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   ounty of eastern England. 
 Norfolk County Council - Norwich City Council - King's Lynn and West Norfolk - Great Yarmouth Borough Council
- North Norfolk District
Council - South Norfolk
District Council
|
 owns and cities |
 Norwich
(administrative headquarters), King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth (ports); Cromer, Hunstanton,
Great Yarmouth (resorts) |
 rea |
5,360 sq km / 2,069 sq mi |
 opulation |
768,500 (1994) |
| opography |
 Norfolk is
bounded to the north and northeast by the North Sea; to the northwest by Lincolnshire and
the Wash; to the west by Cambridgeshire; and to the south by Suffolk. The coastline is
mainly flat and low, and has suffered from widespread erosion, though much land has been
reclaimed from the Wash around King's Lynn. There are long stretches of sand, and few
inlets; the coast is dangerous owing to numerous sandbanks. Inland the surface is mostly
level, and includes in the west a part of the Fens known as the Bedford Level. The many
windmills which once stood in this area are now largely derelict; however, several have
been restored under a scheme sponsored by Norfolk county council. The soil is varied with
chalk, sand, and loam being prevalent in different districts.low-lying with the Fens in
the west and the Norfolk Broads in the east; rivers Bure, Ouse, Waveney, Yare |
| ommerce |
Industries: agricultural implements; boots and shoes; brewing and malting;
offshore natural gas; tanning; there are flour mills and mustard works
Agriculture: cereals (wheat and barley); fruit and vegetables (beans, sugar beets, swedes,
turnips); turkeys, geese, cattle; fishing centred on Great Yarmouth |
 amous people |
Fanny Burney, Thomas Paine, Horatio Nelson, John Crome (`Old Crome´),
John Sell Cotman, Rider Haggard. |
| ttractions 
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 Wells-next-the-Sea, which is no longer next-the-sea due to the receding
coastline. It is popular for seafood especially whelks and sprats.
Cromer, famous for the rich harvest of Cromer crabs also hosts the tallest church tower in
Norfolk.
Downham Market, which is home to Oxburgh Hall, one of Norfolk's finest medieval buildings.
Norwich cathedral with its fine 15th Century spire. Norfolk has many fine churches, among them the beautiful
Norman cathedral at Norwich, originally part of a Benedictine monastery. The village
churches in the marshland areas are notable for both their grandness of scale and length
of nave. The most notable examples are at Emneth, Walsoken, and West Walton (all near
Wisbech); at Terrington St Clement and Tilney All Saints (near King's Lynn); at Cley, and
at Walpole St Peter, which is also remarkable for its battlement-like parapets and
gargoyles. At Castle Rising there is a fine Norman church and the ruins of a Norman
castle. Other feudal and monastic ruins are the well-preserved castle at Norwich; Castle
Acre; Bacton Abbey; and the ruins of the Augustinian priory at Walsingham. The earliest
record of the term `North Folk´ is dated 1040, but the county's division from Suffolk is
almost certainly earlier. Norfolk suffered many incursions from the Danes.
 The Broads (a series of lakes famous for fishing and water fowl, and for boating);
Halvergate Marshes wildlife area; traditional reed thatching; Grime's Graves (Neolithic
flint mines); shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, a medieval and present- day centre of
pilgrimage; Blickling Hall (Jacobean, built 1619-24, situated 14 km / 7 miles south of
Cromer); residence of Elizabeth II at Sandringham (built 1869-71)
  
  
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