Lynford is a village situated in the Breckland

Breckland (district)

Breckland District is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in East Dereham.Breckland District derives its name from the Breckland landscape region, a gorse covered sandy heath of south Norfolk and north Suffolk...

 District of Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 and covers an area of 24.72 km² (9.5 sq mi) with a population of 157 in 81 households as of the UK census 2001. Lynford lies 4 miles (6.4 km) north east of Brandon

Brandon, Suffolk

Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Forest Heath local government district.Brandon is located in the Breckland area on the border of Suffolk with the adjoining county of Norfolk...

 and between Mundford

Mundford

Mundford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated at the intersection of two major routes, the A134 Colchester to King's Lynn road and the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, about north west of Thetford...

, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north west, and Thetford

Thetford

Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...

, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) to the south east, on the A134

A134 road

The A134 road runs from Colchester to Kings Lynn. Other towns on the A134 road include Sudbury, Bury St. Edmunds and Thetford....

. It lies deep within Breckland forestry land between the Stanford Battle Area

Stanford Battle Area

Stanford Battle Area, better known as the Stanford Training Area , is a British Army training area situated in the English county of Norfolk. The area is approximately in size; it is some north of the town of Thetford and south-west of the city of Norwich...

 and Thetford Forest

Thetford Forest

Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain, Thetford Forest Park is located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in England...

.

Lynford is served by Our Lady of Consolation and Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....

 chapel of ease

Chapel of ease

A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

 joined to Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Thetford.

Lynford Hall

Lynford Hall

Lynford Hall is a neo-Jacobean country house at Mundford, near Thetford in the English county of Norfolk. It is now an hotel.The house was built in 1857-1862 by William Burn for Stephens Lyne-Stephens, said at the time to be the richest commoner in England...

, which is actually closer to Mundford

Mundford

Mundford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated at the intersection of two major routes, the A134 Colchester to King's Lynn road and the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, about north west of Thetford...

, was rebuilt in the 19th century by Stephens Lyne-Stephens

Stephens Lyne-Stephens

Stephens Lyne-Stephens was an English Tory politician who represented Barnstaple before the 1832 Reform Act. After inheriting a family fortune from glass manufacture in Portugal, he was later reputed to be the richest commoner in England.Lyne-Stephens was returned as Member of Parliament for...

 who was known as the richest commoner

Commoner

In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...

 in England. The hall is now a hotel and conference centre. Lynford Arboretum and Lakes, formerly part of Lynford Hall estate, is now owned by the Forestry Commission

Forestry Commission

The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....

.

Grimes Graves

Grimes Graves

Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex near Brandon in England close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk. It was worked between around circa 3000 BC and circa 1900 BC, although production may have continued well into the Bronze and Iron Ages owing to the low cost of flint...

, the only Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 flint

Flint

Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...

 mine open to visitors in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, lie a mile to the south.