Hingham Books

Norfolk's topography is largely gentle and understated, but it is by no means as flat as is often claimed. Bounded on three sides by the sea and the Wash fenlands, its subtle diversity and beauty is matched by a fascinating human heritage. People can live almost anywhere in the county except on the marshlands: the enormous, and still growing, number of archaeological finds, and the presence of countless sites of historical note throughout the county, illustrate that they have done so in times past. The atlas reveals a wealth of important and distinctive prehistoric and Romano-British remains, and valuable evidence for Anglo-Saxon and Danish incursions, which show that the area has been continuously inhabited. In fact, from c. AD 1000 until 1600 Norfolk was the most densely populated English county, and its capital, Norwich, became England's 'second city'. Norfolk is famous for its wealth of historical material in areas of specific interest, such as medieval churches and ecclesiastical history, and the Second World War.

This is a lavishly illustrated companion to the heritage and beauty of Norfolk. Norfolk is one of the few remaining counties where time, if it hasn't stayed still, has marched at a slower pace than elsewhere. Strikingly beautiful, it is also one of the most popular counties for tourists from overseas and from all over the UK. With the help of his own stunning photographs, Robert Leader charts the heritage and history of Norfolk through its great Norman castles and abbeys, its guildhalls and medieval wool churches and the stately homes of the great land-owning families who helped to shape it all. He follows the course of Norfolk's rivers, and captures the charm of its fishing villages and genteel Edwardian towns as well as the drama of its wide-sky lonely beaches and fenlands.