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East Anglia




East Anglia is a region of eastern England , named after one of the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, which was named after the homeland of the Angles, Angeln in northern Germany . The kingdom consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk but the region's boundaries are vague. It includes the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, with part or all of the pre- April 1 1974 Cambridgeshire . Some people include Essex - sometimes only the northern part thereof - and a small part of southern Lincolnshire bordering The Wash . Some of the area is characterised by its flatness, consisting of Fen land and reclaimed Marshland , though much of Suffolk comprises gently rolling hills. East Anglia forms part of the East Of England Administrative Region .

Arable Farming and Horticulture have proven very successful in this fertile country. The landscape has been heavily influenced by Dutch technology, from the influx of Clay Pantiles to the draining of the fens. It has a wide range of small-scale holiday destinations ranging from traditional coastal resorts, through historic towns such as Bury St Edmunds , Cambridge and Ely to the modern holiday villas of Center Parcs set in Thetford Forest. The Royal Air Force constructed many Airfield s during World War II and a few of these remain in use. One, near Norwich , has become Norwich International Airport , a civilian airfield to serve the city.

The Norfolk Broads , now part of The Broads National Park , form a network of Waterway s between Norwich and the coast and are popular for recreational boating.

The University Of East Anglia lies a few miles west of Norwich . Norwich is the largest city in East Anglia, but the East of England regional assembly is based in Bury St. Edmunds , Suffolk .


HISTORY

The ''Kingdom of the East Angles'', formed about the year ns three times, and it continued to weaken relative to the other kingdoms until in 794 , Offa Of Mercia had its king Aethelbert killed and took control of the kingdom himself.

The independence of the East Anglians was restored by a successful rebellion against Mercia ( 825 - 827 ), in course of which two Mercian kings were killed attempting to crush it. On November 20 , 870 the Danes killed King Edmund and took the Kingdom, which they named East Anglia (see Ivar The Boneless ). The Saxons retook the area in 920 , only to lose it again in 1015 - 1017 , when it was conquered by Canute The Great and given as a Fiefdom in 1017 to Thorkel The High .

Much of East Anglia (including parts of Cambridgeshire , Lincolnshire , west Norfolk , and Suffolk ), consisted of Marshland and Bogs until the 17th century despite the construction of early sea barriers by the Roman Empire . During the 17th century the Alluvial land was converted into Arable land by means of systematic drainage using a collection of drains and river diversions.


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