Stalham is a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

on the

River Ant The River Ant is a tributary river of the River Bure in the county of Norfolk, England. It is long (of which 8.75 miles are now navigable), and has an overall drop of 27 metres from source to mouth. It is said that the Ant was formerly known as ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

, in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,951 in 1,333 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 3,149 at the 2011 Census. It lies within the

Norfolk Broads Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North ...

, about north-east of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

on the A149 road. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was ...

. The parts of the parish lying adjacent to the river fall into the executive area of the

Broads Authority The Broads Authority is the agency which has statutory responsibility for the Broads in England. Originally, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England), pressed for a special authority to manage the Broads which had been neglected for a ...

. The towns name probably means, 'fish pool homestead/village' but perhaps, 'hemmed-in land with a fish pool'. Stalham was once served by a railway station until it was closed in 1959. The nearest railway station is now

Worstead Worstead is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies south of North Walsham, north of Wroxham, and north of Norwich. The village is served by Worstead railway station on the Bittern Line. For the purposes of loc ...

. Through the 1960s Stalham's economy sank from a reduction of the

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

labour force as a result of improvements in agricultural technology. Beginning in the 1970s, though, housing developments attracted people who took up residence in Stalham but worked elsewhere. The Museum of the Broads moved to Stalham in 2000 and is situated on Stalham Staithe. It 'aims to bring the history of the Broads alive for locals and visitors to Norfolk' and is open to the public throughout the summer. In 2002 Tesco built a supermarket in Stalham, with considerable controversy, with many residents fearing that it would "kill the high street". Despite this, the High Street contains a wide range of independent traders.

Governance

Stalham is part of the electoral ward of Stalham and

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * S ...

. The total population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,312.

References

{{authority control Towns in Norfolk North Norfolk Market towns in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk

Governance

See also

References