Across Norfolk
Comprising The County of Norfolk, Norfolk History and About Robert Kett.
The County of Norfolk
Norfolk is one of the largest counties in England and is lucky enough to have an extensive coastline which boasts many miles of long sandy beaches, flint pebble banks and salt marshes. These stretch from The Wash north of Kings Lynn in the west to Yarmouth on the east coast taking in Hunstanton, Thornham, Brancaster, Wells-next-the-Sea, Stiffkey, Morston, Cley, Sherringham, Cromer and Mundesley on the way.
The county has a very active artistic community featuring both modern and traditional art galleries. There are also numerous live music events and concerts, as well as thriving local theatres. There is so much for families to see and do.
There is a rich architectural heritage including numerous conservation areas, listed buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments, and the most wonderful countryside which is ideal for cycling, walking, bird watching or just relaxing.
North Norfolk contains a diverse array of museums, offering something for everyone, whether you're interested in local history, the Broads, maritime heritage, lifeboats, steam railways, vintage agricultural machinery, military vehicles, windmills, or seashells!
For sports enthusiasts the area hosts some of the finest links golf courses in the world and also enjoys some of the best wind and water conditions for Windsurfing and Kitesurfing. Not for the fainthearted, the Norfolk Heroes Ironman Quadrathalon is also attracting increasing numbers of participants!
Norfolk History
Norfolk was settled in pre-Roman times, with neolithic camps along the higher land in the west where flints could be quarried.A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the first century BC, to the end of the first century (AD). The Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in 47 AD, and again in 60 AD led by Boudica. The crushing of the second rebellion opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county and farming took place.
Situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. By the 5th century the Angles, for whom East Anglia and England itself are named, had established control of the region and later became the "north folk" and the "south folk", hence, "Norfolk" and "Suffolk". Norfolk, and several adjacent areas, became the kingdom of East Anglia, later merging with Mercia and then Wessex. The influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many "thorpes", "tons" and "hams" of placenames. In the 9th century the region again came under attack, this time from Vikings who killed the king, Edmund the Martyr. 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, as by the time of the Conquest and 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. The economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349, suffice to say that the current population has yet to equal the population from this time. By the 16th century Norwich had grown to become the second largest city in England, but in 1665 the Great Plague of London again killed around one third of the population. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian. The economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat, and during the industrial revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich and was a late addition to the railway network.
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. During the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and has remained very intensive since with the establishment of large fields for cereal and oil seed rape growing. Norfolk's low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the most recent major event being the North Sea flood of 1953.
The low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness is currently managed by the 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 which was published in 2006 but has yet to be accepted by the local authorities. The Shoreline Management Plan states that the stretch of coast will be protected for at least another 50 years, but that in the face of sea level rise and post-glacial lowering of land levels in the South East, there is an urgent 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 face to the sea to save the rest of the Norfolk coastline from the impact of climate change.
About Robert Kett
In 1549, the year of Kett's Rebellion, the King of England, Edward VI, was an eleven-year-old boy. The real power was in the hands of Protector Somerset, an ambitious man but with a reputation for reform and some sympathy for the poor. It was a time of change, uncertainty and unrest. The government had introduced Protestant reforms in the church, prices were rising and taxation was increasing. Furthermore the country was at war with France and Scotland. But in Norfolk, the chief causes of hardship and discontent were economic and social. Here there was much rent raising, but above all the enclosure of common land by the local gentry, which threatened the livelihood of many of the peasantry.
There had been widespread disorders and rioting in many counties during the Spring and Summer of 1549. This mainly took the form of destroying the hedges and fences recently erected by local landlords. However it was only in Norfolk that the peasantry discovered a leader of outstanding quality. The name of Robert Kett is inseparably linked with the rebellion in Norfolk.
In 1549, Robert Kett was 57 years old, a relatively old age for the 16th Century. He was the fourth son of Tom and Margery Kett whose family had lived in the area since the Norman Conquest. Though a tanner by trade, by 1549 he was one of the main landowners in Wymondham, owning three manors in the area with a yearly income of £50. He was also closely associated with the Abbey Church at Wymondham . He was a pillar of the local community, married with five sons, prominent in agrarian, commercial and religious life, secure, prosperous and law abiding. Yet he became the leader of a movement whose main activities threatened the property owing, relatively prosperous class which he himself represented.
Why Kett became the champion of the poor common people is unclear. Perhaps he was moved by their plight; perhaps it was a vision of a better Norfolk; perhaps it was the long-standing rivalry with John Flowerdew which flared up again in 1549. Certainly the people of Norfolk had found a leader with remarkable gifts. Kett made it clear that he was not rebelling against the government in London, but that he was disillusioned with the local government in Norfolk, and it was this which he sought to reform. His petition to Edward VI was politely phrased and throughout the rebellion he acted with restraint and moderation. He refused to accept that he was a rebel and naively believed that the government in London would support his desire to reform the local government in Norfolk. However, by Tudor standards Kett was a rebel and a traitor and met his end later that year.
For six weeks from 9 July 1549, Kett dominated the affairs of the county of Norfolk. He led an orderly march to Norwich, then England's second city. He established an orderly camp on Mousehold Heath where he was joined by about 20,000 men from all over Norfolk. He displayed firm leadership throughout the dramatic and stirring events of the rebellion. He obtained free access to Norwich and involved the city authorities in his programme of reform. He led a successful attack on the city on 22 July 1549, defeated one royal army on 1 August 1549 and severely mauled another, which was larger than the first, on 24 - 25 August 1549. The final defeat came at the Battle of Dussindale on 27 August 1549 when nearly 3,000 of Kett's men were killed. Kett himself was captured the next day. Robert Kett and his brother William were taken to the Tower of London and imprisoned while awaiting trial. They were found guilty of treason on 29 November 1549 and then taken back to Norwich. William Kett was hanged at the West Tower on Wymondham Abbey and Robert Kett was hanged at Norwich Castle on 7th December 1549.
