March

Thetford’s past has many links to Maharajah Duleep Singh, who at one time settled at the nearby Elveden Estate. Ancient House Museum The building housing the museum and many of its prize contents were bequeathed to the town by Prince Frederick Duleep Singh (1868-1926), second son of the Maharajah Duleep Singh (1838-1893).

The museum’s collection enriches visitors’ knowledge of the famous Sikh royal family that resided in the area, and royal treasures and palaces associated with them, vividly demonstrating the historical roots with the area and the continuing display of those objects that they donated. Butten Island, Thetford Situated in the heart of Thetford, close to the Ancient House Museum, Butten Island provides a scenic backdrop to a magnificent statue of Duleep Singh.

Widely regarded as the first major piece of Sikh public art outside India, this imposing life size bronze statue, officially unveiled by HRH the Prince of Wales in July 1999, serves as a permanent memorial to the Maharajah.

“Although he died in desperate circumstances, alone, destitute and longing to return to his native Punjab, the memorial statue of Maharajah Duleep Singh remarkably captures the grandeur of the position he was once destined to hold. It immortalizes him and confers upon him a dignity and status he was often denied in his lifetime.”

Lord Lawrence, descendant of John Lawrence, who was Chief Commissioner of Punjab in 1853, and later Viceroy and Governor General of India in 1864