to the growing of wheat, barley, oats and rye, it led to the region being called the breadbasket of England. This farming was integral to the survival of Norfolk. With no mineral deposits to fall back on, the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries largely passed the county by. Here, the towns had made their wealth on the back of the wool trade, primarily in the 14th and 15th centuries. Dororthy L Sayers, Golden Age detective story writer, spent much of her life in Fenland, and set the Peter Wimsey novel, The Nine Tailors, here. She captures the eerie atmosphere of the Fens and its churches beautifully in the book. South of the Fens and the Broads lies Breckland, another
unusual natural habitat near the town of Thetford, and the home of Grimes Graves. This sandy heath, covered with gorse and Scots Pines, is the driest place in Britain. Although parts of Norfolk can seem remote (many rural
railway stations were closed in the 1960s) that hasn’t stopped its residents making a mark on the wider world. One of Thetford’s most famous sons was Thomas Paine, a Founding Father of the USA. A radical intellectual, Paine’s works on philosophy and free thinking included
The Rights of Man, which advocated a written constitution for England and lower taxes for the poor. Another to head for the Americas was King’s Lynn man George Vancouver (1757–1798), a Royal Navy officer who gave his surname to the provincial capital of British Columbia. Seaside resort Great Yarmouth gave the world Anna Sewell, the author of best selling children’s favourite, Black Beauty. Anna was born in 1820, but at the age of 14 a fall left her crippled. She used horse-drawn carriages to get around, which led to the life-long love of animals that prompted Black Beauty. Published when the author was 57, it was to be her only success. She died five months later.
Top: Burnham
Market, home to 17th-century inn, The Hoste Arms.
Above: Titchwell's
parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is one of the 124 round tower churches in Norfolk
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