Our National Park

The Broads was originally dug out in medieval times to provide peat for fuel. In the 14th century, these peat diggings flooded, creating the beautiful waterways we see today.

By the 19th century, the rich boating heritage of these waterways made them an obvious destination for those who enjoyed pleasure boating. Today, the Broads is Britain’s third-largest inland navigation area and their beauty and tranquility attract around eight million visitors every year.

The length of navigable waterways (rivers and broads) covers more than 125 miles (200km) of Norfolk and Suffolk. There are seven rivers, and over 60 broads in the National Park (only 13 are fully navigable) ranging from small pools to vast expanses of water. The largest broads are Hickling Broad, Barton Broad and Oulton Broad.

History and heritage are everywhere; wherries, windmills, boathouses, abbeys and churches.
Rare heritage is protected for everyone to enjoy, with 25 conservation areas, 14 ancient monuments and 270 listed buildings. The Water, Mills and Marshes, Broads Landscape Partnership programme is restoring many of the region’s historic mills and aims to engage local people to make a connection with the landscape, through art, music and writing.

The Norfolk wherry is a unique type of sailing boat which was used as cargo and passenger ships along the waterways as early as the 17th-century. There were three main types of wherry in operation, including trading wherries, pleasure wherries and more refined wherry yachts. By the 1940s, the use of trading wherries had fallen into decline as railways and roads stole their trade. Only eight of these historical boats survive today.
But it’s about far more than protecting our past.

People have shaped this landscape for a very long time past and we are the proud custodians of its future.

With a quarter of the park receiving international designation for its biodiversity, nine national nature reserves and 28 sites of specific scientific interest, conservation of the Broads is hugely significant to the biodiversity of the UK. In fact, it is Britain’s largest protected wetland.

The balance between humans and nature here is a delicate one. The Broads Authority manage the national park, managing people, navigation and conservation sympathetically in this endlessly interconnected place. They work together with partners to ensure that this fragile balance is upheld. All farming, land and water management here must enhance and improve biodiversity, conservation and where possible, improve the landscape’s capacity to store carbon.

One such interconnected relationship exists between reed and sedge cutting and biodiversity conservation. Reed and sedge have been harvested from the Broads fens and used for thatching for centuries. Traditional cutting techniques benefit conservation by cutting in small patches, often avoiding wet areas and leaving tall vegetation standing. Not only is this incredible habitat for plants, insects, birds and mammals but also, it provides sustainable income for reedcutters.

Work to maintain and improve the waterways’ navigable channels through dredging must also conserve and enhance the park’s rich wildlife habitat. Ecological surveys of reptiles, water-voles, riverbank and underwater plants, ensure that every species counts and that rare, endangered wildlife remain protected.

The Broads is also home to a thriving community of people living and working in the area – not to mention the eight million people who visit every year.