King Canute gave the village to the abbots of St Benet's Abbey on the River Bure in the Norfolk Broads.

Worsted cloth derives its name from this weaving heritage, although it is no longer manufactured in the village and the last weaver, John Cubitt, died in 1882 at the age of 91.

The parish includes the hamlets of Bengate, Briggate, Lyngate, and Meeting Hill[8] at the north-east, and Withergate just to the north of the village.

Another settlement is along Station Road in the south-west of the parish, with houses, and a food factory which since 2015 has been operated by potato supplier Albert Bartlett.

[citation needed] The North Walsham and Dilham Canal runs along the north-east parish boundary at Briggate.