Old Map of Norfolk in 1611 by John Speed - Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Thetford, Fakenham

This map of Norfolk was created by John Speed and engraved by Jodocus Hondius, first published in 1611 as part of Speed's landmark county atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Speed's atlas was among the earliest attempts to map every county of England and Wales to a consistent standard, and it remains one of the most significant works in the history of English cartography, prized today for both its historical accuracy and its decorative engraving. This Norfolk sheet, produced at the very start of the Jacobean era, captures the county's towns and parish boundaries over four hundred years ago, offering one of the earliest detailed printed views of Norfolk to survive.

Norwich appears as one of the largest and wealthiest cities in England at the time, its cathedral, founded in 1096, already a five-century-old landmark by the time this map was drawn. Great Yarmouth is shown as a major herring port, its fortunes tied to the North Sea fishing fleets that made it one of the busiest harbours on the east coast. King's Lynn appears as a significant trading port on the Wash, long connected by sea routes to the Baltic and the Low Countries. Thetford, once seat of an East Anglian bishopric before the see moved to Norwich, is recorded as an ancient market town, and Fakenham appears as a smaller market centre serving the surrounding farmland. Together these towns give a detailed picture of Norfolk's Jacobean-era trade routes and market network.

This early view of the county makes a fitting gift for a Norfolk collector or for anyone with family roots stretching back generations in Norwich or the Norfolk coast. Norfolk buyers should note we also carry a later map of the same county drawn by the Amsterdam cartographer Joan Blaeu in 1665: where that Dutch-engraved sheet reflects Norfolk more than fifty years on, this 1611 Speed edition is the earlier of the two, a rare glimpse of Jacobean Norfolk before the Blaeu family ever set eyes on an English map. It is available unframed in a full range of sizes to suit a study, hallway, or larger feature wall.