NORFOLK, a county (maritime), bounded on the north and east by the German Ocean, or North sea; on the south by the county of Suffolk, from which it is separated by the river Waveney, and the Lesser Ouse; and on the west by Cambridgeshire and a small part of Lincolnshire, from which it is separated by the Greater Ouse and Nene rivers. It extends from 52° 22' to 52° 58' (N. Lat.), and from 10' to 1° 43' (E. Lon.) -, and includes an area of two thousand and ninety-two Square miles, or one million three hundred and thirty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty statute acres. The population, in 1821, was 344,368. The name is but slightly altered in orthography and pronunciation from the Saxon compound, North-folc, signifying "the northern people," which term was used in the early Saxon kingdom of East Anglia, to distinguish the inhabitants of the northern part of it from those of the southern, who were called Suth-folc, for the like reason. At the period of the Roman Conquest this county was inhabited by the Cenomanni, or Cenimagni, a tribe of the Iceni, who, according to Whitaker, were descended from the Cenomanni of Gaul, and had their chief city at Caistor, hear Norwich. Within the limits of the county, or contiguous to it, were established five principal, besides several subordinate, Roman stations. These and other fortifications were placed under the command of an officer, whose title, according to some authors, was Comes tractus maritimi, Count of the maritime district; and, according to others, Comes litoris Saxonici, Count of the Saxon shore; the Saxons at that period greatly harassing the Roman possessors of Britain by their piratical attacks on this part of the coast. After the disastrous events which succeeded the retirement of the Roman forces from Britain, in the year 575, Uffa, the first Saxon leader that established himself in this part of the island, assumed dominion over the territory now comprised in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, which then took the name of East Anglia, of which Norfolk continued to form a very important part until all the kingdoms of the octarchy were united under the dominion of Egbert, about four hundred years after the first landing of the Saxons. Norfolk Shared largely in the general calamity produced by the hostile and piratical incursions of the Danes, who at first chiefly directed their attacks upon East Anglia, landing, in 870, within the mouth of the river Yare. Prior to the death of Egbert they obtained possession of the whole of East Anglia; and although, during the reigns of several of his successors, they were masters of almost every part of the kingdom, yet, having been totally defeated by the Saxon forces under Alfred, that prince limited their residence to the province of East Anglia, and Norwich became their chief city. In revenge for the general massacre of the Danes by King Ethelred II., Sweyn, King of Denmark, invaded England with a numerous army and a powerful fleet, and landing on the coast of Norfolk, burned the cities of Norwich and Thetford; but in this desolating career his army was opposed by the Saxons under Earl Ulfketel, who defeated the. Danes in successive battles, and at last compelled them to re-embark. In the year 1010 they returned, and having landed at Ipswich, and defeated Ulfketel, once more possessed themselves of East Anglia; and this province was afterwards included in that portion of the country allotted to Canute, the son of Sweyn, when the kingdom was divided between him and Edmund Ironside, and which was in consequence called Denelege, or the Danish jurisdiction. After the Norman Conquest, and in the reign of William Rufus, Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, taking part with Robert, Duke of Normandy, against William, Norfolk sustained considerable devastation in the conflicts that ensued. It also greatly participated in the disasters caused by the attempt of Prince Henry to deprive his father, King Henry II., of the crown, his cause having been espoused.by the Earl of Norfolk. In the reign of John, Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, took part with the refractory barons, and that monarch, laying waste the baronial possessions in this'part of his dominions, came to Lynn, and thence crossed the washes into Lincolnshire, but, in consequence of the advance of the tide, lost his baggage in the passage. This county was afterwards over-run by the forces of Louis the Dauphin, who exacted heavy contributions from the inhabitants. In the reign of Richard II., during the rebellion headed by Jack Straw and Wat Tyler, the standards of those leaders were joined by several of the lower orders in this county; and Norwich was invested by the insurgents, led on by an individual named Letester -. these, however, were so dispirited by the seizure and condemnation of their captain, that they forthwith dispersed. Henry VII., when Lambert Simnel was counterfeiting the person of Edward Plantagenet, and as such had been, crowned in Dublin, doubtful of the loyalty of the eastern counties, or apprehensive that the Pretender would attempt a landing on this coast, went in person through the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, and kept his Christmas at Norwich, whence he proceeded on a pilgrimage to the chapel of Our Lady at Walsingham, to offer his devotions at the holy shrine; and when all fear of danger had been dissipated, he sent his banner to the chapel in acknowledgment of his deliverance, and returned to the capital. In the reign of Edward VI., owing to a system of enclosing adopted by the nobility and gentry who had become possessed of the abbey lands, a rebellion broke out in this county; and the insurgents, being actuated by the same spirit as the levellers in the reign of Richard II., proceeded to abolish all distinctions of rank or title, and to execute their designs under the direction of two ringleaders named Ket. Their chief place of rendezvous was Mousehold heath, near Norwich, where the elder of the leaders, Robert Ket, with assistant deputies from every hundred, held his councils under a large tree, hence called "The Oak of Reformation." After the county had long been harassed by exactions and other outrages, committed by these rebels, and all previous attempts to quell the insurrection had failed, a large army, which had been raised for the king's service in Scotland, was despatched against them, under the command of the Earl of Warwick, by which Robert Ket was taken, and the rebels dispersed, though, it appears, with considerable loss to the king's troops. At the commencement of the dissensions between Charles I. and his subjects, the county of Norfolk took an active part j and when the parliament had voted the necessity of taking up arms, the inhabitants generally approved of the determination. This was one of the associated eastern counties placed under the command of the Earl of Manchester, and at an early period of the contest, Norwich was fortified against the royalists. At no period of the struggle do the king's forces appear to have gained much advantage in this county; Lynn was at first in their possession, but was quickly besieged and taken by the Earl of Manchester's troops. Norfolk is in the diocese of Norwich, and province of Canterbury, and comprises the two archdeaconries of Norfolk and Norwich, in the former of which are included the deaneries of Brooke, Burnham, Cranwick, Depwade, Fincham, Hingham, Hitcham, Humbleyard, Reddenhall, Repps, Rockland, and Wactou, and in the latter those of Bloneld, Breckles, Brisley, Flegg, Holt, Ingworth, Lynn; Norwich, Sparham, Taverham, Toft- Trees, and Waisiugham, and part of that of Thetford, which together contain seven hundred and fifty-six parishes, of which four hundred and forty-one are rectories, one hundred and seventy-one vicarages, and seventyeight perpetual curacies. For the purposes of civil government it is divided into the thirty-three hundreds of Bloneld, Brothercross, Clackclose, Clavering, Depwade, Diss, Earsham, Erpingham (North and South), Eyns7 ford, Flegg (East and West), Forehoe, Freebridge (Lynn and Marshland divisions), Gallow, Greenhoe (North and South), Grimshoe, Guilt-Cross, Happing, Henstead, Holt, Humbleyard, Launditch, Loddon, Mitford, Shropham, Smithdon, Taverham, Tunstead, Walsham, and Wayland. It contains the city of Norwich, the borough, market, and sea-port towns of Lynn-Regis and Yarmouth j the small sea-port and market-town of Cley; the borough and market-town of Thetford; the borough of Castle-Rising 5 the market-towns of Aylsham, East Dereham, Diss, Downham-Market, Fakenham, Foulsham, Harleston, East Harling, Holt, Loddon, Reepham, Swaffham, North Walsharn, Watton, and Wymondham; and the little sea-port towns of Blakeney and Wells, which have no market. Two knights are returned to parliament for the shire., two representatives for the city of Norwich, and two for each of the boroughs. This county is included in the Norfolk circuit: the assizes and quarter-sessions are held at Norwich and Thetford, alternately. There are one hundred and fifty-four acting magistrates. The rates raised in the county for the year ending March 25th, 1827, amounted to £343,970. 17, and the expenditure to £344,950. 1., of which £297,156. 3. was applied to the relief of the poor. The marine department of the civil government is vested in the Vice-Admiral of Norfolk, an officer appointed under a commission from the Board of Admiralty. He has power to hold a court of admiralty for the county, with judges, marshals, and other proper officers, subordinate to him, for the purpose of exercising jurisdiction in all maritime affairs. From the sentence of this court an appeal lies to the High Court of Admiralty, from the Lords Commissioners of which he regularly receives his instructions. This county, besides containing several places having separate jurisdiction, has various courts possessing peculiar privileges; of which the principal are the Court of the Liberty of the Duchy of Lancaster, held at Aylsham, and the Court of the Liberty of the Duchy of Norfolk, which is held at Lopham, or elsewhere within the liberty, at the discretion of the Duke of Norfolk. This latter liberty is of great extent within the county, comprising the whole hundred of Earsham, and the half-hundred of Guilt-Cross, besides the manors of Forncett, Framlingham Parva, Ditchingham, Ditchingham Parva, Loddon, Sisland, Halvergate, South Walsham, Cantley, Strumpshaw, Caistor, Winterton, Dickleburgh, Beighton, and Byfield; it also includes some small portions of the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Surrey, and Sussex. It was granted by Edward IV., by patent dated at Westminster, December 7th, 1468, to John, Duke of Norfolk, and Elizabeth, his wife, and their heirs for ever; the duke to have within the said manors, lordships, and jurisdictions, the return of all writs, bills, summonses, precepts, and mandates of the king, so that no sheriff, or any other officer, shall enter the said liberty: to this privilege were added all fines, amercements, profits, penalties, and other royalties; and with these was conveyed to the duke full power to have his own coroners, clerks of the markets, and other officers, and to appoint & steward of the liberty, who should have power to determine all actions under the value of 40s., and that persons residing within the said liberty should not be liable to answer for debts of such amount in any other court. The present Duke of Norfolk is lord of this liberty, and appoints a steward, coroner, &c., having also a prison for debtors. Formerly one sheriff served for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, but they were placed under distinct shrievalties in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1576, and have continued so ever since. The shape of the county is nearly elliptical; and it is so surrounded by the sea and by rivers that it may almost be considered an island, being actually connected with the main land only by a narrow causeway, raised across the marshes near Lopham. The surface is less varied in feature than perhaps that of any tract in the kingdom of equal extent, being for the most part flat 5 yet this uniformity of appearance is sometimes interrupted, particularly in the northern parts, where the ground is broken by gentle elevations, the hills and valleys being diversified by woods, coppices, hedge-rows, and plantations. On the south side of the county is a fine rich tract, extending towards the north and northeast; and these parts being enclosed, well cultivated, and abounding in timber more than most maritime districts, exhibit a variety of pleasing and cheerful prospects. In some parts the hedge-rows abound with trees, which at a distance have the appearance of extensive woods 5 but in others the great expanse of heath and bare unenclosed land has a dreary aspect: some of the most uninteresting parts lie on the southwestern side of it. The most extensive prospects are those from Ashill, near Swaffham; Holkham 5 Docking, near Burnham; Melton, near Holt; Poringland; and Thorpe, near Norwich. The road from Warham is picturesque, overlooking Stiffkey vale, across which the hills rise in a bold manner, though bare of wood; near Blakeney also is another pleasing valley. Most of the rivers rise in marshy lands, and running through a comparatively level country, the fall is con- sequently small, and their current slow; so that they contribute to keep the adjacent grounds in a swampy state, and to fill the atmosphere with dense and noxious vapours. When swelled by land-floods, their aestuaries being for the most part choked with silt driven up by the violence of the tide, they often overflow the low lands, and in their course form numerous small shallow lakes, or pools, provincially termed broads, or meres, which are plentifully stocked with fish, and much frequented by aquatic birds. The principal of these are in the districts through which the Bure, the Wensum, and the Waveney pursue their courses. Breedon, or Breydon broad, at the mouth of the Waveney, and immediately to the west of Yarmouth, is three miles in length and one and a half in. breadth; Hickling-broad is nearly three miles in length, and one in breadth; and that at Rockland is a mile and a half long, and half a mile wide. There are a few in other parts of the county, as at Quiddenham, Diss, and Hingham; and in the fenny districts many temporary ones are formed during the winter season, in the vicinity of which are numerous decoys for wild fowl. The coast has no indentations of magnitude, and although it terminates that great bed of chalk which, commencing in the high cliffs of Dorsetshire, passes across the kingdom to this county, yet it is for the most part flat, and, exclusively of some bold headlands in the vicinity of Cromer, and some wooded hills in the neighbourhood of Sherringham, the only remarkable promontory throughout its whole extent is Hunstanton cliff, commonly called St. Edmund's Point. The other eminences on the east consist of clay, and are continually being undermined by the violence of the waves. Much of the coast consists of a low sandy beach, covered with gravel andloose pebbles, called shingles, which, by the force of the waves, are frequently thrown up in vast heaps: these, by the constant accumulation of sand, are formed into banks, and are held together by the matted roots of what is called " sea-reed grass." Numerous banks of the same kind have been raised off the coast, far out at sea, and, being only discoverable at ebb or quarter tides, are frequently fatal to coasting vessels; the most remarkable is the large bank running parallel with the coast near Yarmouth, between which and the shore is a deep channel, known by the name of Yarmouth Roads, where ships ride safely in all states of the weather. The ranges of sand-hills on this, as on the opposite coast of Holland, tend to preserve a valuable portion of the county from inundation; a line of them, called the Meals, or Marum Hills, commences at Caistor, two miles north of Yarmouth, and extends, with occasional interruptions, to Happisburgh point, and thence to Cromer bay, where what are called " Mud Cliffs" begin, and line the northern shore to Lynn- Regis; these sand - banks are not all permanent, sometimes shifting their station suddenly by a submarine movement. Large portions of the county being exposed to the winds from the ocean, and other tracts to winds that blow over an immense extent of marsh land, the air is there extremely cold in winter and during the early part of the spring. Winds from the north and north-east are more prevalent here than in any other part of the kingdom, and are severely felt, so as considerably to retard the growth of vegetation. With regard to soil, Norfolk may be divided into five districts. The first, lying to the north and east of Norwich, and comprising the eastern and western divisions of the hundred of Flegg, the hundreds of Walsham, Blofield, Happing, Tunstead, and the greater part of the northern and southern divisions of the hundred of Erpingham, consists of a deep, mellow, putrid sandy loam, similar to that of the most fertile part of the Austrian Netherlands; but unfortunately much of this tract is occupied by meres and marshes. The second, lying to the south and south-east of Norwich, includes the hundreds of Loddon, Clavering, Henstead, Earsham, Diss, Depwade, and Humbleyard, and some portions of those of Forehoe andMitford, and consists of stiff wet land, composed of a mixture of sand and clay abounding in springs. The third includes the northern division of the hundred of Greenhoe, the hundreds of Taverham, Eynsford, Gallow, Launditch, Brothercross, Smithdon, Freebridge, and Clackclose: this is generally called " West Norfolk," and consists principally of light sandy land. Part of it in the northwestern angle of the county, contains large tracts of excellent land, with a good deal of inferior quality; and here is practised the system of agriculture to which the general epithet of "Norfolk husbandry" is applied. Along the Ouse is a line of rich marshes. All the more central portion of the county has considerable natural fertility: marl is found in almost every part of it, and extensively employed as manure. The fourth tract, lying in the south-western part of the county, comprises the southern division of the hundred of Greenhoe, the hundreds of Shropham, Guilt-Cross, Wayland, and Grimshoe, and is composed of a light sand, so light indeed, in the last-mentioned hundred, that it frequently drifts with the wind, and is bare of vegetation. The whole of the westernmost part of the county; which is cut off from the rest of it by the Ouse, consists of the rich tract of Marshland, forming a fifth district, consisting of ooze, or silt, as it is provincially called, a marine deposit resting on clay at various depths: in some parts the clay mixes with the silt to the surface, and forms the richer grazing lands. Of this kind also is a narrow tract of land on the easternmost part of the coast, near the mouth of the united rivers Yare and Waveney, which extends a considerable distance inland towards Norwich; the whole in winter being commonly under water, so that in the spring it is necessary to drain it in order to convert it into pasture. There are also large tracts of swampy ground in the vicinity of Lodham, frequently inundated by land-floods, and producing little, except sedge and reeds. In the south-westernmost part of the county is an extensive tract of level land, forming part of the great fenny district, which also includes large portions of the counties of Suffolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, and Lincoln. The district called Marshland is one of the richest in the kingdom; it extends also into Lincolnshire, and forms an immense salt-marsh. The soil is strongly impregnated with salt, and is of so argillaceous a quality as to be generally regarded as a strong clay. It is intersected by ranges of banks, raised at different period to secure the fresh tracts which had been abandoned .by.the ocean: one of these is called the Roman bank-: -'Other tracts have at various later times been regained from the sea: at Titchwell, three hundred acres were embanked in' the year 1786; and in 1790, eight hundred and sixty-eight acres were embanked and enclosed in the parishes of Terrington St. Clement and Terrington St. John. A still greater improvement was also accomplished by the family of Bentinck, in Marshland, where one thousand acres were reclaimed by an embankment about four miles in length; and in 1797, an act passed for the drainage and allotment of the immense tract of land situated in Marshland, Smeetb, and Fenn, besides much private property. According to the table of the-soils furnished by the late secretary to the Board of Agriculture, Mr. Arthur Young, there are, of light sand, two hundred and twenty square miles; of more valuable sand, four hundred and twenty; of marshland clay, sixty; of various loams, nine hundred; of rich loam, one hundred and forty-eight j and of peat-earth, eighty-two. The substrata of the county, as far as research has discovered, consist of clunch, or indurated chalk; chalk in which flints are imbedded; gault, gravel, sand, silt, and peat-earth. On Household heath, and in some other places, are extensive beds of clunch, which is used in building, and burned for lime: the chalk-pits in the vicinity of Norwich abound with those large black flints which compose the walls of many buildings in that city. In the gault, or argillaceous strata, has been found a sort of clay which is manufactured into an excellent species of earthenware: good brick-clay abounds in various places. The silt, or sea-sand, finely pulverised, is found at various depths, and is used in repairing the roads; and throughout the fen lands the peat-earth furnishes the poor with an abundant supply of fuel. On the shore near Thornham, at low water, is the appearance of a large forest having been, at some period; swallowed up by the waves, the stools of many large timber trees and many trunks being distinguishable, but in a state of great decay; these lie in a black mass of vegetable fibres, consisting of decayed branches, leaves, rushes, flags,- &c.; a great extent of this matter is discoverable at low water. Although by nature sterile, superior cultivation has rendered Norfolk one o£ the most productive counties in the kingdom. The arable lands form about twothirds of the county; and the usual course of crops is, first year, turnips; second, barley; third, seeds for hay; fourth, seeds; fifth, wheat or rye 5 and sixth, barley: the next most frequently practised is the old four-shift system of turnips, barley, seeds, and wheat, in succession. Wheat is a general crop, but thrives best on the stiff loamy soils; the produce varies, according to the soil, from two to six quarters per acre; the general average is computed at three quarters. A vast quantity of barley is raised on the lighter soils, made into malt, and then shipped off; malt, indeed, may be considered the staple commodity of the county: the general average produce of barley is stated at four quarters per acre. Oats are sown only as a shifting crop, more than is consumed in the county being seldom grown: the rich lands in Flegg and Marshland usually produce ten quarters per acre. Rye is a common crop upon the light arenaceous lands of the south-western district. Other crops frequently cultivated are, buck-wheat, peas, beans, potatoes, vetches, or tares, cole-seed, clover, and Other artificial grasses; and, but less frequently, cabbages. A considerable quantity of mustard is cultivated between March and Wisbeach, and around the latter place. Saffron is grown in the south-western district, and in the parts adjacent to Cambridgeshire. Flax is "cultivated in the vicinities of Wisbeach, Downham, and Outwell; and hemp near Downham, Old Buckenham, Diss, Harleston, &c. Some of the marshes are peculiarly favourable to the growth of corn; but their liability to inundations has induced the inhabitants to prefer the dairy system, and in these parts large quantities of butter are made and exported, under the name of "Cambridge butter." On the whole, the grass lands of Norfolk, from the prevailing system being arable, have been too generally neglected, though some have been greatly improved by the practise of marling and by under-draining. The quantity of upland meadow and pasture has been estimated at nearly one hundred and twenty-seven thousand acres; and that of the marsh lands at upwards of sixty-three,thousand. From Norwich to Yarmouth is an extensive range of meadow and marsh land; at Dawling and Guestwick is a considerable extent of pasture; and at Tasburgh, between Wymondham and Stratton, are many excellent meadows. One of the richest tracts of grazing land in Norfolk is the-marshy district lying to the south of Lynn, and on the eastern side of the Ouse: these marshes, like all others in the county, are in general hired by the upland farmers, and not stocked regularly, but only when convenience requires it. Besides the marl, there are several peculiar kinds of manure employed, one of which is the little fish called stickleback, which is sometimes taken in immense quantities in the Lynn rivers. In East Winch and West Bilney, and scattered for ten miles thence to Wallington, is a remarkable bed of oyster shells lying in sea mud, from which the farmers obtain a great quantity to apply to their lands. Lime, seaooze, pond-weed, oil-cake, and river mud, are also used for the same purpose. Of the cattle, the native cow is of small size, with middle-sized horns turned up, resembling those of the Aiderney breed, generally of a red colour, and not profitable for the dairy, but hardy, and well calculated for barren pastures. Few of this kind are jnow kept by the large farmers, the Suffolk, polled, dun-coloured cow, having been generally substituted, and being deemed more profitable, though less hardy. The greater part of the cattle fed for the market are brought from Scotland, and purchased by the graziers, at a large fair held at St. Faith's, a small village near Norwich: several are also imported from Ireland. The average number of fat cattle annually sent from this county to the markets at Smithfield, Islington, St. Ives, and other places, is estimated at not less than twentythousand. The open sheep-walks were formerly very extensive: the native breed, and that which prevails in the county, carries a fleece of about two pounds in weight, and, when fattened, weighs about eighteen pounds per quarter. The wool was formerly classed for fineness as a third-rate among the native breeds; but it has been discovered that the neck wool of the Norfolk sheep is equal to the fleece of the Spanish breed. Although this was considered the breed best adapted to the soil, situation, and system of management of the county, yet the South Down is now to be found in almost entire possession of all the district from Swaffnam to Holkham, and also in some other parts, together with a few of the Leicester breed. The number of sheep annually fattened for distant markets, in the same manner as the cattle, is supposed to be not less than thirty thousand. Some persons keep flocks of ewes solely for breeding; and at weaning time sell off the wether lambs to other counties. The hog is comparatively small, and of a thin bristly breed, very prolific, and the flesh is esteemed of good flavour: the number has been diminished by the decline of dairy farms, and the enclosure of waste lands. The horses, whether native or a cross with the Suffolk breed, are a hardy, and active race, from fourteen to fifteen hands high, and well adapted for the purposes of husbandry and the road. Poultry of all kinds is very plentiful; and in the sandy and loamy districts, owing to the dryness of the soil, and the range afforded by the unenclosed parts, the turkies are extremely numerous, and esteemed of excellent quality and flavour; besides affording a supply to several of the neighbouring counties, numerous large flocks are annually driven out of the county to London, and other distant places. Large supplies of geese are also bred in the fenny parts, and annually driven on foot to London, from the neighbourhoods of Downham, Wisbeach, and Lynn; turkey-poults, goslings, chickens, &c., are sent hence to the same market by light caravans, or stage-coaches. Rabbits are extremely numer ous on the light sandy soils, being a considerable object of trade; numbers are bred about Castle-Rising, Thetford, Winterton, and Sherringham; but Methwold heath is the most celebrated, as producing the finest and best flavoured: this spot was noticed as a rabbitwarren so early as the reign of Canute. Woodcocks, snipes, widgeons, ducks, and other aquatic fowl, in consequence of the numerous marshes and meres, are very abundant: the heath-lands are frequented by the great bustard, the largest of British land-fowl. A great part of this county was, within a century and a half, comparatively wild, bleak, and unproductive, more than half of it being rabbit-warrens and sheep-walks; and notwithstanding that so much has been effected towards bringing the whole of the land into a state of cultivation, and although the commons have been very much diminished during the latter part of the last century, and the early part of the present, yet the open and waste lands are still of great extent. Of the former, a great quantity lies in the northern division of the hundred of Greenhoe, the Lynn division of the hundred of Freebridge, and the hundreds of Brothercross, Smithdon, Grimshoe, Loddon, &c.; and large wastes and commons still exist at Attleborough, Turnmoor, Westear, Broad Moor, Fen and Row, Lyng, Beaconthorpe, Decoy, Borough, South Creake, Holt, and Flcgg. From either Brandon or Thetford to Swaffham, the road lies for eighteen miles across a tract consisting of warrens or sheep-walks, with but few cultivated patches. Eccles common comprises four hundred acres of thick fern. A peculiar custom exists in Norfolk respecting the grazing of sheep on commonable lands j which is, that the lord, as he is called, of every township, orders how many and what sort of sheep the people shall have, where the walks shall be fixed both in summer and winter, on what spots they shall be folded, and how they shall be driven from place to place. Norfolk contains numerous woods, though they are partially scattered through the county; the principal are those of Foxley, in the hundred of Eynsford; some to the westward of Wymondham, in that of Forehoe; Shottesham, in Henstead; Ashwellthorpe, Hempnall, and Bunwell, in Depwade; and Hethel, Hethersett, and Ketteringham, in Humbleyard; besides smaller woods in Erpingham, Clavering, Earsham, &c. There are also some large woods at Billingford and Thorpe-Abbots, where hurdles and hoops are the principal articles of profit; and in several parts of the county, particularly in those to the north-west, are extensive woods of timber; these woods and plantations have been computed to occupy not less than ten thousand acres. The manufactures, excepting for home consumption, consist chiefly of woven goods, which, in a variety of branches, still constitute the staple trade. The small village of Worsted, in this county, is remarkable as having given name to a kind of cloths made of wool differently dressed from that of which woollen goods are made; the yarn of the former being' spun from combed, and that of the latter from carded, wool. Dormics, cambrics, calicoes, &c., which in like manner took their names from the places where they were first made, formerly constituted the principal articles of manufacture; and these were followed by druggets, serges, shalloons, duffields, &c.; which, in their turn, have been superseded by bombazines, worsted damasks, flowered satins, camblets, crapes, stuffs, tabinets, poplins, shawls, and a great variety of fancy articles, most of which are formed of wool, mohair, and silk, by different intermixtures and curious combinations. In this trade Norwich takes the lead; but the articles which have usually been considered as having been made in that city only, have been produced by the joint labour of several towns and villages of the county. Since the introduction of machinery, however, the trade has been more concentrated, and is now almost exclusively confined to Norwich, in which city are several silk-mills; the silk after being prepared, passes through other hands for the purpose of being manufactured into crape: there are establishments at North Walsham and Yarmouth, connected with the manufacturers at Norwich in this branch of trade: the Lincolnshire and Leicestershire wools are chiefly used, while that of Norfolk is for the most part exported for the use of the Yorkshire clothiers. At Norwich the making of cotton thread-lace has been introduced of late years. Possessing a great extent of sea-coast, and abounding in rivers and streams, accompanied by numerous broads, or meres, Norfolk is well supplied both with fresh and salt-water fish; the latter are of all species, and in great plenty. The two chief fisheries are those of the herring and the mackarel. The herring fishery is by far the most important, and Yarmouth is the grand place of rendezvous for the boats engaged in it. The large shoal of herrings, which appears from the north off the Shetland Islands, is there separated into two divisions, one of which takes its course along the western shores of Britain, while the other, proceeding southward in the German Ocean, appears off the eastern coast of England in the month of September, when the grand fishing season commences. The merchants fit out large decked boats, of from forty to fifty tons burden, each of which is manned with a master, mate hawseman, waleman, net-rope man, and net-stower man besides five or six labourers, called capstan-men: these all engage to serve for the season at stipulated wages besides which the master, mate, hawseman, and waleman, have an allowance of a certain sum per last. The vessels, being victualled, and having some tons of salt on board, proceed four, six, or even twelve leagues from shore. Numerous boats from other parts of the eastern coast of England, and many from Holland, also fish on this coast, selling their cargoes at the free Michaelmas mart at Yarmouth. In prosperous years, as many as seventy thousand barrels have been exported exclusively of the home consumption, which may be estimated at fifteen thousand more. A summer fishing for herrings was formerly practised, and numerous French and Dutch vessels repaired to the coast for that purpose; but the herrings have ceased to frequent it during the warm season. In the course of the summer months, therefore, the boats are employed in the mackarel fishery, which is very considerable, and, though of minor importance in a commercial point of view, yet, during the spring and summer season, when this fish, which is gregarious and migratory, appears off the coast in vast shoals, it furnishes an abundant supply of food, at a very moderate expense, to the inhabitants of Norfolk and the neighbouring counties. This county also participates in the Greenland fishery. Norfolk, by means of its rivers, &c., has a most extensive internal communication with the northern and midland counties; but, having only two grand outlets to the sea, its foreign and coasting trade are almost wholly engrossed by the ports of Lynn and Yarmouth; Wells, Blakeney, Burnham-Market, and Cley, although they share in the corn trade, being chiefly fishing towns. By means of the Greater Ouse, and the rivers and canals with which it is connected, Norfolk supplies the central parts of the kingdom with coal, wine, timber, grocery, and other articles, previously imported into the ports above mentioned; and in return receives large quantities of cheese, corn, and malt. Its foreign trade, though now comparatively small, was formerly very considerable, especially to the Baltic, Norway, Holland, Portugal, and Spain. The agricultural produce of Norfolk amounting to twice as much as is consumed by its inhabitants, the exports are consequently great; and in a good corn year, when the exportation is free, it has been stated that the ports of this county, including that brought down the rivers, which forms about one-tenth of the whole, export as much corn as all the other ports of England collectively. The principal rivers are the Greater Ouse, the Lesser Ouse, the Waveney, the Bure, the Wensum, the Yare, and the Nar. The Greater Ouse, rising in Northamptonshire, and having previously received the waters of the Lark, the Cam, and the Lesser Ouse, enters this county on its western border, to the south-west or Downham-Market, and having passed under Stow, Magdalen, and German bridges, is then joined by the Nar from the eastward, and empties its waters, after a course of nearly sixty miles, into the large arm of the German Ocean called the Wash, two miles below the harbour of Lynn-Regis, which is formed by it, ™e large aestuary at its mouth being called Lynn Deeps. The tide flows up this river to the vicinity of Denver, where it is checked by sluices erected for the purposes of drainage and navigation; at the period of the equinoxes this tide rushes up with great fury, and is called by the inhabitants "the Eagre." Besides admitting merchant-vessels of considerable burden as high as Lynn, it is navigable for barges above that port for the whole of its course through this county. The Lesser Ouse, or Brandon river, rises in a swampy meadow near the village of Lopham, in the southern part of the county, and almost immediately becomes its boundary, which it thenceforward continues to be; it takes a course, at first westward, but afterwards gradually inclines towards the north: at Thetford, where it becomes navigable, it is joined by the little river Thet, and thence, meandering through a sandy soil, it passes under Brandon bridge, and afterwards flows sluggishly through the fens until it joins the Greater Ouse at Littleport, on the borders of Cambridgeshire. The Waveney has its source in the same tract as the Lesser Ouse, but it pursues an opposite direction, immediately becoming the boundary of the county, which it continues to be throughout the rest of its course, and running eastward by Diss, Billingford, and Harleston to Bungay in Suffolk, it there makes an extensive curvature, in the form of a horse-shoe, and then proceeds to Beccles, in the same county, where it continues nearly north to Burgh, being there joined by the Yare, or Wensum, at the head of Breedon water, an expansion formed by these united rivers, which, contracting again, joins the sea below Yarmouth; the Waveney is navigable for barges as high as Bungay bridge. The Bure rises near Hindolveston, on the northern side of the county, and, running by Bliekling, becomes navigable at Aylsham, whence its general course is in a south-easterly direction: after receiving several tributary streams, among which is the Thone, which flows from a lake near North Walsham, it passes under Acle bridge, and after being increased by the superfluoxis waters of the marshes, it joins the Yare on the northern side of Yarmouth. The Bure and its attendant broads abound with various kinds of fish, such as pike, tench, trout, and perch, the last being particularly plentiful. The Wensum rises near West Rudham, in this county, and being joined by numerous smaller streams in its course, which is in a south-easterly direction, it passes the city of Norwich, where it begins to be navigable; at Trowse it receives the Tass, or Tase, and near Burgh it is joined by the Waveney, and proceeds towards Yarmouth. The Yare is considered to rise near Attleborough, and taking a north-easterly course, it joins the Wensum to the east of Norwich, and in this latter river its name is lost until the Wensum has been joined by the Waveney at the head of Breedon water, between which place and Yarmouth the united waters again assume the name of Yare, flowing past that town to the sea, to which it opens in a south-easterly direction. In the Yare, or Wensum, is found a singular species of perch, called a ruffe, which is smaller and of a more slender form than the common perch. The Nar, called also Sechy and Seechy river, has its source at Litcham, whence it flows westward by Castle-Acre to Narburgh, and thence under Sechy bridge, shortly below which it assumes a northerly course, and finally falls into the Greater Ouse, near Lynn-Regis, whence it is navigable up to Narburgh, a distance of about fifteen miles. The navigable river Nene forms part of the western boundary of the county, which it separates from Lincolnshire. This county has little artificial navigation in the form of canals; the principal exertions of that kind having been directed towards extending and improving the navigation of the rivers. There is a canal from Wisbeach in Cambridgeshire to Outwell creek and Salter's Load in Norfolk, an extent of about six miles, for the purpose of improving the navigation of the river Nene. With a view to the more effectual drainage of the fens, as well as to facilitate the carriage of heavy goods, an act was obtained in the year 1795, for making a navigable canal, called the Eau-brink cut, to Lynn-Regis: in the year 1805, another act was passed to amend the former; but the work was not begun till 1818, and completed in 1820. Different private estates have small cuts to the navigable rivers for the conveyance of corn, &c. A navigable communication with the sea at Lowestoft, in the county of Suffolk, is now in progress, under the superintendence of an incorporated body of shareholders. All the principal modern roads crossing the county concentrate at Norwich: the mail-coach road from London, through Newmarket, enters the county near Thetford, and that from Ipswich, near Scole, or Osmondiston, both passing on to Norwich. The road from London, through Cam bridge, enters near Outwell, and passes through Downham- Market, Swaffham, and East Dereham, to Norwich; parallel with this, more northerly, a line of road from Lynn-Regis leads through Fakenham, Foulsham, and Reepham, to the same city. From Norwich, northward, a road leads through Aylsham, and terminates at Cromer, on the coast of the North sea; another extends north-eastward to the coast; and a third eastward, through Castle-Thorpe, Acle, &c., to Caistor, with a bend southerly to Yarmouth. Five principal Roman stations were established in, and contiguous to, this county, viz.: Branodonum, G.arianonum, Fenta-Icenorum, Sitomagus, and Ad-Tuam, besides various encampments, where different remains of that people, such as coins, urns, &c., have been discovered, particularly at Brompton, Buckenham, and Thetford. Of the Roman roads that traversed this county there are few distinct vestiges. The great road which crossed the island from east to west, from the Norfolk coast to St. David's Head in Pembrokeshire, is supposed to have commenced at Burgh, near Yarmouth, whence it passed by Caistor, and is now conspicuous near Downham-Market, whence, crossing the river Ouse, it passes through the fens into Cambridgeshire. Some traces of vicinal ways are also still discernible. What is called Pedder's way, running from Thetford, by Ickborough, Swaffham, Castle-Acre, and Tring, to the sea near Brancaster, appears to be one of these. The road leading by Long Stratton to Tasburgh was probably another, whilst a third branched off from this to the north-west, passing through Marshland, Upwell, and Elm, to Wisbeach. What is called the Milky Way has been considered Roman; but is more likely of later date, and was probably made for the convenience of the pilgrims to the chapel of our Lady of Walsiugham: it is traceable in several places, and is tolerably perfect in the vicinity of the tumuli called Grimes Graves. Other tumuli may be seen in different parts of the county, but they are not very numerous. On Household heath, near Norwich, are many excavations in the earth, which King and other antiquaries have considered hiding - pits, or British caves. The number of parishes ia this county being greater than that in any other county in England, the ecclesiastical edifices are numerous in a corresponding degree, though few of them possess grandeur of architecture. Many of them are in great part of Saxon, or Danish construction, and several have circular towers. There are also a few fine specimens of the Norman period, the principal of which is Norwich cathedral. Other examples of nearly the same style and age may be found in the ruinous churches of Wymondham, Attleborough, Binham; Castle-Acre, and St. Margaret's, in the town of Lynn. Many of the parishes have also been united, and, either as a cause or consequence thereof, several churches have fallen into ruins. Of ancient fonts, particularly fine specimens are contained in the churches of Binham, Norwich, Walsingham, and Wymondham. This county producing scarcely any stone, the greater number of the churches, as well as many of the other public buildings., are constructed almost wholly with flints, which are found in great abundance, and in many edifices are faced and squared, and laid in regular courses. The religious houses were extremely numerous, amounting, at the time of the general dissolution, to no fewer than one hundred and twentythree, of all orders. The principal remains of monastic buildings are those of the abbeys of Creake, Dereham, and St. Bene't at Holme; and of the priories of Binham, Bromeholme, Old Buckenham, Castle-Acre, Flitcham, Thetford, and Walsingham. Of ancient castles, chiefly Norman, there are considerable remains at Norwich, Castle-Acre, and Castle-Rising. The most remarkable ancient mansions are Caistor Hall, near Yarmouth; Oxborough Hall, near Stoke j Winwal House near Stoke; S tiff key Hall, near Walsingham; andBeaconsthorpe Hall.