Books and maps
Resources for exploring Norfolk's geodiversity
(See also the Links page)
Geology background
From the early 19th century onwards, many hundreds of books and scientific papers have been written about the geology and landforms of Norfolk. Unfortunately, there is little introductory material on Norfolk geodiversity written for the general reader.
‘Nature in Norfolk. A Heritage in Trust’ (Jarrold & Sons, Norwich; 1976) has several excellent essays on Earth heritage and links between geodiversity and habitat.
‘An Historical Atlas of Norfolk’ by P Wade-Martins (ed) (Norfolk Museums Service; 1994) contains short chapters on the physical character of the county and early human settlement.
British Regional Geology – East Anglia by JR Lee, MA Woods and BSP Moorlock (eds) (BGS, 2015) - an compendious overview and synthesis of our present understanding of East Anglia's geology, supported by many references. A key resource, marred only by deficient proof-reading and patchy indexing.
‘British Regional Geology: East Anglia and Adjoining Areas’ by CP Chatwin (HMSO 1961) - a useful short guide to the region, although the 'Superficial Deposits' and 'Early Man' sections need urgent revision. See Lee et al (2015) for updated version.
The Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service website has introductory pages on Norfolk geology, including the West Runton Elephant and information sheet downloads, and also a bibliography of N Norfolk geology and a Field Guide to NE Norfolk by Martin Warren.
‘A Flora of Norfolk’ by G Beckett and A Bull (Gillian Beckett; 1999) contains fine introductory chapters covering the influence of geology and soils on landscape, species, habitats and landuse history.
‘The Land-use, Ecology and Conservation of Broadland’ by Martin George (Packard, Chichester; 1992) provides unparalleled detail about the geology, physical and human geography of the Broads, including water, soils and natural history.
‘Geology of northeast Norfolk: Hunstanton to Happisburgh’ by Jill Eyers (Rocks Afoot Field Guide Series; 1998) (see http://www.rocksafoot.com/).
And not forgetting
'Norfolk's Earth Heritage - Valuing our geodiversity' by Tim Holt-Wilson (Norfolk Geodiversity Partnership; 2010), which summarises the county's geology, geomorphology, water, soils and geocultural resources.
Geology specialist sources
Maps
The British Geological Survey has an online publications catalogue, including Sheet Memoirs and maps for most parts of the region and most of Norfolk. See http://www.bgs.ac.uk/catalogue/home.html.
Current and historical British Geological Survey maps at 1:50,000 scale are available online at http://www.bgs.ac.uk/data/maps/home.html.
Memoirs
The old 19th century Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain cover most districts in the county. Some are available from the online Internet Archive at http://www.archive.org:
'The Geology of South-western Norfolk and of Northern Cambridgeshire (Explanation of Sheet 65)' (1893) by SJB Skertchly, AJ Jukes-Browne & W Whitaker (Geological Survey of Great Britain, 1893)
'Geology of the borders of The Wash' by W Whitaker & AJ Jukes-Browne (Geological Survey of Great Britain, 1899)
'The water supply of Norfolk from underground sources', by W Whitaker (Geological Survey of Great Britain, 1921)
'The geology of the country around Norwich. (Explanation of quarter sheets 66 NE and 66 SE)' by HB Woodward (Geological Survey of Great Britain, 1881)
Stratigraphy
For information about names of rock units and stratigraphic terminology, including a concordance of old and new terms, see the BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units at http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/.
Recent thinking on stratigraphic terminology for Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene rock units is to be found in DQ Bowen (ed): ‘A Revised Correlation of Quaternary Deposits in the British Isles’ (Geological Society of London Special Report No.23; 1999).
Books and papers
‘The Geology of Norfolk’ by GP Larwood and BM Funnell (eds) (Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society Vol.19, pt.6; 1961) is a valuable collection of papers (re-edited in 1970), although the information about glacial deposits now needs substantial revision.
The Geological Society of Norfolk publishes an annual Bulletin of specialist articles on various aspects of East Anglia geology and geomorphology. See http://www.norfolkgeology.co.uk/.
The complexities of the Pleistocene of Norfolk are subject to lively, ongoing debate. Readers looking for an introduction to this challenging period, for which Norfolk is famous, could do worse than begin with ‘Pleistocene Environments of the British Isles’ by RL Jones and DH Keen (Chapman and Hall 1993). This is a compendious summary of the changing environments of the Pleistocene, including biodiversity and human settlement, and 55 pages of references. Norfolk sites are well represented.
The vertebrate fossils of the famous Cromer Forest-bed are dealt with in ‘Fossil Vertebrates of the Cromer Forest Bed in Norwich Castle Museum’ by B McWilliams (Norfolk Museums Service; 1975).
'Geological Landscapes of the Norfolk Coast' (Norfolk Coast Partnership, 2011), with text by Tim Holt-Wilson. Downloadable from http://www.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk/partnership/geological-landscapes-of-the-norfolk-coast/568.
A fascinating investigation into the evolution of the Waveney-Little Ouse corridor is found in ‘From Brandon to Bungay. An exploration of the landscape history and geology of the Little Ouse and Waveney Rivers’ by RG West (Suffolk Naturalists' Society, Ipswich; 2009).
For a classic account of the evolving geodiversity and ecology of the Fens see ‘Fenland : Its Ancient Past and Uncertain Future’ by H Godwin (Cambridge University Press, 1978).
‘Subsidence in Norwich’ by Humphreys, Howard and Partners (HMSO, 1993) is an interesting account of the effects of subsidence caused by historic chalk mining in Norwich.
'A Celebration of Suffolk Geology' edited by Roger Dixon (GeoSuffolk, 2012), includes 40 papers on the county's Earth heritage, many relevant to Norfolk.
The Quaternary Research Association regularly conducts specialist field trips in Norfolk, and publishes associated scientific papers in its annual Field Guides. See http://qra.org.uk/. Editions relevant to Norfolk include:
▪ ‘Pliocene-Middle Pleistocene of East Anglia’ (1988),
▪ ‘Central East Anglia and the Fen Basin’ (1991),
▪ ‘The Quaternary of Northern East Anglia’ (2000),
▪ ‘The Quaternary Mammals of Southern and Eastern England’ (2004),
▪ ‘The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk' (2008).
Norfolk geologists
'Frederic W. Harmer: A Scientific Biography' by John Kington. Comprising the first definitive account of the geological and palaeometeorological studies made by the British geologist, Frederic W. Harmer (1835-1924) this book contributes a previously missing chapter to the history of science. The main objective of the author is to ensure that the scientific work of Harmer, which unfortunately has been widely neglected or forgotten, becomes more generally known and acknowledged. The balance of this deficiency will be redressed by bringing to light in this volume his contributions to the history of science to an audience of academic and lay readers of the current literature. Published by Springer, 2014.
Urban geology
'Subterranean Norwich' by Matthew Williams (Lasse Press, 2017) is an exploration of the subterranean conditions which have profoundly influence the shape and texture of Norwich today, and how they have been remoulded by over a thousand years of human activity. Available from www.sctbooks.co.uk..
Landscape and landforms
‘Classic Landforms of the North Norfolk Coast’ by E Bridges (The Geographical Association in conjunction with the British Geomorphological Research Group; 1998).
The geomorphology of Norfolk is dealt with in ‘The Geomorphology of the British Isles (Eastern and Central England)’ by K Clayton and A Straw (Methuen; 1979). It deals in detail with the glacial geomorphology of the Cromer Ridge and north-west Norfolk.
‘Blakeney Point and Scolt Head Island’ by H Allison and J Morley (eds) (The National Trust; 5th edtn, 1989) is an excellent introduction to the physiography, ecology and biodiversity of the North Norfolk coast.
'Europe's Lost World' by Gaffney, Fitch & Smith is a classic account of Doggerland, its geography and archaeology. Now reprinted http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/europe-s-lost-world.html.
'The North Norfolk Coast', a chapter by RL Jefferies in ‘Nature in Norfolk. A Heritage in Trust’ (Jarrold & Sons, Norwich; 1976): a short introduction to the coastal geomorphology and links with wildlife.
'The North Norfolk Coast - a short introduction' by A Cook (Matador, 2016) is an attractively illustrated book about the Holocene evolution of the North Norfolk coastal landscape between Hunstanton and Weybourne.
Introductory books on the evolution of the landscape include:
‘England’s Landscape: East Anglia’ by T Williamson (Collins; 2006);
‘Southern England: The Geology and Scenery of Lowland England’ by PF Friend (Collins New Naturalist Library; 2009).
Soils
Soils are one of the most fascinating and least appreciated aspects of Norfolk’s geodiversity.
The best reference guide is ‘Soils and their Use in Eastern England’ by CA Hodge, RG Burton, WM Corbett, R Evans and RS Seale (Soil Survey of England and Wales Bulletin No.13, Harpenden; 1984). It covers the soil associations and their component series, and their links with geology and land-use. Its contents have been published online as the LandIS Soils Guide.
The National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University publishes local guides for soils (see http://www.landis.org.uk/publications/index.cfm) including:
Soils of the Ely District, by R.S. Seale
Breckland Forest Soils, by W.M. Corbett
Soils in Norfolk ll (Barningham/Sheringham), by W.M. Corbett and W. Tatler
Soils in Norfolk lll (Horning), by W. Tatler and W.M. Corbett
Soils in Norfolk IV (Harleston), by W.M. Corbett
Soils in Norfolk V (Attlebridge), by D.J. Eldridge
Soils in Norfolk Vl (Caston), by C.A.H. Hodge and D.J. Eldridge
Soils in Norfolk Vll (Helhoughton), by W.M. Corbett
Soils in Norfolk Vlll (Halvergate), by J. Hazelden
The map ‘Soils of England and Wales: Sheet 4 Eastern England’ (Soil Survey of England and Wales) displays Norfolk’s variety of soils at 1:250,000 scale..
The UK Soil Observatory is a useful online map resource for understanding the many soil types and their properties - see https://www.ukso.org/. It is particularly useful for farmers, and includes a 'My Soil Layer' tab showing descriptive information about the different soils, eg parent materials, texture.
Water
The story of Norfolk’s water supply is patchily told. Individual geological sheet memoirs contain useful details, although the otherwise excellent ‘King’s Lynn and The Wash’ volume (Gallois, 1994) is inexplicably silent on the subject.
The British Geological Survey publishes specialist maps on groundwater vulnerability to pollution, and hydrogeological maps detailing availability, exploitation and quality. See http://www.bgs.ac.uk/catalogue/home.html.
A scan of the British Geological Survey hydrological map of Norfolk is available at http://www.largeimages.bgs.ac.uk/iip/hydromaps.html?id=northern-east-anglia.jp2.
Details of the hydrogeology of the North Norfolk Chalk aquifer are explained by Hiscock 1991 (Bulletin of the Geological Society of Norfolk #41).
‘Taking the Waters’ by M. Manning (Norfolk Industrial Archaeological Society; 1994) investigates the story of spas, spa wells and holy wells in the county.
General details of catchment hydrology and water resources in Norfolk may be obtained from the Catchment Abstraction Management documents published by the Environment Agency.
River flow and groundwater data are obtainable free of charge from the National Water Archive.
'The water supply of Norfolk' by William Whitaker (HMSO, 1921) is a good source of historical information.
'Norwich’s Netherflow' by Matthew Williams (SCT Press, 2021) is an account of the history of water and sewerage services in the city, including links to geology. Available from https://www.sctbooks.co.uk/.
The Palaeolithic
The classic introduction to the Palaeolithic of Norfolk is ‘Palaeolithic Sites of East Anglia’ by JJ Wymer (Geobooks, Norwich; 1985).
‘East Anglian Palaeolithic Sites and their Settings’ by John Wymer in: ‘Aspects of East Anglian Prehistory’ by C Barringer (ed) (Geobooks, Norwich; 1984) - has chapters on prehistoric environments & economies and archaeology, including Norfolk.
'Neanderthals among mammoths: Excavations at Lynford Quarry, Norfolk' by William Boismier, Clive Gamble and Fiona Coward (English Heritage, 2012) - excavation report from river sediments of Devensian age yielding mammoth and other palaeo-environmental remains in association with evidence of Neanderthal activity. Downloadable from EH website.
Buildings
'Carrstone in Norfolk Buildings - distribution, use, associates and influences' by JRL Allen (British Archaeological Reports (British Series) BAR 371, 2004) - an excellent introduction to the lithologies, sources and uses of Norfolk's native building stones, focusing on carrstone (carstone and other ironstones), and also including chalk clunch, quartzite and (of course) flint.
Holocene environment
'Down By The River: Archaeological, Palaeoenvironmental and Geoarchaeological Investigations of The Suffolk River Valleys' by B Gearey, H Chapman, A Howard (Oxbow Books, 2016) - The results of palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations focused on the post-glacial record preserved in the valleys of the Waveney, Dove, Lark, Blackbourn and Little Ouse; five floodplain sites (Beccles, Hoxne, Hengrave, Ixworth and Brandon) provide hypotheses concerning the timing, pattern and process of fluvial development, human activity and landscape change during the Holocene.