Tharston Past

The River Yare rises south of Dereham close to the village of Shipdham. It flows in an eastward direction passing Barnham Broom and is joined by the River Tiffey before reaching Bawburgh. It skirts the southern fringes of the city of Norwich, passing through Colney, Cringleford, Lakenham and Trowse. At Whitlingham it is joined by the River Wensum, which flows through the centre of the city, before flowing eastward into The Broads, passing the villages of Bramerton, Surlingham, Rockland St. Mary and Cantley. Just before Reedham at Hardley Cross it is joined by the River Chet. The cross marks the ancient boundary between the City of Norwich and Borough of Great Yarmouth. At Reedham the Haddiscoe Cut, a canal which provides a direct navigable link to the River Waveney at Haddiscoe avoiding Breydon Water, joins the river. Beyond Reedham the river passes the famously isolated marshland settlement of Berney Arms before entering the tidal lake of Breydon Water. Here the Yare is joined by the Rivers Bure and Waveney and finally flows into the North Sea at Gorleston. The river was navigable to coastal vessels from Norwich to the sea, and in former times carried significant commercial traffic.

Below is information on some of the places the river passes though:

Whitlingham is a small churchless parish on the south bank of the River Yare, reached from Trowse along Whitlingham Lane. The Great Broad at Whitlingham Park has been created through the process of gravel extraction. An Outdoor Education Centre has now been built on the south bank of the Great Broad ‘offering a wide range of land and water based activities’, see Whitlingham Outdoor Education Centre. Construction of the Whitlingham Outdoor Education Centre was funded by the National Lottery and Sport England and the centre is run by Norfolk County Council. Situated at the lower end of the country park, this area has a history of mining, including flint-knapping from 4000BC, up to the 18th century. Archaeologists have found a number of artefacts in this area, including humanly struck flint flakes and part of a chipped flint axe-head from the Neolithic period, along with an iron-stained flint blade dating back to the Paleolithic period (500000 BC to 10001 BC). More...

Bramerton is centred along The Street, around St. Peter's Church and still has a pub, the Woods End, which lies on the south bank of the River Yare to the north of the village centre, in the hamlet of Woods End. There has been an inn on the site since before 1700. In Victorian times the inn possessed tea rooms and gardens popular with river-borne day-trippers from Norwich. The Woods End is still a popular spot for the mooring of pleasure craft and is also one of the few places on the Norfolk Broads where water skiing is allowed. More...

Surlingham. Only seven miles from the centre of Norwich, Surlingham is relatively unkown; lying, as it does, in a huge horseshoe bend of the river Yare, and few pass through the village on their way elsewhere. It has seen changes over the last fifty years but these have been limited compared with other villages within a similar radius of the city of Norwich. Those returning to the village after such an absence will still find their way around quite easily. The Church still stands out boldy, as it has always done, but the parson is one of a group of priests that serves eleven parishes and he no longer lives in the vicarage. More...

Coldham Hall. The village of Surlingham has two pubs, both in the north of the village on the bank of the river: Coldham Hall Tavern and The Ferry House Inn. Coldham Hall Sailing Club which was founded in 1951 is situated in the grounds of Coldham Hall Tavern. It opened its new clubhouse on 26 April 2003.

Rockland St. Mary. In medieval times Norwich was noted for its black-glazed roofing tiles which were made in Rockland and transported by river from the staithe. Although all trace of the tile-making industry has gone Rockland Staithe still exists, providing mooring for pleasure craft opposite The New Inn at the east end of the village. It leads to Rockland Broad which is itself linked to the River Yare by two dykes: the Short Dyke and the Fleet Dyke. More...

Carleton St. Peter. The parish extends to include the Beauchamp Arms public house on the south bank of the River Yare and the nearby Buckenham Sailing Club. These lie at the end of Ferry Road although the ferry across to Buckenham on the north bank stopped running before World War II. More...

Cantley is within the Broads Special Protection Area. The village lies on the north bank of the River Yare. It is well known for its sugar beet factory, the first sugar beet processing factory in the UK, constructed in 1912. It is now owned by British Sugar. It is one of only four factories responsible for processing all of the UK's sugar beet crop. In 2008-09 the factory featured in the local press regarding a planning application to expand the site to allow it to produce cane sugar from raw materials sourced from developing countries. The factory also supports the local community with many projects, most recently providing part funding for the reconstruction of the village staithe and moorings on the river Yare. More...

The River Chet joins the River Yare upstream of Reedham

Reedham Ferry is a vehicular chain ferry across the River Yares. The ferry crosses the river near the village of Reedham and is the only crossing of the Yare between the bridge carrying the A47 on the eastern outskirts of Norwich and Great Yarmouth, saving users a journey of over 30 miles. The ferry is also the only remaining vehicle ferry in Norfolk. The current ferryboat was built in 1983 and can carry 3 cars at a time. Reedham Ferry is also the name of an inn standing adjacent to the ferry on the northern bank. More...

Reedham is a village situated on the north bank of the River Yare. The Romans had a settlement there, and King Edmund of East Anglia is said to have lived here. The parish includes a significant area of nearby marshland, together with the famously isolated settlement of Berney Arms More...