SANDRINGHAM

village (parish) and royal mansion, King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough, administrative and historic county of Norfolk, England. With the surrounding estate of 19,500 acres (7,900 hectares) of sandy heath and farmland, the mansion was acquired for the prince of Wales, later Edward VII, in 1861 and has since been part of the British sovereign's personal possessions. Successive monarchs have used it for winter residence during the partridge-shooting season, and George VI died there in 1952. The village and church of West Newton lie nearby. Pop. (1981) 440.