Sutton Staithe Hotel rests overlooking the River Ant in the heart of the beautiful national park that is the “Norfolk Broads”, the largest protected wetland in the United Kingdom. One hundred and twenty miles of waterways, grazing marshes, fen and woodland are also habitat to some of the rarest plants and creatures in England and have inspired generations to visit, photograph and document its wonder. Without question the best way to explore and best appreciate is by boat. Boat hire is available from within half of a mile of the Hotel and for your information on the links page we have listed companies that provide boats, day trips and excursions.

The story of the broads begins in the middle ages. By the 12th Century, much of East Norfolk had been cleared of its woodland for fuel and building materials. The following 350 years peat digging (or turf cutting) was a major industry. Historical records show that the pits gradually began to fill with water, making the turves of peat more difficult to extract. Peat diggings were abandoned by the 14th century. They flooded, and this partly man-made landscape became a wetland, rich in wildlife. The early economy of the Broads area, like the rest of Norfolk, centred on farming. Some parishes in the Broads reaped the rewards of the highly profitable wool trade, but many inhabitants led a hand-to-mouth existence, selling their crops and their services according to the season.

Marshmen living in the wetter lowland river valleys of the Broads developed a way of life which exploited the natural riches of the landscape. They tended cattle on the marshes, cut reed, sedge, marsh hay and litter, maintained dykes and drainage mills, and reaped a healthy harvest of fish and wildfowl to sell at local markets, as well as supplying their own needs The waterways were essential for communications and commerce. In the 16th century Norwich was the second largest city in England after London, its wealth founded on wool, weaving, fisheries, agriculture and general trade.

Goods from the city were exported world-wide through Great Yarmouth. The earliest trading vessels on the waterways of the Broads were keels, with their square sails and long hulls. They were the forerunners of the Norfolk wherries which have become synonymous with the Broads. For over 200 years wherries worked throughout the Broads, supplying rural villages with goods, as well as carrying imports and exports to and from the coast.

Wherrymen swept the holds of their wherries and slung hammocks to cater for their new type of cargo. Eventually special pleasure wherries and wherry yachts were built as floating holiday homes, gradually superseding the black-sailed trading wherry, which by the Second World War was becoming a rare sight. Today, it is still possible to experience the thrill of sailing aboard one of these magnificent craft on the Broads Authority's annual Wherry Tour. Commercial cargo traffic was at its height on the Broads in the 19th century. The 20th century brought an explosion in this new commerce, based on recreation. The pioneer of the boat hiring business, John Loynes, founded his business in 1878. Other firms soon followed his example and in 1908 H. Blake & CO was founded, to handle bookings on an agency basis for a number of firms. By this time the railways were established in Norfolk, and what they had taken away in commercial cargoes they made up for in the number of visitors they brought to the area.

For the first time the Broads was within the reach of thousands of ordinary day-trippers and holidaymakers. With the exception of the war years, each season saw a steady growth in the boat hire industry with a gradual shift from sailing to motor cruisers, which visitors needed no prior experience to drive. In the 1950s, with the increase in paid holidays and car ownership, many flocked to the Broads. The history of the Broads is marked by its links with humanity. A man-made landscape to start with, it has provided a source of sustenance and fascination for centuries.