About Norfolk

the counties of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn and West Norfolk; and the town of Norwich.

This historical earldom is almost linked to the administration earldom, but a small area in the municipality of Great Yarmouth is part of the historical earldom of Suffolk. The Norfolk River is deep and a large part is discharged into the North Sea from the Wensum, Yare and Bure Rivers and their affluents.

Water is draining the northwestern part of the shire through the Ouse River in The Wash, a flat North Sea entrance. In the west of Norfolk there are cretaceous rocks, and in the east half of the earldom there are later sediments of crayfish. At the northwestern border of the shire, clay and sandstone older than the Cretaceous are uncovered.

The Norfolk is a wealthy agricultural province, but areas with native or semi-natural flora outlive. There are a number of flat stretches of waters and marshes along the Yare and Bure valley - the renowned breads resulting from mediaeval mining of turf and a consequent upheaval. The south-west of the province and as far as Suffolk are the sand heath landscapes of Breckland, which are in many places covered with cedars.

Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic were found in the Shire. The early Britons Iceni, of whom the infamous Boudicca (Boadicea) was later a reigning king, came to the area from the Aegean. There were two cities in Norfolk during the Romans, Caister St. Edmund and Caister next Yarmouth.

Norfolk became part of the East Anglia Empire after the following Anglo-Saxon incursions. Later the area was invaded by the Danes and finally became part of the Danelaw County. During the Domesday Book (1086), the surveying commissioned by William I the Conqueror, Norfolk was one of England's most populous and richest areas, and it continued to be so throughout the Middle Ages.

The small Walsingham in the northern part of the province was a renowned sanctuary in the Middle Ages, which attracted travellers from near and far. Throughout the English civil strife in the mid-17th centuries, Norfolk saw little activity because the earldom was strongly behind Oliver Cromwell and the parliamentary cause. The area has several survivors such as Norwich, Caister next Yarmouth and Oxborough; there are also large villas, such as Sandringham (the Norfolk house of the King's family).

Farming will remain important for Norfolk's business, with bars, grain, sugar beet, oat and vegetable as the main crop. The majority of cattle are reared, but the shire is particularly well known for its Turkey. It has been designed as an important boots and footwear company (which has since declined) and, along with most other large cities in the province, drew some lightweight industries.