It always amazes/disappoints me to see how little Nelson is celebrated in our home county of Norfolk. Granted, some of the signs on the way into Norfolk refer to it as ‘Nelson’s County’, but other than that, it is slim pickings. There are pubs and the occasional road name, but not much else. Even the sere and stony Nelson monument in Great Yarmouth is called the ‘Britannia Monument’ (or the ‘Norfolk Naval Pillar’).
You can stand on Burnham Market’s fancy high street, within shouting distance of Nelson’s home village of Burnham Thorpe, and still not really know you were next to an area of historical significance. (Trying to then find the specific site of Nelson’s childhood home once you’re in Burnham Thorpe is practically impossible without a) using the internet and b) firing off a few swear words into the ether.)
This seeming indifference is why I was so happy to see the above wood carving of Nelson appear in Burnham Thorpe in 2022. It was sawed into shape from the ruins of a diseased maple tree by a talented young local artist called Henry Hepworth-Smith, after a suggestion from farmers that, rather than lose the tree, it could be carved into something of note. Horatio now overlooks the village green, likely a meadow during his childhood, and towards the village pub (now called The Nelson, but known as The Plough in the 1700s, when he merely was one of its punters).
Isn’t it great? So charming. And I love that it was made by a local chap. It is, for my money, the best Nelson monument around.
In a way, Norfolk’s lack of singing and dancing regarding Nelson is typical. We don’t like to make a fuss of someone, even if they’re a rare genius who single-handedly – forgive the pun – saved Britain from the threat of invasion.
Indeed, if Nelson were American, the state in which he was born would be doubtless have been renamed Nelsonland (or something equally silly). The state capital would be called Nelsonton (or something equally silly). Every school would be called Nelson High or Nelson Elementary.
Perhaps that might be taking it too far.
The Britannia monument in Yarmouth has the following words inscribed regarding Norfolk’s most famous son:
This great man Norfolk boasts her own, not only as born there of a respectable family, and as there having received his early education, but her own also in talents, manners and mind.
Well done to Henry for using his own talents, manners and mind in preserving Nelson’s memory in such a heartening way.
Nelson The Sailor 