Landscape
The Broads' distinctive low-lying, wetland landscape is unique. Artists and photographers have long been inspired by the play of light on open water and the vast skies. Many of the scenes recorded by painters in the 19th century remain essentially unaltered today. Wind pumps, church towers, carr woodland and the white sails of boats on the rivers are still striking vertical features in an otherwise horizontal world.
The Broads landscape has always been linked with the working and living patterns of its human populations. Today people come to enjoy the area; in the past inhabitants lived off its natural resources. Rivers and broads were a source of fish, and the wildfowl they attracted were fair game. Reed-beds provided reed and sedge for thatching, the grazing marshes fodder for cattle and the waterways transport routes for goods.
The built environment is also an important part of the Broads heritage. Buildings in the Broads, like the natural environment, reflect the changing pattern of living and working down the centuries. There are open landscapes in which the only buildings are a marshman's cottage or the derelict remains of a drainage mill. On some riverbanks there are characteristic timber-framed chalets. Buildings connected with riverside trade, or management of the marshes and surrounding areas, are strongly influenced in their design by their functions and waterside locations. This has led to a range of buildings such as boat sheds, wind pumps and riverside houses, with a specific Broads character.
Villages and riverside settlements also contribute to the Broads landscape. They are often grouped around the parish staithe, riverside common, ferry or bridge, and this basic pattern can still be seen in villages which have remained relatively undeveloped. On the surrounding 'uplands' there are churches and houses built from local materials.
Each of the river valleys in the Broads has a different feel about it, which comes from the width of the valley, the different landscapes and different land uses. There is something for everyone in the Broads from intimate wooded rivers such as the upper reaches of the Bure, to the open vistas and sense of wildness on Halvergate Marshes, and the quiet, meandering waterways of the Waveney.
