A history of Norfolk (due in 2010)
J.C. BarringerWhat, to an outsider characterises Norfolk? More than 600 villages and market towns are spread over its gently undulating surface. It is a county of varied landscapes: fen and brecks in the west, coast and broads tot he north and east and attractive river valleys such as those of the Bure and Wensum draining the clay lands in the centre. It is a large county relatively isolated from the rest of England: edged by the sea on its north, north eastern and eastern sides; by the once impenetrable fens on the west and by an almost continuous river boundary to its south.
The first recognition of Norfolk appears to have been in AD 672, when the diocese of East Anglia was split with the establishment of a bishop for the Northfolk of the kingdom at North Elmham. Norfolk as a county was not mentioned until 1043–45. Domesday Book used the county as a unity in 1086.
Norfolk in human terms has an old landscape; people have been wandering over it for a long time. The coast has altered dramatically so that several Domesday vills, such as Eccles, are now in the sea. Former ports such as Cley have silted up. The Fens are a battleground between sea and land water. The sea has always played a significant part in the life of the county and waves of settlers have come by sea and later trade linked King’s Lynn and Yarmouth with Europe.
The density of Roman settlement, of Domesday population and of medieval churches show how closely the county has been settled by agricultural communities. Norfolk was the most densely populated English county from 1000 until 1600. After 1096 Norwich, as the centre of the bishopric and of the shire became and has remained the dominant centre of a region larger than that of Norfolk. Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn both developed under the patronage of the first Bishop of Norwich. From 1350 to 1750 Norwich was the second city of England.
Norfolk’s churches are one of the county’s greatest delights and they are usually the oldest standing buildings in the parish. Population decline, the dissolution of the monasteries and changes of patron took their toll of many, leaving them derelict. The spread of Nonconformity has meant that nearly every village has its chapels as well as its parish church.
Norfolk’s history, compared with that of the Welsh Borders or of Northumberland, has on the whole been a peaceful one. However, the Black Death of 1349, the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and Kett’s Rebellion of 1549 each had an impact on the population in terms of economic and social change.
Norfolk has had many influential families such as the Howard Dukes of Norfolk and the Pastons: the latter known because of the survival of their fifteenth-century letters. In addition the estates of the bishops and of great monasteries such as Castle Acre have provided wonderful records as well as an outstanding collection of castles, manor houses and monastic ruins for the visitor.
Agriculture had been – and in spatial terms still is – the county’s main economic activity. The county can be broadly divided into the sheep-corn economy of the north west and the wood pasture economy of the south. Norfolk’s role in the ‘Agricultural Revolution’ and the development of the ‘Norfolk system’ is well known but the Industrial Revolution largely passed Norfolk by. Wool production and cloth making have formed a theme of the county’s history second only to that of its agriculture. The two themes are closely interwoven and Norwich has been involved in both throughout its history.
As a county Norfolk has changed less than the ring of counties nearer to London but pressures on its rural character are increasing. The importance of protecting the character of its market towns, villages and countryside has increased. The holiday attractions of the Broads and the coast and its growing number of nature reserves have added to its variety. As many people have found it is a peaceful and attractive county in which to live.
This will be a marvellous addition to our county history series. If you register an interest in this title we will email you with fuller details nearer publication date.
