This article is about the landscape. For the district, see Breckland District.
Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.[1][2] The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation.[3][4] As a landscape region it is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that lies mostly in the south of the county of Norfolk but also in the north of Suffolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna, it lies to the east of another unusual habitat, the Fens, and to the south west of the Broads. The typical tree of this area is the Scots pine. Breckland is one of the driest areas in England.
The area of Breckland has been substantially reduced in the twentieth century by the impact of modern farming and the creation in 1914 of Thetford Forest. However substantial areas have been preserved, not least by the presence of the British Army on the Stanford Battle Area.
During the Prehistoric period Breckland was mined for flint, evidence for which can be found at Grimes Graves just outside Thetford in Norfolk. The word 'Breck' is medieval and was defined as being an area of heathland broken up for cultivation before being allowed to retreat back into wilderness. Up until 200 years ago, much of it consisted of open heathland.
The Brecks today are a tourist attraction as well as an area of scientific and geographical interest.
The Breckland landscape region has given its name to Breckland District, a local government district that contains most of Norfolk's portion of the Breckland. Part of West Suffolk district cover the Suffolk portion.
The Great Eastern Pingo Trail is 8 miles of tracks and paths exploring the eastern edge of the Breckland area. The trail takes in the commons at the villages of Thompson and Stow Bedon, and heathland at Breckles and Great Hockham. Thompson Water, an artificial lake, and the woodland at Thompson Carr also form part of the walk. The name of the trail comes from the former Great Eastern Railway and the large number of pingo ponds found in the area. Pingo ponds or kettle lakes are formed from collapsed mound of earth-covered ice, called pingos, formed when the ice-sheets retreated.[5] The trail may be accessed as a detour from the Peddars Way long-distance footpath.[6] It is a Local Nature Reserve.[7][8]
^"Designated Sites View: Breckland". Special Protection Area. Natural England. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
^"Special Protection Areas under the EC Birds Directive. Breckland" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
^"Breckland". Special Areas of Conservation. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
^"Designated Sites View: Breckland". Special Area of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
^"Ponds and pingos". Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
^Kelly, Tony (28 September 1997). "Take a walk on the Wildlife side..." Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
^"Great Eastern Pingo Trail". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
^"Map of Great Eastern Pingo Trail". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds...
Breckland is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Dereham, although the largest town is Thetford. The district also...
Thymus serpyllum, known by the common names of Breckland thyme, Breckland wild thyme, wild thyme, creeping thyme, or elfin thyme, is a species of flowering...
The Breckland Beira is a sports car launched in June 2008 at the London Motorexpo, developed by the British company Breckland Technologies based in Dereham...
Breckland Farmland is a 13,392.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk and...
Breckland Forest is an 18,126 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk...
The Breckland line is a secondary railway line in the east of England that links Cambridge in the west to Norwich in the east. The line runs through three...
The 2023 Breckland District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Breckland District Council in England. This was on the same day...
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east...
Result of Poll - Election of a County Councillor for Attleborough" (PDF). breckland.gov.uk. Norfolk County Council. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2024. "Declaration...
Breckland District Council in Norfolk, England, is elected every four years. 1973 Breckland District Council election 1976 Breckland District Council election...
G2X Tauro Sport Auto V8 Spider Concept vehicles based on this platform: Breckland Beira Chevrolet Nomad Saturn Curve Saab Sonnett Vauxhall VX Lightning...
and North East Somerset Bolsover Boston Bournemouth Bradford Braintree Breckland Brentwood Brighton and Hove Bristol Broadland Calderdale Cambridge Camden...
Council the county is divided into seven second tier district councils: Breckland District, Broadland District, Great Yarmouth Borough, King's Lynn and...
Common names include field wormwood, beach wormwood, northern wormwood, Breckland wormwood, boreal wormwood, Canadian wormwood, field sagewort and field...
once again from North Norfolk. Mid Norfolk now comprised the District of Breckland wards in the previous version of the constituency with additional wards...
D 963 and Re Portuguese Consolidated Copper Mines (1889) 42 Ch D 160 Breckland Group Holdings Ltd v London and Suffolk Properties [1989] BCLC 100 Percival...
Trains run to King's Lynn and Ely (via the Fen Line), Norwich (via the Breckland Line), Leicester, Birmingham New Street, Peterborough, Stevenage, Ipswich...
Conservative Life peer Director of Fortress Holdings Baroness Howarth of Breckland 25 June 2001 Crossbench Life peer Chair of the Children and Family Court...
Swaffham (/ˈswɒfəm/) is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated 12 miles (19 kilometres)...
purple in its presence. It is corrosive and an environmental hazard. "Schultze's Solution - 100ml". Breckland Scientific. Retrieved 1 July 2020. v t e...
Falseuncaria degreyana, the Breckland conch, is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in China (Xinjiang), Mongolia, Russia and most...