Narborough Railway Line or Narborough Railway Embankment is a 7.9-hectare (20-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of King's Lynn in Norfolk.[1][2] It is a former railway embankment which is now a nature reserve managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.[3] It is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of Narborough, on the A47 going east from King's Lynn to Swaffham,[4][5] and it can be entered by a car park west of the reserve.[5][6] It was documented in 1847 as an area with much chalk and flints.[7]
The Lynn and Dereham Railway, which weaved a 26.5-mile (42.6 km) route to East Dereham via Narborough and Swaffham, was given the Royal Assent on 21 July 1845.[9] It opened in stages between 1846 and 1848.[10] This later became part of the Great Eastern Railway. Only the section of line between King's Lynn and Narborough was opened under the L&DR, on 17 October 1846. The remainder of the line was opened in stages by the L&DR's immediate successor, the East Anglian Railway. The East Anglian Line was opened in August 1847, after three and a half years of construction.[11] Narborough joined this, and initially went to Lynn, then expanded to Narborough and to Swaffham.[11][12]
The railway was first used by the post office to deliver post around Norfolk.[13] The railway operated between Dereham and King's Lynn and was closed in 1960. The railway was on the King's Lynn to Norwich line.[8] In 1958, Narborough Railway Line hired their first full-time stationmaster, Rod Lock, who at the time was a relief stationmaster for the whole of Norfolk. He had to deal with the severe 1958 blizzards, which buried some of the trains.[8]
Wildlife
At Narborough Railway Line there are 26 species of butterfly recorded and there are a large quantity of birds in the summer months.[4] The reserve is closed when there are sheep on the site.[3] The most common birds are blackcap, chiffchaff and common whitethroat. In the summer there are turtle doves and in the winter there are blackbirds, fieldfare and redwing.[4][6]
