boroughs of King’s Lynn and Norwich, and part of the parliamentary borough of Great Yarmouth; each returning one member, except the city of Norwich, which returns two members.
History.—The district which is now Norfolk was invaded in the second half of the 5th century by Angle tribes from north Germany, who, having secured the coast districts, worked their way inland along the river valleys. In the 7th century the land of the North-folk formed the northern half of East Anglia which at the time owned the supremacy of Kent, and later appears successively as dependency of Mercia and Northumbria, until in 827 the whole land was united under the rule of Ecgbert. In 867 the Danes under Inguar and Ubba defeated and killed King Edmund at Thetford, but, although it formed an integral part of the Danelaw, Norfolk remained thickly settled by an almost exclusively Teutonic population. In the renewed Danish attacks of the 11th century Norwich and Thetford were destroyed. At the time of the Norman invasion Norfolk formed part of Harold’s earldom, but it offered no active resistance to the Conqueror, who built a castle at Norwich, and bestowed the earldom of East Anglia on Ralf Guader. The forfeited estates of Earl Ralf had passed at the time of the Domesday Survey to Roger Bigod, ancestor of the earls of Norfolk, whose line expired in 1306. The Norfolk fief of Count Alan later formed part of the honour of Richmond; Robert Malet’s fief became the honour of Eye; Hermer de Ferrières’s fief became the barony of Wormegay, afterwards held by the Bardolfs; Hugh de Montfort’s fee, as the honour of Haughley, was afterwards attached to the office of constable of Dover. The Howards were settled in the county from the 13th century, Thomas Howard being created duke of Norfolk for his services at Flodden. Castle Acre was a seat of the earls of Warenne; Paston of the Pastons; Attleborough of the Mortimers; Caister of the Fastolfs.
The shire-system was not definitely established in East Anglia before the Conquest, but the Domesday boundaries of Norfolk were practically those of the present day. The thirty-six Domesday hundreds were subdivided into leets, of which no trace remains, and the boroughs of Norwich and Thetford ranked as separate hundreds, while Yarmouth was the chief town of three hundreds. The Domesday hundred of Emneth is now included in Freebridge, and Docking in that of Smithdon, and the boundary between Brothercross and Gallow hundred has been considerably changed. Norfolk and Suffolk were united under one sheriff until the reign of Elizabeth, the shire court for the former being held at Norwich. The hundred court of Humbleyard hundred was held in the parish of Swardeston; that of Clackclose at Clackclose hill on Stradsett common; Taverham at Frettenham Hill; Grimeshoe at a tumulus between Brandon and Norwich; Forehoe in the parish of Carleton Forehoe; Greenhoe by the tumuli on the London road to Swaffham; Smithdon in the parish of Bircham Magna; Freebridge at Flitcham Burgh, afterwards at an oak at Gaywood and still later at an oak at Wiggenhall St German’s; Gallow in the 15th century at Fakenham; in the 16th century at Longfield Stone; Brothercross, at the cross by the ford over the Burnham; Eynsford at Reepham; Depwade, at the Deep ford over the Tas; Mitford, in 1639, at “Brokpit”; North Erpingham, at Guneby Gate, near Gunton; South Erpingham, at Cawston Park Gate; Launditch, at the crossing of the Norwich road with the long ditch between Longham and Beeston; Earsham, at an encampment near the church.
Norfolk formed part of the diocese of East Anglia from its foundation in 630, and in 1075 the bishop’s see was placed at Thetford, whence it was transferred to Norwich in 1093. In 1121 the Norfolk portion of the diocese included the 12 deaneries of Norwich (or Taverham), Blofield, Ingworth, Sparham, Holt, Walsingham, Toftrees, Brisley, Breckles, Lynn, Thetford and Flegg—all in the archdeaconry of Norwich, and the 12 deaneries of Repps, Humbleyard, Depwade, Waxham, Brooke, Redenhall, Rockland, Cranwich, Fencham, Hitcham, Burnham and Hengham—in the archdeaconry of Norfolk. From this date the deaneries underwent little change, until the creation of the archdeaconry of Lynn in 1894, when they were entirely reconstituted.
In the wars between John and his barons Roger Bigod garrisoned Norwich castle against the king, who in 1216 on his retreat from Lynn lost his baggage in the Wash. In the rising of 1381 Norwich, was plundered by the insurgents under Sir Roger Bacon of Baconsthorpe, and in the rising of 1549 against enclosures Norwich was again captured by the rebels under Ket. In the Civil War of the 17th century Norfolk as a whole adhered to the parliamentary cause, forming one of the six counties of the Eastern Association. Lynn, however, was held for the king by Sir Hamon Lestrange, and Norwich was one of the first cities to welcome back Charles II.
At the time of the Domesday Survey sheep-farming flourished almost throughout Norfolk, a flock of 1300 being mentioned at Walton, and horses were extensively bred; numerous bee-hives, nearly 600 water-mills and valuable river-fisheries are mentioned; and salt was made in the hundreds of Freebridge and East Flegg. The worsted trade was introduced by Flemish immigrants as early as the 12th century, and the woollen trade became especially prosperous in the hundreds adjoining the Wash. Linen was manufactured at Aylsham in the 14th century. Fuller, writing in the 17th century, describes Norfolk as abounding in all good things, and especially rabbits, herrings and worsteds. The leather industry flourished in Norman times.
Norfolk returned members to parliament in 1290, and in 1298 the county and the boroughs of Lynn, Norwich and Yarmouth returned each two members. Thetford acquired representation in 1529, and Castle Rising in 1558. Under the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions, and Castle Rising was disfranchised. Under the act of 1868 the county returned six members in three divisions, and Thetford and Yarmouth were disfranchised, the latter for notorious corruption.
Antiquities.—There are few traces of Saxon architecture in the county, unless the towers of Dunham-Magna and Newton-by-Castleacre be assigned to this period. The round towers which are specially characteristic of the district are probably Norman. Although there are several fine specimens of Norman architecture in the county in addition to Norwich cathedral, and a few good examples of Early English, the majority of the churches are Decorated or Perpendicular, or a mixture of both styles. The most notable features of the churches are the flint and stone panels, the fine rood screens and the numerous brasses. The churches of the marshes in the N.W. are noteworthy, especially those of Tilney All Saints and Walsoken (Norman) and West Walton (Early English); the rich Norman church of Castle Rising should also be mentioned. At Northwold remains one of the rare Easter sepulchres. Apart from, the churches in the towns, those of Worstead, Hingham, Cawston and Terrington St Clement may be quoted as typical examples of the numerous fine later Gothic village churches. Norfolk possessed an unusually large number of monastic foundations, but of these the remains are few and comparatively unimportant. The cathedral church of Norwich was originally connected with a very richly endowed Benedictine monastery. A foundation of almost equal importance was that of Augustinian canons at Walsingham, where there are remains of an Early English and Decorated church, a Decorated refectory and a Perpendicular gateway. The shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was the resort of great numbers of pilgrims. Other monastic remains are Bromholm Priory near North Walsham; slight Early English fragments of Beeston Augustinian priory; W. of Cromer; good Norman and later remains at Binham (Benedictine) N.E. of Walsingham; the Benedictine nunnery of Carrow near Norwich; the fine church (Norman and later) of the Benedictine priory at Wymondham; and the remains at Castle Acre and Thetford.
Of Norman keeps there are remains of the building at Castle Acre; there is a magnificent ruin at Castle Rising N.E. of Lynn; and Norwich Castle is kept in restoration. There are several old mansions of interest, such as the Jacobean brick building of Blickling Hall, Barningham Hall (1612), Hunstanton, the moated Oxburgh Hall, and Cressingham Manor, both of the 15th century. The larger mansions, however, such as Sandringham
