Man who put Norfolk on map

January 11, 2002

Blomefield Road (Rye Avenue) was named after an amazing man — Francis Blomefield, the chap who put Norfolk on the map — against all the odds.

He was a man who had his home ravaged by fire, his precious printing plates stolen and then died from the smallpox before he could finish his work.

Who’s who? This is the photograph, right, which appears on the cover of the programme for an exhibition about Francis Blomefield in Norwich in 1952. But it isn’t him. It is apparently 17th century astronomer John Flamsteed. Apparently he looked so much like Blomefield they put his picture on the History of Norfolk instead. Poor old Blomefield. He never had much luck. So I found a picture of a painting of the real Blomefield… the man who put Norfolk on the map.

Even after his death a picture of another man was put on the cover of his book!

The Rev Francis Blomefield (1705-1752) was described as an historian and topgrapher and it is thanks to him that we know so much about ancient Norfolk.

It is difficult to imagine today what a huge task it was when Blomefield set about compiling the History of Norfolk – a wild and woolly place in those days.

He was born at Fersfield in July 1705 and began his work as the Norfolk topographer before leaving school at Thetford. He went on to Cambridge University and was later ordained but all the time he was taking notes and collecting information about Norfolk.

Once settled back into his rectory at Fersfield in 1729 he devoted all his spare time to research. He sent out circulars containing nearly 80 questions arranged under 20 headings to over 200 people in parishes across the county.

And once the results started to trickle in, he set off on his own rambles across Norfolk gathering information. Just getting from one side of Norfolk to the other in those days was a dangerous and almost impossible task. In fact he wrote to a Mr Beaupre Bell asking for particulars of Emneth, Hacbech, Outwell, Walsoken, Terrington and Eslington as “they lay so much out of my way.”

And when it came to places like Norwich and Great Yarmouth Blomefield spent ages poring over old manuscripts sorting and trying to make sense of mountains of “antique curiosities”.

Between 1720 and 1733 Blomefield spent over £175 on journeys and manuscripts. Then a disastrous fire destroyed many of the items and if that wasn’t bad enough a dishonest engraver ran off with nearly all the plates.

In the end he decided to print himself but it was not until 1739 that the first volume made its appearance. The second, printed in Norwich, was ready in 1745 but Blomefield was still working on the third when he died suddenly of smallpox in 1752.

The work was carried on by the Rev Charles Parkin, Rector of Oxborough, but he was not so accurate or so painstaking — neither had he the opportunity of consulting all Blomefield’s collections, which were dispersed after his death.

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