THE PROVINCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. LVI.—SUFFOLK AND NORFOLK :—GEOGR►pnY.
THE block of land comprising these two sister counties forms, with the county of Essex on the south, the great shoulder of England on the east, between the estuary of the Thames and the arm of the sea called the Wash. On the east it faces the German Ocean in a bold and almost unbroken convex sweep of coast. In this last respect it contrasts in a marked manner with the deeply and constantly indented coast of Essex. Between the Wash and the estuaries of the Stour and Orwell there are but three water- breaks in the whole sweep of coast which are entitled to the name of creeks, and the distortion in coast line even in these instances is very slight. The southern boundary of this Province is formed by the Stour and the county of Essex, while the county of Cambridge covers the western frontier, the boundary from this on the north- west being taken up by the Wash ; while on the north and east the Province has no neighbour but the German Ocean, into which the great headland boldly projects. A strange contest of aggrandize- ment has been waged between these two last neighbours for centu- ries ; the interchange of territory between them at various times has been far from inconsiderable, and the conquests by and from the sea which have at various times taken place render the coast line of England less continuously identical in this province than in any other part of the island. The great Fen district, which covers the western part of Norfolk and extends into a small part of Suffolk, must have been always a debatable ground between land and water, even if it did not once, in connection with the river water lines, constitute this province an island or peninsula.
The area of Norfolk is 1,354,301 statute acres; of Suffolk, 947,681 acres. The greatest length of Norfolk is 67 miles, and its greatest breadth 42 miles, the corresponding measurements for Suffolk being 68 and 52 miles. The population (which is a decreasing one) was, for Norfolk, in 1851, 442,714, and in 1861, 434,798 ; for Suffolk, in 1851, 337,215 ; in 1861, 337,070. Of this total population for the Province of 771,868, the proportion of those engaged in agriculture is in Norfolk 44.6 per cent. to the whole adult popula- tion, and in Suffolk 51.1 per cent. The surface of Suffolk is "gently undulating, except just along the north-western and some parts of the north-eastern border, where the laud subsides into a marshy flat, secured from overflow only by embanking the course of the rivers. Some marshes also border the rivers in the south-east part, but none of these are of any extent. The highest ground in the county forms a ridge of crescent-like shape extending through its centre," somewhat in a line "drawn from the neighbourhood of Lowestoft in the north-east, between Bungay and Halesworth, to the neighbourhood Cif Debenham, and thence to the western border of the county, passing between Stowmarket and Ixworth, between Bury and Lavenham, and between New- market and Clare. The waters which flow northward from this ridge fall into the Waveney or the Ouse ; those southward join the Orwell, Stour, Deben, and other streams flowing into the German Ocean." Norfolk cannot be said to have any hills, properly speaking, the rivers flowing through valleys skirted by low rising grounds. " The highest ground is probably on the north-west side, where the chalk downs appear. This high ground gradually subsides towards the east, where the chalk sinks under the beds of diluvian or alluvian which overspread a large part of this county and Suffolk." These alluvial beds in the eastern part of Norfolk are of gravel, sand, and clay. " At Norwich, and to the south and west of the city, thick beds of sand and gravel are found resting on the chalk, and in the western parts of the diluvial districts large boulders of grey or greenish sandstone." But sand- beds predominate in that part. In the south-east of Suffolk is the crag and London clay district, and a chalk district in the north-west, the rest of the county consisting of diluvial beds.
The bays of the Suffolk coast, Hollesley, Aldborough, and South- wold or SoleBay are shallow, and the headlands not at all prominent. Lowestoft Ness is the most easterly point of Great Britain. The coast line is pierced by the estuaries of the Stour, Orwell, Deben, Batley (or Alde), Blythe, and Yare, and there is an artificial cut- ting through the Lothing into the Waveney. " The entire coast of Suffolk is estimated at about fifty miles in extent, a great portion being low and marshy, and the remainder lined with cliffs of shingle or gravel and red loam." The Waveney and Little Ouse rivers separate Suffolk from Norfolk. Near the lower course of the Waveney in Suffolk there are several small sheets of water. The Lark, a tributary of the Great Ouse, flows past Bury St. Edmund's, with a course of about 30 miles. The Orwell is
formed by the junction of several small streams near Stowmarket, and flows by Ipswich, from which point it becomes an estuary. The coast line of Norfolk is above 90 miles in length, and for the most part low, and exposed to the sea encroachments. " From the mouth of the Yare to the commencement of the cliffs there is a low marshy coast, skirted by sandbanks. The channel between these banks and the shore is known as Yarmouth Roads," a safe anchorage for vessels, and in time of war the usual rendezvous for the North Sea fleet. At Hunstanton, near St. Edmund's Point, the north-western extremity of the county, the cliffs are nearly 8G feet high. There is also a high cliff at Cromer, at the north-east extremity. The great estuary or arm of the sea called the Wash has extensive sand and mud banks, dry at low water, with chan- nels of deep water between them, and the Ouse and Nen flow into it. The deeper water of the coast is called the Lynn Deeps. Here a considerable tract of fertile land has been reclaimed from the sea by successive embankments, the most inland of which is called the Roman Bank. The principal Norfolk harbours are those of Yarmouth and Lynn. The principal streams flow from the north-west of the county. The Wensum flows for forty-five miles from Wickend to Norwich, two miles below which city it joins the Yare, which had had a previous course of twenty-five miles from Shipdham. The united stream, flowing through Reed- ham Marsh, expands into Breydon Water (4 miles long by, in some parts, 1 mile broad), whence, receiving the Waveney and Bare streams, after a further course of 3 miles it falls into the German Ocean. The Waveney rises at Lopham, and flows past. Diss, Bungay, and Beccles into the Yare, in a course of nearly 50, miles. The Bare rises in the north of the county, and flows past Aylsham 50 miles to its junction with the Yare. The Ouse touches the border of the county a few miles below Ely, and flows into the Wash below Lynn. The valleys of the Waveney, Yare, and Bare- were originally " longitudinal basins of chalk," and probably also. arms of the sea as far up as Bungay, above Norwich, and Burgh- by-Brampton respectively, and the low flats above Yarmouth were- probably an estuary till the time of Alfred. " The spot on which Yarmouth stands was not dry land till the eleventh cen- tury."
The climate of Suffolk is generally very dry, but also cold, parti- cularly in spring, being exposed to the north-east winds. There are- four principal soils; the rich alluvial loam between the Orwell and the Stour; the heavier loans occupying the centre of the county ; a. slip of sand (in the lower parts covered with rich mud) between these last boa= and the sea, and another slip of poorer sand between Thetford and Bury St. Edmund's ; and, lastly, the Fen lands. The greater part of the land of this county is under plough, and the large agricultural implement manufacturers resident within its limits have introduced the most recent improvements in that department. Suffolk has one breed of cattle peculiar to it, and its short-legged breed of pigs are considered very profitable.. There is no peculiar breed of sheep.
The climate of Norfolk is cold, it being exposed to the north- east wind. The air is damp in the Fen districts of the western portion and along a strip of the southern part ; elsewhere it is con- sidered dry and healthy. The soil is of three qualities—light sands, chiefly in the north-west of the county ; low, alluvial loama on the borders of Cambridgeshire ; and loans, chiefly light, or• marly clay, in the centre and eastern parts. The good farming of Norfolk is notorious, the late Earl of Leicester having done much. to increase that reputation. The best crops are barley. This is one of the great corn districts of England, and the farmers are of" a higher and wealthier grade than perhaps anywhere else, and are- proportionally independent In their action. There are also on the- light lands large flocks of sheep, the old Norfolk breed being, how- ever, generally superseded by those of other counties. Pigs are- very abundant, and the turkeys and geese are a well known ands important feature of the London markets at Christmas and Michaelmas.
Altogether, the loss of population in this province, — the• East Angles of England,—and its decadence from the import- ance which attached to it in the Middle Ages, and even in the Tudor and Stuart periods, must be attributed chiefly, to the fact of its lying out of the line of roadway between the north and south of the island, which, as communication between place and place became more and more rapid and" influential in mutual effects, could not but operate disadvan- tageously, and lead to a migration of population to other spots- more within the electric current of mind which accompanies- the interchange of products and the contact of individual cha- racter.
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