Landscape

The village lies in the agricultural heart of Norfolk,where large fields are separated by hedges and trees giving distant vistas and lies beneath the wide East Anglian sky The northern part of the parish is part of the central Norfolk plateau land and is mostly given over to arable fields of barley, wheat and sugar beet. At Rockland Mere, now a fishing lake, there is both moist alder and willow wetland and oak woodland. This area is underlain by sands and clays deposited in the Ice Age, and most of the soils are free-draining sands, typical of Brecklands.

In the south the plateau land is cut by small tributary valleys of the River Thet. Here more land is devoted to pasture for cattle and along the southern boundary is an area of woodland.
There are three County Wildlife sites in the village: Rockland Mere; Stratfords Meadow and Blackhill Meadow

Settlements

Rockland All Saints, situated to the south of the B1077,mainly lining The Street, where the main village services are found. Here is the Village store and Post Office, the school, the Village Hall and the Public House. The houses are of varying ages and include some thatched cottages, and the Victorian workhouse opened in1836, and used to house German PoWs during the First World War.It has now been converted to a private house. Further South is the scattered hamlets of Fen Street and Mount Pleasant.

Rockland St Peter, north of the B1077, stretches along Chapel Street, and contains a mixture of old cottages and modern houses and bungalows. At its centre lies Chapel Green,with its pond, and the Methodist Chapel, now converted to a private house.

Churches

All Saints Church has Anglo-Saxon origins,with additions in the 13th and 14th Centuries, and was much restored in the 19th Century. In the Churchyard is the former Day School

St Andrew’s Church. All that remains is a ruined tower, probably dating to the 14th Century

St Peter’s Church with its round flint tower and thatched roof is of Norman origin

Village Life
The village facilities include The Village Shop/Post Office,The Primary School and The White Hart Pub.
The Playing field with its pavilion is used both by cricket and football clubs,which also include youth sections, and has children’s play equipment.
The Village Hall is home to a range of well supported activities catering for all ages and interests – from toddlers to Senior Citizens,and from martial arts to Bingo to flower arranging.

Peacocks
Through the village peacocks may often be seen, the males strutting trailing their long tail feathers and the peahens leading several chicks. They are mostly found in the area around St Peter’s Church