
Your Town | Aylsham
Population: 5,504
Nearby Towns: Cromer, North Walsham, Sheringham
Aylsham sits by the River Bure and was once a busy port handling boats carrying grain, coal and timber.
The town was founded around 500AD by an Anglo Saxon called Aegel. The cloth industry was important in its medieval history and Henry VIII granted a Saturday market.
Markets and a busy auction room remain important today, along with tourism – with visitors drawn by the Bure Valley narrow gauge railway and the nearby National Trust stately home of Blickling Hall. The Trust also owns the predominantly Georgian Market Place.
Since 2002 Aylsham has had Cittaslow status, making it part of an elite international group of communities embracing a slower life style, strong community values and where locally-produced food is championed.