Welcome to the Caithness Crystal Visitor Centre where you can experience the art of glassmaking, sample some local produce in the coffee shop or just browse round the newly stocked factory showroom full of fine glass and other handmade gifts.
Recently acquired by King's Lynn based manufacturers, Tollit & Harvey Ltd, the Visitor Centre has entered a new era and is currently undergoing a substantial refurbishment to ensure that you get the most from your visit.
Visit a Real Glassmaking Experience in West Norfolk at the Caithness Crystal Visitor Centre in King's Lynn Open 7 Days a Week!*
With free admission, free parking and free glassmaking demonstrations the Caithness Crystal Visitor Centre is well worth a visit!
The whole family will find something to enjoy at this wonderfull indoor tourist attraction. Adults and children can enjoy the experience of blowing their very own glass tumbler, friendship ball or vase.
For a really unique memento why not have your childs hand or foot cast in glass?
With the careful guidance of our master glassmaker, a whole range of craft experiences are available and start from as little as £6!! There is no time limit on viewing, just stay as long as you like. You might even like to relax in our fully-licensed, air-conditioned restaurant and coffee shop.
Coaches, group bookings and school parties are particularly welcome.
Coach parties are welcomed daily throughout the year at Caithness Crystal Visitor Centre. As you enter King's Lynn, the gateway to Norfolk, it is the ideal stopping off point to freshen up. The glassmaking experience is there to be enjoyed free of charge to all visitors and there's the opportunity to buy a locally produced gift from the Factory Outlet which stocks many famous brands of glass, china and cookware too.
View a selection of our products. We keep developing and innovating, offering a wide range of products and services that help our customers and clients achieve their .
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With its origins dating back to the Holy Roman Empire, the wedding anniversary was only celebrated upon 25 years and 50 years of marriage. It was marked by the ceremonial placing of a silver wreath (25 years) or a gold wreath (50 years) on the wife’s head by her husband. It has only been in recent times that wedding anniversaries have been celebrated every year of a married couple’s life together, and that is largely as a result of commercialism.
Today, British Commonwealth, Australian, Canadian and North American leaders may recognize 50 years or more of marriage by the sending of a greeting card, message or letter to the married couple upon their anniversary.
The exchanging and giving of gifts is believed to have started in medieval Germany, where the wife would be presented with a silver wreath by her friends and neighbors upon the couple reaching 25 years of marriage. Over time more anniversaries were celebrated, with traditional gifts being given on major anniversaries to celebrate the likes of 10 years, 25 years, 50 years and 75 years of marriage. Today specific gifts are exchanged between married couples for every year up until the 50th anniversary, with proposed gifts for the years after that. For instance, the 60th wedding anniversary gift is to be diamonds. In bygone years diamonds were the gift given upon the anniversary of 75 years of marriage, but it was changed to 60 years when the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria ascending the throne was referred to as the Diamond Anniversary. When Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 60th year on the throne it was commonly referred to as her Diamond Jubilee year.
Some traditional wedding anniversary gifts have changed over the years as well as the wedding anniversary themes, with the modern version being more widely accepted globally, however some have remained the same through the ages. For the most part traditional wedding anniversary gifts both in the UK and the U.S. were practical. That is not to say that the modern versions are not practical but it is easy to see how commercialism has influenced the list of gifts given today.
The following table shows how those gift ideas have changed, and the differences between the British traditional and the U.S. traditional anniversary gifts:
Year | Traditional (U.S.) | Traditional (UK) | Modern (U.S.) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Paper | Cotton | Clock |
2nd | Cotton | Paper | China |
3rd | Leather | Crystal, glass | |
4th | Linen, silk | Fruit | Appliances (electrical) |
5th | Wood | Silverware | |
6th | Iron | Sugar | Wood objects |
7th | Wool, copper | Woollen | Desk sets/pen and pencil sets |
8th | Bronze | Salt | Linens, lace |
9th | Pottery | Copper | Leather goods |
10th | Tin, Aluminum | Tin | Diamond jewelry |
15th | Crystal | Watches | |
20th | China | Platinum | |
21st | Brass, Nickel | ||
22nd | Copper | ||
23rd | Silver plate | ||
24th | Opal | Musical instruments | |
25th | Silver | ||
30th | Pearl | Diamond | |
35th | Coral, jade | Coral | Jade |
40th | Ruby | ||
45th | Sapphire | Sapphire | |
50th | Gold | ||
55th | Emerald | Emerald | |
60th | Diamond (yellow) | Diamond | |
65th | Blue sapphire | ||
70th | Platinum | ||
75th | Diamond, gold | Diamond, gold | |
80th | Oak | Diamond, pearl | |
85th | Moonstone | Wine | Diamond, Sapphire |
90th | Granite | Diamond, Emerald |
Traditional names for specific wedding anniversaries and withstood the test of time, with 25 years of marriage being celebrated as a silver wedding anniversary, 50 years as a golden wedding anniversary and 60 years as a diamond wedding anniversary.