I. INTRODUCTION. 



THE market-town of HARLESTON, the centre of the Botanical 

 District described in the following pages, is situated in lat. 

 52 24' N., and long. 1 18' E., about nineteen miles due south 

 of the city of Norwich and eighteen miles due west of the 

 coast-line, on the southern border of the county of Norfolk. 

 It is supposed to owe its origin to Herolf the Dane, who, at 

 the beginning of the eleventh century, obtained a grant of the 

 narrow strip of land on which the middle row of houses is now 

 built. The large stone near the Reading-room, popularly 

 known as Herolf's Stone, is only one of the many boulders 

 incidental to the geological nature of the district, though its 

 opportune presence may have suggested its use as a landmark. 

 In the area embraced by the six-mile circle, which is taken as 

 a convenient limit of observation, there are fifty-five village 

 parishes and parts of parishes, thirty- two being in Norfolk and 

 twenty-three in Suffolk, with a total population of over 23,000 

 inhabitants, of which about 1,500 are concentrated in or near 

 the central town. 



A. LOCAL FEATURES. 



The country around Harleston is undulating, with occa- 

 sional woodlands, and wholly devoted to agriculture. The 

 highest points attained above the sea are in Norfolk, on the 

 lands between Shelton and Starston over Pulham North 

 Green to Wacton Common (195 ft.), and in Suffolk, between 

 Stradbrook and St. James', South Elmham, where the ground 

 rises to 186 ft. From these points there are ever-varying 

 gradations until the low level of the marshes, which bisect the 

 district, is reached, where to the west the elevation is 67ft., 

 and to the east only 25 ft. 



A mention of the height above the sea of some of the more 

 prominent places will not be without interest to those who are 

 familiar with the locality. As given by the Ordnance Survey 

 of 1884, they are as follows, with the omission in a few cases 

 of fractional parts: Harleston Market Place, 91 ft. ; Redenhall 

 Church, 89 ft. ; Wortwell Green, 50 ft. ; Alburgh Church. 



