Hidden Gems of North Norfolk

I grew up in North Norfolk, and as a child can remember clearly the utter amazement of visiting a very small museum next door to a lovely church in the very picturesque village of Glandford. Glandford is on a road from Letheringsett off the A148 towards Blakeney on the Norfolk Coast, in the Glaven river valley.

The Shell Museum in Glandford houses a unique collection of seashells and also a collection of fossils, birds' eggs, agate ware as well as local archaeological finds and many more fascinating items that had me enthralled for hours when I visited as a child. 
This is a true hidden gem of North Norfolk. And I would recommend a visit to The Shell Museum that houses the finest seashell collection in the UK. The original collection of shells was made over a period of sixty years by the late Sir Alfred Jodrell, Baronet, of Bayfield Hall, who built the small museum with Dutch gables in 1915, in keeping with the rest of the village. Sir Alfred and his sisters lovingly arranged the whole of the shells in their cases. These shells of all different colours, sizes and hues come from all corners of the planet, and the collection is still being added to by kind donations from other shell collectors.

The Shell Museum stands next to St Martin's Church, a delightful church which contains elaborate woodcarving and beautiful stained glass windows and whose carillon of twelve bells plays a different hymn every three hours, that is also well worth a visit. Located close by is the foot bridge over a picturesque ford of the river Glaven, where you can feed the wild ducks.

The Museum is open to the public for a very reasonable price of £2 per adult and 50p per child; from Easter Saturday until the end of October, Tuesdays to Saturdays. Opening hours are 10am till 4.30pm however it closed for lunch between 12.30p.m. - 2p.m.

The Museum underwent a major refurbishment programme in 2003 when great care and attention were taken to both enhance and preserve its unique Victorian collection. The Shell Museum is a small charitable trust and receives no public grants of any kind. It depends on the income from visitors for it upkeep and continued presence to allow future generations to marvel at this unique collection of seashells and objects of interest. I highly recommend searching out this hidden gem of North Norfolk as a delightful excursion for all to a truly amazing and fascinating place.