Norfolk: Gazetteers and Directories

William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1883

GENERAL HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE
COUNTY OF NORFOLK

CLIMATE

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

From Norfolk being exposed to the ocean on the north, and to a large extent of marshes and fens on the south and south-west, the air is extremely sharp in winter and in the early part of spring. North and north-easterly winds are more prevalent than in any other parts of the kingdom, and vegetation is consequently backward. The contiguity to the sea and to the marshes and fens, and the vapours brought from Holland, account for the frequent rains and storms during the summer months, but they are seldom of so long duration as in more hilly districts.

In the hundreds of Marshland and Clackclose, and other fenny parts of the county, the air is not only cold but exceedingly damp, and the inhabitants are subject to intermittent fevers; but as the fens and marshes are now well-drained, these endemical agues are much less frequent than formerly, when strangers on their first residence were generally attacked with them, and were proverbially said to be 'arrested by the bailiff of Marshland.'

The great upland to the east and north-east, consisting chiefly of a sandy or gravelly soil, is peculiarly salubrious and pleasant.

The men of Norfolk are generally of a light wiry make, formed for activity rather than strength, and the same may be said of the native breeds of horses and cattle. Marshall, an agricultural writer about 100 years ago, mentions his astonishment at the activity and quantity of work performed by Norfolk men and horses; and in Chaucer, and many early authors, the same peculiarities are noticed.

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See also White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1883.

Copyright © Pat Newby.
November 2006