The Thetford town sign depicts two of the “celebrities” from history associated with the town. The first (depending on your direction of travel 😊) is Thomas Paine. Born in Thetford on 29th January 1737, and arguably the towns most famous “celebrity”, he emigrated to America in 1774.
Considered quite radical for his time, Paine published several influential and controversial documents. These included texts supporting America’s independence from British rule and helped pave the way for the Declaration of Independence, resulting in him being referred to as “The Father of the American Revolution”.
The second “celebrity” is King Sweine Forkbeard (or Sweyn, Sveinn, Svend …), the ruler of much of Norway around the year 1000. His fame in the town (at the time Thetford was one of the largest towns in England) is due to his leading raids in 1004 and 1010 which left much of it in flames on at least one occasion. The success of his armies against King Ethelred led to him being declared King of England in 1013, although he died only a few weeks later.
A very high muggle area which will need stealth to retrieve. You will need your own pen and may need some tweezers too.