Introduction

Cawston is a large village in Norfolk, eleven miles north-west of Norwich and a little further than that from the coast. The occupation of the people has been traditionally connected with agriculture, but also with the woollen industry after the Middle Ages.
The 20th century has brought many changes, and now a wide variety of work is done. Many people are employed in and around Norwich, travelling by car or "service bus". The railway service closed down in the 1950s.

The village shopkeepers and tradesmen make adequate provision for the parishioners and there are a number of organisations catering for the cultural and social life. This is headed by a lively Parish Council. They include the Village Hall, Women's Institute, the football and bowls clubs as well as others. Only two of the numerous Inns of the last century still exist, namely The Bell in the High Street and The Ratcatchers in Eastgate. The population of Cawston was recorded as 1,437 in the 1991 Census.
The primary school was opened in 1871 and new school buildings erected in 1953 for Infants and Juniors, the older children attending Reepham High School three miles away. Cawston College opened in 1964 at Cawston Manor, but closed in 1999.

During the 20th Century many new houses have replaced the old dwellings and employment has received a boost with the opening of the C.W.E. (Continental Wine Experts) and Broadland Winery in Chapel Street and also the Bernard Matthews turkey processing plant a few miles away in Great Witchingham.

An ancient road crossed the parish, running west from the coast, and near its course much evidence of Cawston's past has been discovered, including stone and bronze age axe heads, Roman pottery and coins, and some Saxon relics. Weaving came to an end in Cawston with the Industrial Revolution and smuggling was rife at that time.

The Domesday Book (1189) describes the Manor as "A large manor with a wood to feed 1,500 hogs".

Thanks to John Kett for his contribution to the above article. (May 1993)