"Blofield" is written Blafelda and Blauuefelde in the Domesday Book. It is said
the prefix possibly comes from the Icelandic word Blaa which means yellow or from
the Anglo-
The Domesday Book says "In Blafelda Bishop Almar held in King Edward`s time two carucates of land. Always two ploughs in the demesne and half a plough of the tenants. Pannage for eight hogs and four acres of meadow. The whole was worth £8."
By 1251 Walter de Suffield, the Bishop of Norwich, had free warren at Blofield. Then in 1265 Blofield became the curious defendant in a court case. It seems one William de Newton "complained against several particular persons and against the townships of Blofield and others for being assaulted and beaten there". The townships were bailed and obliged to appear at the King`s Bench. The result is not known.
The manor remained in the see of Norwich until 1536 when the land was exchanged, by Act of Parliament, between Bishop Rugge and King Henry VIII. In 1541 the land was granted to Sir Thomas Paston in exchange for other assets in Norfolk and Surrey. By 1640 the Manor still remained in the Paston family when Edward Paston appears as Lord and patron. After his death in 1713, Samuel Burkin bought the Manor but, for reasons unknown, shot himself in 1726. The Manor then went to his brother John and on his death in 1763 to his sister Diana. She married Jeremiah Burroughes and it was this family name which continued as Lord of the Manor
Of the many Inns and Ale Houses which existed in Blofield up to and after the Second
World War, perhaps the most notable was The Globe which stood on the old Turnpike
road between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. Now demolished to make way for housing,
The Globe was the site of the Petty Sessions held every alternate Monday in the days
long before the Blofield Court House was built. This Inn boasted one of the oldest
bowling greens in the county which had been in existence long before 1770. As well
as being the venue for the Hiring Fair for Servants, held a few days before Michaelmas,
it was also one of the few centres for the long-
In later times, to quote local historian Roy Granger, the Norwich to Great Yarmouth
Road entered the parish from the former parish of Witton at Witton Run, climbing
the hill to pass the Globe Inn. At the King`s Head (the only public house remaining
in the village) it continued left up The Street passing the Swan Inn (now semi-
The Reading Room and Parish Room -
Between the wars the principal landowners in Blofield were William Harker, Myrus Sutton, Harry Edrich and Norfolk County Council.
In 1937 Frederick Barrett was the newsagent, Edgar Bickers was the butcher and Mr M C Underdown ran the Blofield Service Station. The Globe Hotel (Globe Inn) was operated by Roy Everard while the publican at the Swan Inn was Stephen Shred (one of the longest serving publicans in the UK, who held his licence for 50 years until the early 1980s). Stanley Earl was the publican of the King`s Head and George Ellis was at the Two Friends in Blofield Heath. Horace Webb looked after the Post Office and Lilian Procter was the District Nurse while John McKelvie was the local physician, surgeon, Medical Officer of Health and Public Vaccinator. Miss Foulger was the secretary of the Reading Room and Bertie Skedge was the Clerk to the Parish Council. Finally the Secretary of the Margaret Harker Hall was S J Starr and at Blofield Heath it was Arthur Holmes who looked after the recreation ground.
A Village Divided
Tuesday, October 12th 1982 saw the opening of the bridge across the Blofield Bypass which would ultimately reconnect Blofield with Blofield Heath when the newly constructed trunk road was completed. The bypass was opened to traffic early the following year and cut a swathe between the two communities. The impact on Blofield was immediate with a massive reduction of traffic on the old A47. Previously, especially on summer Saturdays when holiday traffic was at its peak, Blofield was virtually cut off from neighbouring Brundall as traffic backed across the lights at the junction of the A47 with The Street.
Eight year old Jonathon Pilch cuts the red tape to open the bridge spanning the new
bypass for Blofield -
The Street Blofield in the 1960s
The Town Pit at Blofield Heath, described in this photograph as Blofield Corner. This photograph was taken in the 1930s.
The original photograph describes this as the Two Friends at Blofield Heath, but
local opinion suggests it is the Bird In Hand -
The Street looking South some time during the early 1930s, possibly earlier.
The Turnpike in Blofield -
The grocer`s shop at the end of the 19th century. Is this now Prospect House on Yarmouth Road, Blofield?
The Street looking North at the very early part of the 20th century -
Blofield School sometime before the First World War. North Street (on the left of the picture) remained the main route to Blofield Heath until the coming of the bypass in the 1980s.
A gathering outside the Fox and Hounds in Blofield -