Broads National Park

The man-made Broads winds its way through the stunning Norfolk countryside. The Norfolk Broads is a National Park with over 125 miles of lock-free waterways with pretty towns and villages along the way, and is home to over quarter of the rarest plants and animals in the UK. The vast skies, stunning landscapes of marshland, woodlands and reeds, that change with the seasons, offers a unique holiday all year round.

The history of the Norfolk Broads

The unique man-made Norfolk Broads were created in the 14th century when peat was dug out to provide fuel and a sellable commodity after woodland timber and fuel supplies were drained in a densely populated Norfolk. The first written evidence of this dates back to the 12th century and for the next 200 years, peat digging was a major industry. The exhausting job of manually digging the peat started in the 12th century throughout all the east Norfolk settlements until the 14th century, when finally nature overcame man's force.

The holes left behind from the peat extraction began to fill with water with the rising sea levels, and these 'holes' formed the beginning of The Norfolk Broads. More than 200km of rivers and Broads were created by peat digging which provided channels for commerce throughout the 16th century. 

Norwich was the second largest city in England after London and its tradable goods of wool, weaving and agricultural produce were exported throughout the world from the port of Great Yarmouth. The waterways were also used to transported bricks, coal, tiles and timber by the Norfolk Wherries. Distinguished by their single black sail, the boats plied these routes carrying around 25 tonnes of goods and was in service for around 200 years. 

Amazingly, it wasn't until the 1950s that it was realised the Broads were man made, when Dr Joyce Lambert's research revealed that the sides of the deep lakes were vertical and not gently sloping as would be expected of a naturally formed lake. Since the Victorian times, the Broads National Park has become an increasingly popular holiday destination and is the only National Park with a city in it! As one of the UK's 15 national parks, the Norfolk Broads' beautiful landscape, diverse and unique wildlife and important cultural heritage are all protected - ensuring they can be enjoyed by future generations. The Broads National Park is made up of over 60 open areas of water known as the Broads and seven rivers; the Ant, Bure, Chet Thurne, Waveney and Yare.