Hoveton Little Broad, also known as Black Horse Broad, is a secluded

broad Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to: People * A slang term for a woman. * Broad (surname), a surname Places * Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth * The Broads, a network of mostly na ...

of fairly open aspect, in the middle reaches of the

River Bure The River Bure is a river in the county of Norfolk, England, most of it in the Broads.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . The Bure rises near Melton Constable, upstream of Aylsham, which was the original head of ...

between

Hoveton Hoveton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located within the Norfolk Broads, and immediately across the River Bure from the village of Wroxham. Whilst Hoveton is north of the river, Wroxham is south; but man ...

and Horning,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, in The Norfolk Broads. Privately owned, it was the site of direct action in the mid-20th century by local people hoping to establish the right of free public access to all Broadland waterways.

Situation and access

The broad is closer to Horning than to the village of Hoveton and lies adjacent to the hamlet of Hoveton St John. Inaccessible by road, it is linked to the river by Black Horse Dyke. Another dyke (a narrow waterway) leads from a corner of the broad to the main

- Horning road B1354. Just up hill towards Hoveton formerly stood the Black Horse pub, which gave the broad its alternative name. A waterlogged footpath to the road was used by the

Norfolk wherry The Norfolk wherry is a type of boat used on The Broads in Norfolk and Suffolk, England. Three main types were developed over its life, all featuring the distinctive gaff rig with a single, high-peaked sail and the mast stepped well forward. Dev ...

men as they made their way to the pub. Like

Martham Broad Martham Broad is a national nature reserve north of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and is part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is also part of the Broadland ...

and

Horsey Mere Horsey Mere is one of the Norfolk Broads in the east of England; it is one of the more northerly broads close to the North Sea coast. It is reached by Hickling Broad and the River Thurne. The nearest settlements are Horsey and West Somerton ...

, this broad is closed for navigation in the winter months, to enable the waterbirds to breed. There are no staithes on the shore of the broad for public mooring and no shore based facilities.

Pound End Broad

One end of the broad is partially enclosed by projecting spits of land and known as Pound End Broad. It is a mixed coarse fishery and is closed permanently to watercraft. A bird exclosure was built here in the mid 1990s to protect an area of marginal vegetation, preventing water plants being damaged by

coots Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...

. Keeping the birds out of this area had the incidental effect of creating a fish refuge, heavily used by all the resident species of fish, numbers of which increased compared to fish in the main broad.

'The Invasion of Black Horse Broad', 1949

In the mid-20th century, Hoveton Little Broad played a role in the historical dispute between landowners and the public over rights of access to private broads. Since

time immemorial Time immemorial ( la, Ab immemorabili) is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record". The phrase is used in legally significant contexts as well as ...

, all Broadland waters had been considered part of the King's River and thus freely accessible to all. However, in the 19th century, several Norfolk landowners prevented access to broads in their ownership from the main river network under the

Inclosures Act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...

s. Boatbuilder Herbert Woods led a public campaign against the landowners' action, culminating in the 'invasion of Black Horse Broad' in March 1949. Woods and 30 local men dismantled the barrier that the landowner had placed across Black Horse Dyke. This direct action resulted in an agreement with the broad's owner, who agreed to open the broad to the public each year between Easter and mid-September. However, this campaign did not lead to the re-opening of other closed broads.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.broadsnet.co.uk/riverbure2/ Norfolk Broads