Acle

Coordinates: 52°38′17″N 1°33′18″E / 52.638°N 1.555°E / 52.638; 1.555

Acle (/ˈeɪkəl/) is a small market town on the River Bure on The Norfolk Broads in Norfolk, located halfway between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. It has the only bridge across the River Bure between Wroxham and Great Yarmouth. There is a high school (Acle Academy) in the town.

The civil parish has an area of 9.46 square kilometres (3.7 sq. miles) and in 2001 had a population of 2732 in 1214 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the area of the district of Broadland.

The name "Acle" means "oaks lea", that is, a clearing in an oak forest. In Tudor times, hundreds of oaks were felled here for timber to construct Elizabeth I's war ships.

History

In Roman times, Acle was a port at the head of a large estuary named Gariensis. Acle is mentioned in the Domesday Book, and in 1253 it was granted a market charter. The livestock and local farmers' market persisted into the 1970s, as did a nearby auction site; the latter is now a new housing estate and the former is part-occupied by a branch of Budgens, with the other part remaining a market, although essentially for tourist purposes: no livestock is now bought or sold there. In 1382, Acle received the right for a "turbary", that is, the right to dig peat. Acle still has a boatyard and Boat Dyke and walks along the Bure to Upton and beyond are possible.