Breckland

Local Authority District in England

Norfolk, East of England

§ This page gives an overview of the Breckland local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.

Overview ⁞ Breckland in Norfolk is a large rural district characterised by heathland, pine forests, and scattered market towns. The Thetford Forest, one of the largest man-made forests in the UK, dominates the landscape, offering outdoor recreation and nature habitats. Market towns like Thetford, Dereham, Swaffham, and Attleborough provide historic centres with medieval churches and traditional markets. The Brecks, with sandy soils, heath, and rare wildlife, give the district its unique geography, while wide open skies and agricultural fields shape its rural atmosphere.

The administrative boundary of Breckland can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of Breckland.

Map of Breckland — Administrative Boundary of Breckland (Local Authority District)

Key Facts about Breckland

What region is Breckland in? Breckland is in the East of England of England, a region within the UK.

What county is Breckland in? Breckland is located in the county of Norfolk.

Is Breckland a city? No, Breckland is not a city. (Note: the UK has 76 officially designated cities.)

Who governs Breckland? The local authority for this district is: Breckland District Council - responsible for district-level services. Since Norfolk is a two-tier area, county-level services are handled by: Norfolk County Council.

▶ Official website of Breckland District Council 🔗 breckland.gov.uk

Which police force covers Breckland? Policing in Breckland is provided by Norfolk Constabulary 🔗 norfolk.police.uk, which serves 7 local authority districts: Breckland ⁞ Broadland ⁞ Great Yarmouth ⁞ King's Lynn and West Norfolk ⁞ North Norfolk ⁞ Norwich ⁞ South Norfolk.

Breckland in International Geographies

In the International Territorial Levels (ITLs) hierarchy, Breckland is within an ITLs Level 3 area:

(ITL 1) East of England
(ITL 2) ⇒ Norfolk
(ITL 3) ⇒⇒ Breckland and South Norfolk

The International Territorial Levels are used by OECD member countries for statistical purposes to classify administrative areas. We have this listable page for easy browsing of ITL names and codes: International Territorial Levels.

This district page, Breckland, is a sub-page of this county page: Norfolk and this region page: East of England. It zooms in to local authorities and parliamentary constituencies, and provides a list of wards in this district. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK local authority districts: List of Local Authority Districts.

Constituencies in Breckland

A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.

Wards in Breckland

Breckland is divided into 27 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.

All Saints & Wayland
Ashill
Attleborough Burgh & Haverscroft
Attleborough Queens & Besthorpe
Bedingfeld
Dereham Neatherd
Dereham Toftwood
Dereham Withburga
Forest
Guiltcross
Harling & Heathlands
Hermitage
Launditch
Lincoln
Mattishall
Nar Valley
Necton
Saham Toney
Shipdham-with-Scarning
Swaffham
The Buckenhams & Banham
Thetford Boudica
Thetford Burrell
Thetford Castle
Thetford Priory
Upper Wensum
Watton

In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.

Parishes in Breckland

Breckland is fully parished: 113 civil parishes, listed A-Z below.

Ashill
Attleborough
Banham
Bawdeswell
Beachamwell
Beeston with Bittering
Beetley
Besthorpe
Billingford
Bintree
Blo' Norton
Bradenham
Brettenham
Bridgham
Brisley
Bylaugh
Carbrooke
Caston
Cockley Cley
Colkirk
Cranwich
Cranworth
Croxton
Dereham
Didlington
East Tuddenham
Elsing
Foulden
Foxley
Fransham
Garboldisham
Garvestone, Reymerston and Thuxton
Gateley
Gooderstone
Great Cressingham
Great Dunham
Great Ellingham
Gressenhall
Griston
Guist
Hardingham
Harling
Hilborough
Hockering
Hockham
Hoe and Worthing
Holme Hale
Horningtoft
Ickburgh
Kempstone
Kenninghall
Kilverstone
Lexham
Litcham
Little Cressingham
Little Dunham
Little Ellingham
Longham
Lynford
Lyng
Mattishall
Merton
Mileham
Mundford
Narborough
Narford
Necton
New Buckenham
Newton by Castle Acre
North Elmham
North Lopham
North Pickenham
North Tuddenham
Old Buckenham
Ovington
Oxborough
Quidenham
Riddlesworth
Rocklands
Roudham and Larling
Rougham
Saham Toney
Scarning
Scoulton
Shipdham
Shropham
Snetterton
South Acre
South Lopham
South Pickenham
Sparham
Sporle with Palgrave
Stanfield
Stanford
Stow Bedon and Breckles
Sturston
Swaffham
Swanton Morley
Thetford
Thompson
Tittleshall
Tottington
Twyford
Watton
Weasenham All Saints
Weasenham St. Peter
Weeting-with-Broomhill
Wellingham
Wendling
Whinburgh and Westfield
Whissonsett
Wretham
Yaxham

A civil parish is the lowest tier of local government in England, used for villages, small towns, and suburbs. They have their own local authority, either a parish council or a parish meeting, which provides local services like managing parks, allotments, and streetlights, and represents the community's views to larger councils.

Built-up Areas in Breckland

Breckland covers 60 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.

Ashill
Attleborough
Banham
Bawdeswell
Beachamwell
Beeston (Breckland)
Beetley
Besthorpe
Bradenham
Brandon (West Suffolk) *
Carbrooke
Caston
Clint Green
Colkirk
Dereham
East Harling
Eccles Road
Foulden
Foxley
Garboldisham
Garvestone
Gooderstone
Great Ellingham
Great Hockham
Gressenhall
Griston
Harling Road
Hockering
Ickburgh
Kenninghall
Letton Green
Litcham
Lyng
Marham *
Mattishall *
Mileham
Morley St Peter *
Mundford
Narborough *
Necton
North Elmham
North Lopham
North Pickenham
Old Buckenham
Rockland All Saints
Saham Toney
Shipdham
Shropham
South Lopham
Sporle
Swaffham
Swanton Morley
Thetford
Thompson
Watton
Weeting
Weston Green *
Whissonsett
Workhouse Common
Yaxham

In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of Breckland.)

Breckland compared with other districts in the UK

This section shows how Breckland compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.

Breckland has 27 electoral wards.

Breckland compared with other districts — ▮ Smaller: 264 ▮ Similar: 28 ▮ Larger: 69 (compared with 361 districts)

Breckland has a population of 146,620 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)

Population of Breckland compared with other districts — Population of Breckland, compared with other districts in England and Wales

More local statistics and data for Breckland can be found on the ONS statistics for Breckland.