Maharaja Duleep Singh | Photographic Ramblings

If I can beg forgiveness from anyone who is familiar with East Anglia and in particular with those who are conversant with the county of Norfolk, I have a confession to make, in that all the years that I headed the car between Thetford and Diss I had never encountered or heard of the village of Blo Norton until very recently.

It was after our visit to the Elveden in Suffolk that I came across the name of Blo Norton.

I wonder what deems a village to be of more interest than its neighbours, is it the manor house and its occupants old and new, the church with all its historic pedigree that was the centre of village life,its position in the landscape, I am sure it could be any of these if not all and Blo Norton is no exception.

It sit near the banks of the river Little Ouse which heads westerly joining The River Great Ouse at Brandon Creek, Blo Norton Hall was the home of Prince “Freddy” Frederick Duleep Singh for the last twenty years of his life, in the early twenty century Virginia Woolf made it her holiday home and then there is The Church of St Andrews the last resting place of Frederick Duleep Singh but perhaps what makes this place more interesting is its name.

St Andrews Church

Prince “Freddy” Frederick Duleep Singh

Memorial Seat in St Andrews Grave Yard, Blo Norton, Norfolk, England,

Village Sign, Blo Norton, Norfolk, England

Web Links

Blo Norton

The River Little Ouse

Blo Norton Hall

Frederick Duleep Singh

It was one of those days that seem to be more prevalent in recent years, when making a decision is a challenge to say the least. It was not a matter of earth shattering proportions but only where to go on a excursion for the day.

After much deliberation not to say sole searching I remembered many years of travelling up the A11 from Newmarket on my way to Thetford and Norwich and passing through the village of Elveden with its church, country estate and it associations to an Indian Prince with a Scottish nickname and a pint of The Black Stuff.

On this day we arrived from Brandon in the west, passing The Center Parcs entrance before crossing over the newly opened A11 bypass taking the traffic traveling between London and Norwich away from the village Elveden at last after many years of ever increasing volumes of the motor vehicle.

St Andrew and St Patrick Church

The Cloisters leading to the Bell Tower

Although the church was locked it was a pleasure to wander around the church yard which was blessed with a profusion of snowdrops. Now that it no longer sits on the A11 it would have been a tranquil visit apart from the RAF Jets performing their manoeuvres in the clouded skies above.

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