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A county of England bounded by Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Suffolk. It contains 660 parishes, 32 market towns and 33 hundreds and 1 city. The kingdom of East Anglia was founded in 575A.D. The inhabitants at that time were chiefly Angles. The kingdom of East Anglia was naturally divided into two portions by the Little Ouse and Waveney rivers; over a period of time the inhabitants described themselves as North-folk or South-folk. So the county of Norfolk is in fact the county of the North-folk and Suffolk is the county of the South-folk of East Anglia.
Norfolk is distinctly a maritime county. It is bounded on the north and on the east by the North Sea and it has about 90 miles coast line. On the North West, there is a large estuary called the Wash and into it flow the rivers of the great flat fen district which forms its boundary. This estuary is shallow but navigable and in Saxon times the Danes would land on its shores and ravage the area and form settlements in this part of England. Norfolk was exposed to many attacks by the Danes who in 1004 were able to sail to Norwich.
From the point of view of holiday makers, Norfolk is chiefly famous for its beautiful Broads district. The Broads are a series of navigable meres from about 15 to 400 acres in extent and most of them are connected with the rivers Yare, Bure and Waveney. Norfolk is bounded on the north by the North Sea. On the south it is bounded by the rivers Waveney and Little Ouse. The Waveney flows eastward to the sea; the Little Ouse flows westward and joins the Ouse. These two rivers divide Norfolk from Suffolk. On the west Norfolk is bounded by Cambridgeshire from which it is separated by the river Nene; on the north-west it is bounded by the Wash.
At the the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, Norfolk was inhabited by people whom Caesar called the Cenimagni, but a century on, they were then called the Iceni. After the Romans left the Saxons and Angles came and settled in Norfolk - it is upon their language that our English tongue is based. The inhabitants of Norfolk today are mostly descendants of the Anglo-Saxons.
There a good many Dutch words in use in Norfolk today probably left by the Dutch weavers who settled in the county during the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The first of these settlers arrived in 1336 after being driven out of their own country by a great flood. The greater majority of them settled in Norwich but other smaller groups settled in other parts of the county. They employed themselves in the manufacture of woollen stuffs which soon became a flourishing industry. In 1575 many more Dutch workmen compelled to leave the Netherlands came into Norfolk and towards the end of the seventeenth century the revocation of the Edict of Nantes drove a considerable number of Huguenots from France, some settled in this county. Some notable Norfolk families are descended from Huguenot refugees and in Norwich and some of the neighbouring villages are descendants of the Dutch weavers; though the Dutch surnames have undergone some alteration since the original settlers arrived.
In the first half of the seventeenth century French and Dutch were spoken freely in Norwich by many of the inhabitants.
The 1901 census shows a population of Norfolk at 460,120 persons. In 1801 there were only 273,479 persons living here and in 1851 the population was 442,714. This shows that the greatest increase took place during the first half of the nineteenth century. Also, from the 1901 census we can learn that the number of inhabited houses in the county was 110,550; there were 1171 persons occupying military and naval barracks and 5,110 persons occupying hospitals, workhouses, asylums and reformatories. On ships in the harbours, wherries and barges on the rivers there were 478 persons.
The inhabitants of Norfolk depended chiefly on agriculture. The corn crops of Norfolk consisted of wheat, barley, oats, rye, beans and peas. The principal root and green crops consisted of potatoes, turnips, mangolds, cabbages, rape, vetches and sainfoin, which covered over 355,129 acres - or more than a quarter of the county.
Norfolk had other important industries and manufactures such as the great herring fishery, the making of farming implements which was carried out at Norwich, Thetford, East Dereham and other places. At Norwich and Thetford especially there were large implement foundries, while in the city, iron fencing, wire netting and portable iron buildings were made. At East Dereham many people were employed in the making of field gates, stack covers and poultry houses. Many ships were built at Yarmouth however this industry declined when steam-ships began to take the place of sailing ships.
In the reign of Edward III a large number of Dutch and Flemish weavers settled in Norfolk and introduced the industry of cloth-weaving. Many became settled in Norwich. Worstead near North Walsham was one of their rural centres. As a consequence of spinning a fine woollen yarn worstead stuffs took their name from that small town. Owing to the industry of the foreign weavers, Norfolk and especially Norwich became famous for its woollen trade - largely increased by the passing of an Act of Parliament making it illegal to wear cloths of foreign manufacture.
In 1575 more Dutch weavers arrived and introduced the manufacture of Bombazine, they obtained an exclusive privilege. Early in the eighteenth century it was estimated that there were 120,000 people were employed in, or dependent upon, the woollen and silk manufactures in this county alone. In 1840 there were 12,000 Norwich weavers but the weaving industry is now extinct.
Norwich is especially noted for that of mustard making, an industry which originated at Stoke Holy Cross and later transferred to Norwich, Carrow Works which covers 32 acres. The mustard consists of flour made from the seeds of the black and white mustards to which wheaten flour and other ingredients in small quantity are added. Both black and white mustard are annual plants bearing small yellow flowers. The seeds contain about 36 per cent of oil of a bland character while the black seed also contains an essential oil of an extremely pungent nature. Success in mustard-making depends on the oil being so blended as to secure the full advantage of the properties of each.
The architecture of buildings in Norfolk can be divided up into three classes; Ecclesiastical (buildings related to the church), Military, or castles and Domestic, houses or cottages. A good many of the Norfolk churches sand on sites that were occupied by churches in Saxon times. 317 churches within the county limits are mentioned in the Doomsday Survey and only slight traces of Saxon architecture remain. Very fine roofs and wood work are generally to be seen in Norfolk churches and unrivalled only with the exception of Devonshire. Flint was easily obtainable in Norfolk and therefore used for building purposes which enabled builders to beautify the exterior of many churches with fine flint-panelling or flush work.
The best Norman work is in Norwich Cathedral where the nave has massive Norman pillars the aisles have Norman vaulting and the lower part of the tower is of this period. Nearly all the ancient castles of England were built during the Norman period, in consequence, the original portions of these buildings have very thick walls, the doorways have semi-circular arches and ornamentation is in keeping with that period. Norwich Castle was the chief Norman stronghold in Norfolk . It's keep stands on a partly artificial mound and after being used for many years as the county jail it now contains the Norwich Museum - it was restored during the nineteenth century.
Many of the finest houses in Norfolk were built during the Tudor period. During this period a number of clever foreign artists and craftsmen came and settled in England, bringing with them new ideas of building, so through time, the Gothic architecture disappeared which made way for classical designs in doorways and in the ornamentation of wall surfaces. The least altered of all the fifteenth century halls in the county is Mannington, a plain embattled flint house dating from about 1451. Raynham Hall near Fakenham, Heydon Hall near Cawston Cressingham Manor House near Swaffham and Great Snoring parsonage near Walsingham are also fine Tudor houses. Another noteworthy building is East Barsham Manor House near Fakenham - partly in a ruined state but enough is left to admire the splendid example of ornamental brickwork. Many of the Tudor houses of Norfolk are now farm houses and some have been allowed to fall into decay. One of the finest houses in Norfolk is Holkham Hall near Wells the seat of the Earl of Leicester, built between 1735 and 1750, it stands in a beautiful park about nine miles in circuit.
In many of the Norfolk towns there are interesting old houses. Strangers' Hall in Norwich is a picturesque fifteenth century building probably built by a rich city merchant. The Maid's Head at Norwich established in 1472; the Dolphin Inn at Heigham built about 1587, all historically interesting.
A careful study was made many years ago of the distribution of British genius and it was proved that Norfolk stood foremost among the counties in respect of the production of men and women of marked distinction and intellectual ability:
King Edward VII and the Prince of Wales were intimately connected with Norfolk owing to Sandringham being their favourite country home.
Blickling Hall was an early home of the unfortunate Anne Boleyn. Horsham was that of Katherine Howard, two of the wives of Henry VIII.
Norwich the cathedral city has been the residence of many distinguished divines; Bishop Hall the famous satirist. Archbishop Matthew Parker was born in Norwich. Gonville founder of Caius College was a Norfolk man; Gonville and Caius College became pre-eminently the place of education for Norfolk men at the University
Famous Norfolk scholars and men of letters; Richard Porson the eminent Greek scholar; George Henry Borrow the student of gypsy life and author of Lavengro, born in East Dereham; Horace Walpole the famous letter-writer buried in Houghton church; Sir Thomas Browne the author of Religio Medici and other works spent the greater part of his life in Norwich; William Cowper the poet was a frequent visitor to Norfolk and buried in the church at East Dereham;John Skelton poet-laureate in the reign of Henry VIII was rector of Diss; Thomas Shadwell born at Weeting about 1637; Robert Greene the sixteenth century poet and dramatist was a native of Norwich; Blomfield the Norfolk historian was born at Fersfield in 1705; Sir John Fenn who lived at East Dereham was the first editor of the famous Paston Letters - chiefly written by or to members of the Paston family; Charles Dickens is constantly associated with Yarmouth: Bulwer Lytton the novelist belonged to a Norfolk family whose seat is at Heydon; Captain Marryat famous for his stirring sea stories lived and died at Langham near Wells and J Hookham Frere the diplomatist and author came from Roydon.
· Three distinguished statesmen - Sir Robert Walpole the great prime minister, Viscount Townshend the famous wit and orator and William Windham were representatives of Norfolk families. Walpole lived at Houghton, Townshend at Raynham and Windham at Felbrigg. Sir Thomas Gresham founder of the Royal Exchange was born at Holt in 1507
· Norfolk notable soldiers - Sir John Fastolff and Sir Thomas Erpingham; Sir Jacob Astley the Royalist commander who died in 1652 and lived at Melton Constable; George lst Marquess Townshend who took command of the British troops after the death of General Wolfe before Quebec; Lord Nelson born at Burham Thorpe near Wells; Sir Cloudesley Shovel distinguished admiral a native of Cockthrope; George Vancouver the famous navigator and discoverer, born in Kings Lynn; Captain Joseph Wiggins of Norwich
· Notable explorers - Thomas Manning of Brome
· Famous English Lawyers - Sir Edward Coke born at Mileham; a descendant of this great lawyer was Thomas William Coke lst Earl of Leicester
· Scientific men connected with Norfolk - Edward Wright the mathematician and inventor of "Mercator's Projection"; William Hyde Wollaston, P.R.S. the chemist and scientist was born at Dereham; Sir James Smith the founder of the Linnean Society - associated with Norwich; famous botanists, John Lindley and Sir William Hooker; Norwich physician author of a Fauna of Norfolk
· Notable Norfolk geologists - Members of the family of Woodward
· Famous Norfolk painters - collectively known as those of the "Norwich School" are of European renown; John Crome the founder was born in Norwich in 1768 and developed his style under the influence of the Dutch artist - he had various followers; Cotman, Stark and Vincent.
· Famous Norfolk Architects - William Wilkins who built the National Gallery, St George's Hospital and various college buildings at Cambridge was also a Norwich man
· Famous Norfolk Women - Amy Robsart Countess of Leicester who died mysteriously at Cumnor Hall Berkshire, spent many years at Stanfield Hall near Wymondham; Frances Burney (Mme D'Arblay) author of Evelina, born in Kings Lynn; Amelia Opie the wife of the painter, one of the most popular novelists of the first half of the nineteenth century lived and died in Norwich and she was also born there; Harriet Martineau who wrote many popular stories and whose autobiography gives an interesting glimpse of the literary life of Norwich over a hundred years ago; Elizabeth Fry who was born at Bramerton near Norwich and who laboured so hard for the women prisoners in Newgate and other English jails.
Norfolk is especially noteworthy for its Quaker families