THE ORIGIN OF THE NORFOLK BROADS

"It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."

 "A Scandal in Bohemia." Conan Doyle

Clifford Smith interpreted small samples of evidence to demonstrate the "subsequent flooding" of "great peat pits" at the following specific locations:

Burntfen Broad                              (The "transition" evidence)

Turkey Broad                                 (  "            "             "         )

Barton Broad - southern half          (  "            "             "         )

Ormesby Broad 

South Walsham Broad 

Hoveton Little Broad                     (The Mystery of the Abbot's Boat)

Barton Broad - northern half          (Dydays, Laggying etc.)

Access any of these sub-sections to review the evidence in detail. Visit or revisit Smith's interpretations as he charted a path which has become well worn by all those content to follow him without question.

• Does this evidence really prove that the basins of the Norfolk Broads became flooded in the fourteenth century?
• Is the evidence capable of bearing a different interpretation?
• Should it be interpreted differently?

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