Facts about Aylsham
General Info
Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly 9 miles north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, 11 miles upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain, coal and timber to be brought up river.
The town is close to large estates and grand country houses at Blickling, Felbrigg, Mannington and Wolterton, which are important tourist attractions. The civil parish has an area of 4,329 acres and in the 2001 census had a population of 5,504 increasing to a population of 6,016 at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Broadland.
Aylsham History
Archaeological evidence shows that the site of the town has been occupied since prehistoric times. Aylsham is just over two miles from a substantial Roman settlement at Brampton, linked to Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund, south of Norwich, by a Roman road which can still be traced in places – that site was a bustling industrial centre with maritime links to the rest of the empire. Excavations in the 1970s provided evidence of several kilns, showing that this was an industrial centre, pottery and metal items being the main items manufactured.
