Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/77

Rh NORFOLK. Co NORFOLK. ea. On this part of the coast the crag cliffs in some places rise from 50 to 60 feet high ; and near Happis- burgh, or Hasbro', they have been found to contain bones of elephants and other extinct mammals. Inside the Hasbro' and Leman sands, "which are marked by a lightship, is the Mould Channel, with a lighthouse on ill's, and beyond it the small port of Eccles, where the cliffs end, and a low, sandy, and shingly coast suc- ceeds, rising into sand bills at Vaxham ; and at Win- terton, a small fishing -tillage about 8 miles N. by W. of Yarmouth, is a lofty eminence, crowned by a lighthouse, about 70 feet above sea-level. Beyond this point lie the Newarp and other sands, outside Yarmouth Koads, which channel affords a secure anchorage in from 10 to 13 fathoms water, and is the usual rendezvous of the North Sea fleet in time of war. The entrance to the Yare, which is marked by a lighthouse, has recently been much improved under an Act of Parliament passed in 1827 for making the Yare and Wensum navigable for vessels drawing 10 feet of water, and for making a cut from the Yaro to the Waveney, and from the Waveney, at Lowestoft, through Lake Lothing to the sea, thus restoring the ancient entrance, which had been closed since the 1 7th century, when a bar of sand and shingle was allowed to accumulate at the mouth of it, so that Norwich is once more a port for sea-borne vessels. The tide or sea -lock of this navigation admits ves- sels 84 feet long and 21 feet in the beam. With the exception of this navigation and the dykes in tho fens, there are no canal works of importance, but most of tho principal rivers are navigable for long distances, the surface of the country being level. The Greater Ouse and the Nen are navigable throughout the whole of their course within this county and for some distance beyond. The former of these rivers enters the county from Ely, in Cambridgeshire, and flowing in a northerly direction for 22 miles to the "Wash, is joined by the Little Ouse, the Wissey, or Stoke, and the Nar. The first of these tributary streams has its head waters in the adjoining county of Suffolk, and, receiving the waters of the Thet, at Thetford, becomes navigable, and traces tho boundary of the county for about 20 miles, till it joins the Great Onse, in the marshes near South- rey ; the Wissey is formed by the junction of two streams at Buckenham Tofts, and pursues a westerly course past Stoke Ferry, when it becomes navigable to tho Great Ouse, at Denver Sluice ; while the Nar, or Setch, as it is sometimes called, rises at Litcham, and flowing W. by Castle Aero, where it becomes navigable, joins the Ouse above Lynn. Besides these, there are in the W. tho Wilney and Nene, which trace the boundary between this county and Cambridgeshire, falling into the Wash by a broad channel which forms the port of AVisbeach. The rivers which do not belong to the former system are tin: Vcnsiiin, whoso source is at Wickend, near Faken- ham, whence it flows in a south-easterly direction in a winding channel of 45 miles to tho city of Norwich, a little below which it is joined by the ^ are, also coming ii ,111 tho W., and having its source at Shipdham, between Vatton and East Dereham. The stream formed by tin ir united waters then continues a south-easterly course of about 20 miles, when making a bond to tho N.E. it s through lloedham Marsh and expands into a large inie parts a mile broad, at tho southern extremity of which it receives tho waters of the Waveney, and at tho nwth-c.-i.itcm those of the Bure, finally discharging the combined flood, by a wide passage of about 3 miles long, into the German Ocean : its whole length from the source of tho Winsum, the real head of the stream, being 74 miles. The Waveney, though joining the Yaro near its mouth, may bo considered a distinct river, having its source at Loplutm, on the borders of Suffolk, and pursu- ing a in. 1 1 i, -jurse of near 50 miles, in which it 01 Itungay, where it becomes navigable t'"r i ;. cclcs, to which sea-borne < ! :mv, also a tributary of the Ynn', in tho extreme north of tho county at Melton Constable, and by a circuitous course of near 50 miles, generally in a south-easterly direction, drains the low- lying country bordering on tho E. coast, which every- where abounds with considerable pools of water, locally designated broads or mecrs, some of which are of con- siderable extent, as Filby, Hickling, and Kollesby Broads. The Bure is navigable for above 40 miles from its mouth to Aylsham. These rivers receive several tributary streams, the principal being the Taes, which joins the Yaro below Norwich; and the Thurn and Ant, which flows into the Bure. This last stream is navigable to Wayford Bridge, from which point a canal has been cut to North Walsham. .The rainshed of the county is from N.W. to S.E., tho central portion being watered by spreading streams which have their source in the higher grounds of the N. and W., and flow to the sea at Yar- mouth, where, in very ancient times, was a vast estuary, now filled up. The rivers which do not belong to this system are in the W., where the land slopes towards the Wash, forming the valleys of the Ouse and Nar. - Few parts of England exhibit more remarkable physical changes, within the historic period, than this county; and lew, if any, excel it in the evidences of human skill and industry. Not more than a century ago it was more than one-half barren heath, fitted only for rabbit- warrens and fens, yielding nothing but snipe-shooting and the ague, where now is to be seen some of the best husbandry in England. Before noticing, however, the process by which this transformation was effected, it will be necessary to make some few observations on the soil and climate. Any classification of the soils of Nor- folk for the purpose of conveying an idea of the character of the land throughout, can only give an approximation to the truth, as in the same farm, and often in adjoining fields, the greatest difference prevails. In this country the marked features, which elsewhere are stamped upon the surface of the earth by the geological formations be- neath it, are not to be distinguished, and a clear concep- tion of its character can only bo acquired by a study of the characteristics of each locality. The light sandy lands, however, may be described as prevailing in the northern and western districts. They differ considerably in quality, being sometimes, as in the neighbourhood of Thetford, blowing sand ; and in other places possessed of more natural fertility. They rest generally upon a substratum of chalk, which crops out at different points, and in tho vicinity of the Wash is supplanted by a strip of green sandstone and oolite. The central and eastern parts of tho county generally consist of loamy soils, varying in quality, being hero and there stiff and diffi- cult to manage ; but more frequently light and incum- bent on a marly clay, which overlies the chalk ; and in the valley of the Bure rests on beds of fossil shells. In this district principally, and especially towards the S.E., are found those extensive marshes to which we have already alluded as traversed by the Yare, Euro, and Waveney, in their course to tho German Ocean. The climate, as may be imagined, on tho E. coast, is dry throughout the year, and, therefore, healthy ; but cold and biting winds prevail during tho winter and early in spring. About two-thirds of the surface is arable, one- tenth meadow and pasture, and the remainder still un- reclaimed, being either heath or fen. The indigenous productions of Norfolk are neither numerous nor specially valuable ; and the native breeds, both of cattle anil sheep, have now been almost universally superseded, the former by Devons, and the latter by South Downs and Leicesters, which have proved much more profitable than tho roaming black-faced and black-legged sheep of this county. The native pig, too, will stand no comparison with the Berkshire or the improved Essex ; and even in the excellence of its wheat, Norfolk is excelled by other counties. Yet notwithstanding those natural disadvan- tages of soil, climate, and productions, the celebrity of Norfolk as an agricultural district is deservedly great. That celebrity consists in having introduced and d loped a great variety of irnjn ID the cultivation of the soil, and especially in having c> nitributod so largely to tho adoption of that system of green-crop husbai originally introduced by the late Earl of Leicester, !
 * of water, called Breydon Water, 4 miles long, and