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The final programme in our first series of 'Two's Country' took us on the long drive east past Norwich and out further still to Great Yarmouth, in the heart of the Norfolk Broads.
Medieval man was responsible for creating one of Britain's greatest attractions and holiday locations. For over 300 years peat was the only form of fuel in the area, and huge ditches were created as the people used it for heating and cooking. In the 14th Century the sea level began to rise and the ditches flooded, and the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads were born.
The whole area is rich in history because of its obvious connections with the sea and Europe. The Romans were settled here for over three hundred years, and one of their forts, although for some reason this one is called a castle, was our first stop. Burgh Castle near Bradwell on the A143 west of Great Yarmouth, is remarkable for many reasons, firstly because of its size, its enormous and almost complete walls give you a true picture of the Romans strength and power. Because there has been little in the way of soil deposits, and because it was built out of flint and not valuable stones, the walls are virtually the same today as when they were built two thousand years ago, except of course they would have had a wooden palisade on top then.
For many centuries life in the Broads was simple, but reasonably rewarding. The rich plant life and plentiful wild life gave workers a variety of jobs that kept them busy for most of the year. At Toad Hole, a beautifully restored marshmans cottage in How Hill near Ludham on the A1062 from Potter Heigham, you can taste exactly what life would have been like up until about 100 years ago. Marshmen and their families would live in these tiny cottages cutting reeds and sedge for roofing, looking after the windpumps, and catching eels.
The last eel catcher has a net near to Potter Heigham, nobody knows why exactly but the eels have all but gone from the broads and its no longer the profitable job it used to be 50 years ago. Potter Heigham, north west of Yarmouth on the A149, takes its name from the Pottery that used to be made there and the man who ruled the area at the time of the Doomsday Book. It is also has a lovely 14th Century bridge over the River Thurne which due to rising sea water levels is now dangerously low.
Norfolk and Suffolk have more medieval churches than any other area in Europe, so we took a quick look at three of the best. First stop, St Bennett's Abbey on the River Bure near Ludham on the A1062. In AD 1020 King Cnut (Canute) gave this land to a religious group who had already been occupying the area for some time under the leader Wolfric. By the end of the 13th Century St Bennet's owned land in 76 Norfolk parishes. One of its most famous benefactors was Sir John Fastolf on Caister Castle, the same man that Shakespeare named Falstaff. Both Sir John and his wife are buried in the chapel.
St Helen's Church, or Cathedral of the Broads, lies to the west of St Bennet's in the village of Ranworth off the B1140 from Acle. This church stands on a Saxon site and has a Rood which was painted in the 14th Century with a different Saint in each of its wooden panels. The tower of the church has a viewing platform on top which gives some of the best views of the Broads.
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