East Anglia – A Historian’s Paradise - June 17, 2008 -

Named after East Angles, one of the ancient kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, East Anglia is a peninsula in eastern England. Anglia itself derives its name from Angeln, the homeland of the Angles in North Germany. The region encompassed the dukedoms of Norfolk and Suffolk (probable derivations of ‘North Folk’ and ‘South Folk’). The boundaries, however, are not clearly demarcated. Along with Norfolk and Suffolk, it also includes the province of Cambridgeshire, now perhaps the world’s most exotic academic locale. Earlier, Essex was also considered a part of East Anglia. Primarily flat, the area, however, is by no mean topographically uniform. It has marshlands and fen forests and much of the area around Norfolk is hilly. Brit playwright Noel Coward, noted for his Ealing comedies, delivers a fine allusion to the flatness of the terrain in his play Private Lives. “Very flat, Norfolk” — is the famous line. The primary cities and towns of East Anglia are Norwich, Peterborough, Cambridge, Ipswich, Colchester, Huntingdon and Ely.

Full article: http://www.castleacre.net/pages/east-anglia.html