The county has an area of 2,074 sq mi (5,370 km2) and a population of 859,400. It is largely rural with few large towns: after Norwich (147,895), the largest settlements are King's Lynn (42,800) in the north-west, Great Yarmouth (38,693) in the east, and Thetford (24,340) in the south. For local government purposes Norfolk is a non-metropolitan county with seven districts.
The west of Norfolk is part of the Fens, an extremely flat former marsh. The centre of the county is gently undulating lowland; its northern coast is an area of outstanding natural beauty, and in the south is part of Thetford Forest. In the east are the Broads, a network of rivers and lakes which extend into Suffolk. The area is protected by the Broads Authority and has similar status to a national park. The geology of the county includes clay and chalk deposits, which make its coast susceptible to erosion.
There is evidence of Prehistoric settlement in Norfolk. In the Roman era the region was home to the Iceni, whose leader Boudica led a major revolt in AD60. The Angles settled the area in the fifth century, and it became part of the Kingdom of East Anglia. During the later Middle Ages the county was very prosperous and heavily involved in the wool trade; this allowed the construction of many large churches. In 1549 Norfolk was the scene of Kett's Rebellion, which unsuccessfully protested the enclosure of land. The county was not heavily industrialised during the Industrial Revolution, and Norwich lost its status as one of England's largest cities. The contemporary economy is largely based on agriculture and tourism.
The area that was to become Norfolk was settled in pre-Roman times (there were Palaeolithic settlers as early as 950,000 years ago), with camps along the higher land in the west, where flints could be quarried.[7] A Brittonic tribe, the Iceni, emerged in the 1st century BC. The Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD 47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second rebellion opened the area to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the area and farming was widespread.
Situated on the east coast, the homelands of the Iceni were vulnerable to attacks from continental Europe and other parts of Britain, and forts were built to defend against raids by the Saxons and the Picts. A period of depopulation, which may have been due to these threats, seems to have followed the departure of the Romans.[8] Soon afterward, Germanic peoples from the North Sea area settled in the region. Though they became known as Angles, they were likely not affiliated to any tribe in particular at the time of their migration. It is thought that the settlement here was early (possibly beginning at the start of the fifth century, thereby preceding the alleged date of Hengist and Horsa's arrival in Kent) and that it occurred on a large scale.[9][10][11]
By the 5th century the Angles had established control of the region and later became the "north folk" and the "south folk"; hence "Norfolk" and "Suffolk". Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia (one of the heptarchy), which later merged with Mercia and then with Wessex. The influence of the early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in "-ham", "-ingham" and "-ton". Endings such as "-by" and "-thorpe" are also fairly common, indicating Danish toponyms: in the 9th century the region again came under attack, this time from Danes who killed the king, Edmund the Martyr. Several place names around the Fenland area contain Celtic elements;[12] this has been taken by some scholars to represent a possibly significant concentration of Britons in the area.
In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have been high: by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture and woollen industries. Norfolk's prosperity at that time is evident from the county's large number of medieval churches: out of an original total of over one thousand some 659 have survived, more than in any other county in Britain and the greatest concentration in the world.[13] The economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349.
Hand-drawn map of Suffolk by Christopher Saxton from 1573
Kett's Rebellion occurred in Norfolk during the reign of Edward VI, largely in response to the enclosure of land by landlords, leaving peasants with nowhere to graze their animals, and to the general abuses of power by the nobility. It was led by Robert Kett, a yeoman farmer, who was joined by recruits from Norwich and the surrounding countryside. His group numbered some 16,000 by the time the rebels stormed Norwich on 29 July 1549 and took the city. Kett's rebellion ended on 27 August when the rebels were defeated by an army under the leadership of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland at the Battle of Dussindale. Some 3,000 rebels were killed. Kett was captured, held in the Tower of London, tried for treason, and hanged from the walls of Norwich Castle.[14][15][16]
By the late 16th century Norwich had grown to become the second-largest city in England, but over one-third of its population died in the plague epidemic of 1579,[17] and in 1665 the Great Plague again killed around one-third of the population.[18] During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian. The economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry, except in Norwich, which was a late addition to the railway network.
Early military units included the Norfolk Militia. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation. The first development in airfields came with the First World War; there was then a massive expansion during the Second World War with the growth of the Royal Air Force and the influx of the American USAAF 8th Air Force which operated from many Norfolk airfields.
Entrance to Norfolk at Walsoken, Wisbech on the Cambridgeshire and Norfolk county boundary
During the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape.
Economy and industry
In 1998 Norfolk had a Gross Domestic Product of £9,319 million, which represents 1.5% of England's economy and 1.25% of the United Kingdom's economy. The GDP per head was £11,825, compared to £13,635 for East Anglia, £12,845 for England and £12,438 for the United Kingdom. In 1999–2000 the county had an unemployment rate of 5.6%, compared to 5.8% for England and 6.0% for the UK.[19]
Data from 2017 provided a useful update on the county's economy. The median hourly gross pay was £12.17 and the median weekly pay was £496.80; on a per year basis, the median gross income was £25,458. The employment rate among persons aged 16 to 64 was 74.2% while the unemployment rate was 4.6%.[20] The Norfolk economy was "treading water with manufacturing sales and recruitment remaining static in the first quarter of the year" according to research published in April 2018. A spokesperson for the
Norfolk Chamber of Commerce made this comment: "At a time when Norfolk firms face steep up-front costs, the apprenticeship system is in crisis, roads are being allowed to crumble, mobile phone and broadband 'not-spots' are multiplying, it's obvious that the key to improved productivity and competitiveness lies in getting the basics right". The solution was seen as a need for the UK government to provide "a far stronger domestic economic agenda ... to fix the fundamentals needed for business to thrive here..."[21]
In 2017, tourism was adding £3.25 billion to the economy per year and supported some 65,000 jobs, being the fifth most important employment in Norfolk. The visitor economy had increased in value by more than £500 million since 2012.
[22]
Important business sectors also include energy (oil, gas and renewables), advanced engineering and manufacturing, and food and farming.
Much of Norfolk's fairly flat and fertile land has been drained for use as arable land. The principal arable crops are sugar beet, wheat, barley (for brewing) and oil seed rape. The county also boasts a saffron grower.[23] Over 20% of employment in the county is in the agricultural and food industries.[24]
A local enterprise partnership was being established by business leaders to help grow jobs across Norfolk and Suffolk. They secured an enterprise zone to help grow businesses in the energy sector, and established the two counties as a centre for growing services and products for the green economy.
To help local industry in Norwich, the local council offered a wireless internet service, but this was subsequently withdrawn as funding had ceased.[26]
The fishery business still continued in 2018, with individuals such as John Lee, a fifth generation crabman, who sells Cromer Crabs to eateries such as M Restaurants and the Blueprint Café. The problem that he has found is attracting young people to this small industry which calls for working many hours per week during the season.[27] Lobster trapping also continued in North Norfolk, around Sheringham and Cromer, for example.[28]
Management of the shoreline
Norfolk's low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are composed of chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to weathering by the sea. The most recent major erosion event occurred during the North Sea flood of 1953.
The low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the British Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding. Management policy for the North Norfolk coastline is described in the "North Norfolk Shoreline Management Plan" published in 2006, but has yet[when?] to be accepted by local authorities.[29] The Shoreline Management Plan states that the stretch of coast will be protected for at least another 50 years, but that in the event of sea level rise and post-glacial lowering of land levels in the South East, there may a need for further research to inform future management decisions, including the possibility that the sea defences may have to be realigned to a more sustainable position. Natural England have contributed some research into the impacts on the environment of various realignment options. The draft report of their research was leaked to the press, who created great anxiety by reporting that Natural England plan to abandon a large section of the Norfolk Broads, villages and farmland to the sea to save the rest of the Norfolk coastline from the impact of any adverse climate change.[30]
Before 2011, Norfolk had a completely comprehensive state education or "maintained" system managed by Norfolk County Council, with secondary school age from 11 to 16 or in some schools with sixth forms, 18 years old.[36] Since then, a number of schools formerly in the "maintained" system have left it to become academies, or members of academy groups. Others have become free schools. Both academies and free schools are still publicly funded by the Department of Education but are not with county council management.
Ward-by-ward map of the 2011 local district election resultsMap of the 2013 Norfolk County Council election results
Norfolk is administered by Norfolk County Council, which is the top tier local government authority, based at County Hall in Norwich. For details of the authority click on the link Norfolk County Council.
Below the second tier councils the majority of the county is divided into parish and town councils, the lowest tier of local government (the only exceptions being parts of Norwich and King's Lynn urban areas).
Norfolk County Council has been under Conservative control since 2017. There have been two periods when the council has not been run by the Conservative Party, both when no party had overall control, these were 1993–2001 and 2013–2017.
The coat of arms of Norfolk County Council
For the full County Council election results for 2017 and previous elections click on the link Norfolk County Council elections.
National
The county is divided into ten parliamentary constituencies, with Waveney Valley straddling the border with Suffolk:
In the 2010 General Election seven seats were held by the Conservatives and two by the Liberal Democrats. The Labour Party no longer held the urban constituencies they once held in Norwich North and Great Yarmouth, leaving them with no MP's in the whole of East Anglia; the former Labour Home SecretaryCharles Clarke was a high level casualty of that election.
In the 2017 General Election the 2015 result was repeated.
In the 2024 General Election, Norfolk became the only county in the United Kingdom to be represented by MPs from five different parties.
Norwich Unitary Authority dispute (2006–2010)
In October 2006, the Department for Communities and Local Government produced a Local Government White Paper inviting councils to submit proposals for unitary restructuring. In January 2007 Norwich submitted its proposal, but this was rejected in December 2007 as it did not meet the criteria for acceptance. In February 2008, the Boundary Committee for England (from 1 April 2010 incorporated in the Local Government Boundary Commission for England) was asked to consider alternative proposals for the whole or part of Norfolk, including whether Norwich should become a unitary authority, separate from Norfolk County Council. In December 2009, the Boundary Committee recommended a single unitary authority covering all of Norfolk, including Norwich.[37][38][39][40]
However, on 10 February 2010, it was announced that, contrary to the December 2009 recommendation of the Boundary Committee, Norwich would be given separate unitary status.[41] The proposed change was strongly resisted, principally by Norfolk County Council and the Conservative opposition in Parliament.[42] Reacting to the announcement, Norfolk County Council issued a statement that it would seek leave to challenge the decision in the courts.[43] A letter was leaked to the local media in which the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Communities and Local Government noted that the decision did not meet all the criteria and that the risk of it "being successfully challenged in judicial review proceedings is very high".[44] The Shadow Local Government and Planning Minister, Bob Neill, stated that should the Conservative Party win the 2010 general election, they would reverse the decision.[45]
The Local Government Act 2010 to reverse the unitary decision for Norwich (and Exeter and Suffolk) received Royal Assent on 16 December 2010. The disputed award of unitary status had meanwhile been referred to the High Court, and on 21 June 2010 the court (Mr. Justice Ouseley, judge) ruled it unlawful, and revoked it. The city has therefore failed to attain unitary status, and the two-tier arrangement of County and District Councils (with Norwich City Council counted among the latter) remains as of 2017.[49]
Norfolk's county town and only city is Norwich, one of the largest settlements in England during the Norman era. Norwich is home to the University of East Anglia, and is the county's main business and culture centre. Other principal towns include the port town of King's Lynn and the seaside resort and Broads gateway town of Great Yarmouth.
Much of the county remains rural in nature and Norfolk is believed to have around 200 lost settlements which have been largely or totally depopulated since the medieval period. These include places lost to coastal erosion, agricultural enclosure, depopulation and the establishment of the Stanford Training Area in 1940.
Norfolk is one of the few counties in England that does not have a motorway. The A11 connects Norfolk to Cambridge and London, via the M11. From the west, there are only two routes from Norfolk that provide a direct link with the A1: the A47 to the East Midlands and Birmingham, via Peterborough, and the A17 to the East Midlands, via Lincolnshire. These two routes both meet at King's Lynn, which is also the starting point of the A10, providing West Norfolk with a direct link with London, via Ely, Cambridge and Hertford.
Norwich International Airport provides flights to various European destinations, including a link to Amsterdam which offers onward flights throughout the world.
The Norfolk dialect is also known as "Broad Norfolk", although over the modern age much of the vocabulary and many of the phrases have died out due to a number of factors, such as radio, TV and people from other parts of the country coming to Norfolk. As a result, the speech of Norfolk is more of an accent than a dialect, though one part retained from the Norfolk dialect is the distinctive grammar of the region.[citation needed]
People from Norfolk are sometimes known as Norfolk Dumplings,[51] an allusion to the flour dumplings that were traditionally a significant part of the local diet.[52]
More cutting, perhaps, was the alleged pejorative medical slang term "Normal for Norfolk",[53] alluding to the county's perceived status as a quirky rustic backwater due to a high level of inbreeding among residents.[54][55]
Tourism
Norfolk is a popular tourist destination and has several major holiday attractions. There are many seaside resorts, including some of the finest British beaches, such as those at Great Yarmouth, Cromer and Holkham. Norfolk contains the Broads and other areas of outstanding natural beauty and many areas of the coast are wild bird sanctuaries and reserves with some areas designated as national parks such as the Norfolk Coast AONB.
Thrigby Hall near Great Yarmouth was built in 1736 by Joshua Smith Esquire and features a zoo which houses a large tiger enclosure, primate enclosures and the swamp house which has many crocodiles and alligators.
Holkham Hall is an 18th-century stately home and visitor attraction, constructed in the Palladian style and at the centre of a 3,000-acre deer park on the North Norfolk coast with a woodland play area, walled garden and farming exhibition.
Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure (formerly Dinosaur Adventure) is a dinosaur themed adventure park in Lenwade. It is set in 85 acres of parkland and has a dinosaur trail, indoor play area, high ropes course and outdoor water play area.
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is a free-entry theme park, hosting over twenty large rides as well as a crazy golf course, water attractions, children's rides and "white knuckle" rides.
BeWILDerwood is an adventure park situated in the Norfolk Broads and is the setting for the book A Boggle at BeWILDerwood by local children's author Tom Blofeld.
Britannia Pier on the coast of Great Yarmouth has rides which include a ghost train. Also on the pier is the famous Britannia Pier Theatre.
Banham Zoo is set amongst 35 acres (14 ha) of parkland and gardens with enclosures for animals including big cats, birds of prey, siamangs and shire horses. Its annual visitor attendance is in excess of 200,000 people.[58]
Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, near the town of Fakenham in north Norfolk, is a nature reserve with many captive birds and animals. Such species include native birds such as lapwing and Eurasian crane, to much more exotic examples like Marabou stork, Greater flamingo, and Manchurian crane. The site played host to the BBC's Springwatch from 2008 until 2010. A number of human-made lakes are home to a range of wild birds, and provide stop-off points for many wintering ducks and geese.
The Sea Life Centre in Great Yarmouth is One of the biggest sea life centres in the country. The Great Yarmouth centre is home to a tropical shark display, one resident of which is Britain's biggest shark 'Nobby' the Nurse Shark. The same display, with its walk-through underwater tunnel, also features the wreckage of a World War II aircraft. The centre also includes over 50 native species including shrimps, starfish, sharks, stingrays and conger eels.
The Sea Life Sanctuary in Hunstanton is Norfolk's leading marine rescue centre and works both as a visitor attraction as well as a location for rescuing and rehabilitating sick and injured sea creatures found in the nearby Wash and North Sea. The attractions main features are similar to that of the Sea Life Centre in Great Yarmouth, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.
The Pavilion Theatre (Cromer) is a 510-seater venue on the end of Cromer Pier, best known for hosting the 'end-of-the-pier' show, the Seaside Special. The theatre also presents comedy, music, dance, opera, musicals and community shows.
The Britannia Pier Theatre (Great Yarmouth) mainly hosts popular comedy acts such as the Chuckle Brothers and Jim Davidson. The theatre has 1,200 seats and is one of the largest in Norfolk.
The Theatre Royal in Norwich has been on its present site for nearly 250 years, the Act of Parliament in the tenth year of the reign of George II having been rescinded in 1761. The 1,300-seat theatre, the largest in the city, hosts a mix of national touring productions including musicals, dance, drama, family shows, stand-up comedians, opera and pop.
The Norwich Playhouse hosts theatre, comedy, music and other performing arts. It has a seating capacity of 300.
The Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich opened in 1921 and was the first permanent recreation of an Elizabethan theatre. The founder was Nugent Monck who had worked with William Poel. The theatre has a seating capacity of 312.[59]
The Norwich Puppet Theatre was founded in 1979 by Ray and Joan DaSilva as a permanent base for their touring company and was first opened as a public venue in 1980, following the conversion of the medieval church of St. James in the heart of Norwich. Under subsequent artistic directors – Barry Smith and Luis Z. Boy – the theatre established its current pattern of operation. It is a nationally unique[citation needed] venue dedicated to puppetry, and currently houses a 185-seat raked auditorium, 50 seat Octagon Studio, workshops, an exhibition gallery, shop and licensed bar. It is the only theatre in the Eastern region with a year-round programme of family-centred entertainment.[citation needed]
The Garage studio theatre (Norwich) can seat up to 110 people in a range of different layouts. It can also be used for standing events and can accommodate up to 180 people.
The Platform Theatre (Norwich) is in the grounds of City College Norwich (CCN), and has a large stage with raked seating for an audience of around 200. The theatre plays host to performances by both student and professional companies.
The Sewell Barn Theatre (Norwich) is the smallest theatre in Norwich and has a seating capacity of 100. The auditorium features raked seating on three sides of an open acting space.
The Norwich Arts Centre (Norwich) theatre opened in 1977 in St. Benedict's Street, and has a capacity of 290.
The Princess Theatre (Hunstanton) stands overlooking the Wash and the green in the East Coast resort of Hunstanton. It is a 472-seat venue. Open all year round, the theatre plays host to a wide variety of shows from comedy to drama, celebrity shows to music for all tastes and children's productions. It has a six-week summer season plus an annual Christmas pantomime.
Sheringham Little Theatre has seating for 180. The theatre programmes a variety of plays, musicals and music, and also shows films.
The Gorleston Pavilion is an original Edwardian building with a seating capacity of 300, situated on the Norfolk coast. The theatre stages plays, pantomimes, musicals and concerts as well as a 26-week summer season.
Demography
According to estimates by the Office for National Statistics, the population of Norfolk in 2018 was 903,680, split almost evenly between males and females. Roughly 24.3% of the population was aged 65 or older, compared to 18.2% for the whole of England.
Francis Blomefield, Anglican rector, early topographical historian of Norfolk
James Blunt, English acoustic folk rock singer-songwriter who was raised in Norfolk during his childhood
Boudica, scourge of the occupying Roman Army in first century Britain and queen of the Iceni, British tribe occupying an area slightly larger than modern Norfolk
Sam Clemmett, actor, from Brundall known for starring in West End stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Haribo Tangfastics television advert and the BBC documentary Murder Games: The Life and Death of Breck Bednar where he played Breck Bednar the teen murdered by Lewis Daynes
Stephen Fry, actor, comedian, writer, producer, director and author who was born in London and was brought up in the village of Booton near Reepham. He now has a second home near King's Lynn
Nick Youngs (1959–) and his two sons, Ben (1989–) and Tom (1987–) were both raised close to the town of Aylsham on their father's farm[61] Youngs is a former rugby union player for Leicester Tigers and England. Both sons went on to represent the national rugby union team.
The following people were not born or brought up in Norfolk but are long-term residents of Norfolk, are well known for living in Norfolk at some point in their lives, or have contributed in some significant way to the county.
Stuart Ashen, comedian, animator, actor and online reviewer, born and lives in Norfolk
Julian Assange, Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer, Internet activist and editor in chief of WikiLeaks, lived since 16 December 2010 in Ellingham Hall, the mansion of Vaughan Smith, under house arrest whilst fighting extradition to Sweden, before relocating to Kent in December 2011
Peter Baker (1921–1966), British Conservative MP for South Norfolk
^Recorded in wills of 1043–45: Ekwall, Eilert (1940) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names; 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; p. 327 citing Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. Anglo-Saxon Wills. Cambridge, 1930
^"No.62943" (62943). The London Gazette. 13 March 2020: 5161. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Toby F. Martin, The Cruciform Brooch and Anglo-Saxon England, Boydell and Brewer Press (2015), pp. 174–178
^Catherine Hills, "The Anglo-Saxon Migration: An Archaeological Case Study of Disruption," in Migrations and Disruptions, ed. Brenda J. Baker and Takeyuki Tsuda, pp. 45–48
^ ab"UCS Great Yarmouth". 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"L IS FOR LOBSTERS AND CRABS". Visit Norfolk. 1 March 2018. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019. the chalk reef – which is just 200 metres off the shoreline and up to 20 miles long – is so important
M. R. James, Suffolk and Norfolk: A Perambulation of the Two Counties with Notices of their History and their Ancient Buildings, J.M. Dent & Sons, 1930.
Norfolk Record Office – Government agency that collects and preserves records of historical significance for Norfolk and makes them publicly accessible – useful for genealogical research
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