shire county Norfolk Dialling code 01328 | |
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Thursford is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 16.3 miles southwest of Cromer, 24.5 miles northwest of Norwich and 121 miles north-east of London. The village lies 6.9 miles northwest of the nearby town of Fakenham. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The village once had its own Thursford railway station which is now closed. It is a proposed stop on the Norfolk Orbital Railway.
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Map of Thursford, UK
Thursford parish church is called St Andrew’s and has some fine examples of Victorian stained glass windows. The church was rebuilt in the early 1860s with money given by the Chadd family who lived in the nearby Thursford Hall.
Thursford is part of the Broadland parliamentary constituency, before this it was for many years in the Norfolk North constituency until boundary changes in 2010.
Thursford Collection
Thursford is the home of the Thursford Collection, which is an assortment of steam engines and organs housed in a museum. The collection was founded by the late George Cushing and what began as a hobby turned into one of the world's most important steam and fairground museums. The collection includes a Mighty Wurlitzer which is the fourth-largest in Europe and has a total of 1,339 pipes. There is also a 19th-century gondola merry-go-round which was built in the Norfolk factory of Frederick Savage. The merry-go-round is decorated with carved heads depicting Queen Victoria and her family, including the German Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The collection and museum is also famous for its popular summer and winter shows. The annual Christmas "Spectaculars" attract coachloads of devotees from around the country and must be booked months in advance.