500,000 years ago

Flint tools found at High Lodge, Mildenhall. Early humans knapped scrapers and hand axes besides a river. This is one of the earliest known sites of human activity in Britain.

6000 - 4500 years ago

Neolithic farmers clear trees from light sandy soils and heaths formed. Settlement comes early to the Brecks because of the easily cultivated light soils.

5000 years ago

Flint mining complex established at Grimes Graves, where quality black flint is extracted for making tools, such as axes for clearing the forests. Today one of the pits is open to visitors.

4000 years ago

Bronze Age people bury their dead in round barrows. Good examples can be seen today at Knettishall Heath Country Park.

2500 – 1600 years ago

Iceni defences, Roman settlement sites and the Peddars Way are constructed.

During the late Iron Age the Brecks becomes a major centre of the Celtic tribe of the Iceni, until the suppression of Boudica’s revolt by the Romans around 20 years after the invasion of AD43.

The Brecks continues to be quite densely settled.

AD c410 – 1066

Angles from southern Scandinavia settle in the Brecks and establish the present day towns and villages including the town of Thetford . By late Saxon times Thetford is one of the biggest towns in England. A small village from this period has been excavated at West Stow and reconstructed for visitors to see.

AD 890s

Vikings raid the area.

13 th Century

Rabbits are introduced and farmed in warrens, established on the heaths. The rabbit is a relatively new introduction from the continent, and does well in the Brecks, burrowing freely in the light sandy soil.

Vast areas of open heath are used as grazing lands or ‘sheepwalks’ for the local Norfolk Horn breed.

14 th Century

Some settlements and agricultural land are deserted following outbreaks of plague and drastic population decline. Areas of heath and warren expand.

17 th and 18 th Centuries

Much land amalgamated into large estates, because land is cheap. Traditional Brecks landscapes start to change through tree planting, enclosing open arable land, heathland reclamation, and the building of mansions with elaborate gardens and parks.

18 th and 19 th Centuries

Agricultural revolution – much land is enclosed and heath ploughed. By the 19 th Century Scots pine lines or ‘Deal rows’ are common as enclosure boundaries.

Later 19 th Century

Agricultural depression causes heathland area to expand again.

1920s and 1930s

Forestry Commission acquires land in the Brecks. Large plantations established - mainly Scots pine. Labour camps were set up interning ‘soft and ….demoralised’ unemployed workers, many from the north of England.

1940s

Land acquired for defence – Stanford Training Area and airfields established. Influx of military personnel and families, continuing to present day.

1950s onwards

New agricultural revolution introduces irrigation for grain and vegetables, and leads to reclaiming of large areas of heathland.

1950s and 1960s

Population growth as Thetford becomes one of the earliest London overspill towns.

Late 20 th and 21 st Centuries

New attitudes towards recreation and conservation influence the landscape. Landscape heritage of the Brecks begins to be more widely valued. The needs of conservation and recreation become increasingly important.