Mulbarton 

The principal landmark of Mulbarton is an open area of land - the Common - which is set within a triangle of three roads.

Mulbarton is an expanding village but one which retains its rural character. A move to enclose the common in 1865 met with opposition and development is still very much restricted. In earlier days the Common would have been vital tot he community as a place to graze cattle and keep them from the surrounding open fields.

Mulbarton features as "Moklebartuna" in the Domesday Book and probably means an outlying dairy farm. The old heart of the village is at the north end of the common, nearest to Norwich. The parish church of St Mary Magdalene with its huge flint tower and nearby red brick tithe barn are splendid at night when floodlit. There is evidence that a Saxon church existed at the time of Edward the Confessor and served as the parish church until the present building was founded by Thomas St Omer, lord of the manor in the 13th century. It is said that he built the church as a penance for hanging a man from East Carlton , who was later proved innocent.

Thomas St Omer is commemorated on the parish sign at the north end of the common. Also depicted is Sir Edwin Rich who was a benefactor of the village and whose charity is still administered today.

The manor house is close to the church. Called the Old Hall, it is a 16th century building, but even older houses have stood on the moated site. Nearby is the pond, the Worlds End Pub and the Mill House where a windmill stood until the 1930s. In the 1860s the Post Office directory listed a number of local trades including: millers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, butchers, maltsters, cobblers, tailors, plumbers and carpenters.

Today the fields south of the common have become modern housing estates. To the east of the common farmland has been developed to provide a village hall, scout hut and football ground.