Hello and welcome to North Norfolk Bottles. This website has been put together to try and give collectors and local historians a comprehensive guide to bottles that have been used by Mineral water manufacturers, wine and spirit merchants and brewers in the Victorian and Edwardian Periods.

There will be several different types of bottles and advertising looked at within this website which will include, Ginger Beers, Porters, flagons, pot lids, soda syphons, show cards, cream and meat paste pots, vets bottles and codd's and mineral water bottles. There will also be a brief company history with each image and a history page which will include a more in depth history on selected companies whose items are shown in the galleries and some that are not.

The main area of Norfolk that will be covered within this website is mainly everywhere North of the red line shown on the map. The towns that have items shown within the website are as follows; Aylsham, Bale, Bawdeswell, Brampton, Brinton, Brisley, Briston, Burnham, Corpusty, Cromer, Docking, Downham Market, Dilham, Dunham, East Bilney, East Dereham, East Rudham, Fakenham, Foulsham, Gaywood, Heacham, Holt, Horning, Horstead, Hunstanton, King's Lynn, Lenwade, Letheringsett, Litcham, Ludham, Mattishall, Mileham, North Elmham, North Walsham, Overstrand, Reepham, Roydon, Ryburgh, Saxlingham, Sco' Ruston, Sheringham, Sidestrand, Snettisham, South Creake, Stalham, Stratton Strawless, Swaffham, Taverham, Upwell, Walpole, Watlington, Wells, Wereham, Wormegay, Worstead & Wroxham.

The next East Anglian Antique Bottle Collectors Club Show will be held on Sunday 17th October 2010 at the Connaught Hall, Station road, Atlleborough (see Google map below for directions). Stalls will be priced at £7.50 for Non Members and free to members of the E.A.B.C.C. Early entry will be 8.30 -9.30 with entry costing £1 , but  from 9.30 onwards it is free entry with the show finishing at 12 noon.

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Also available now is the 3rd edition of the East Anglian Pot Lid book by Joan Barrett-Lennard and Graham Evans. The book contains around 200 different pot lids from East Anglia with extensive listings of chemists and druggists from the 1820's to the 1920's. For more information on how to get a copy of this book click on the following link East Anglian Pot Lid Book.

In the ages before mass production and heavy infrastructure nearly every town would have its own drinks manufacturer or dairyman, and they would need bottles to sell their products. Whether they were a wine and spirit merchant, ginger beer, mineral water or soda water manufacturer, porter dealer or dairyman, a glass or stoneware container was essential. In order to get their bottles back or promote their produce they would have their name embossed, etched, printed or impressed onto the bottle. However compared to the rest of the country there is a distinct lack of quality in Norfolk bottles. The poor quality of Norfolk wares probably comes down to there being very poor infrastructure and a largely agricultural community with small populations, few shops and very few retail outlets. The fact that the vast majority of Norfolk's population were from a farming community would mean they would be very unlikely to be able to afford luxury items such as Russian bears grease. The small populations also meant there was few brewers and little competition, so bottles were kept relatively plain with few coloured tops and pictorials on ginger beers, and a very small amount of coloured minerals.

Bottle collecting in Norfolk is mostly dominated by ginger beer bottles, this is mainly due to the above, in there being very little quality in the type of bottles to collect. Apart from Norwich and Great Yarmouth there is also a very small amount of local pot lids. Another reason why Norfolk is big on collecting ginger beers is due to the number of different ones available through digging, car boot sales, antique shops and eBay.

Please contact us with any information or pictures you have. If you have any Norfolk bottles that you would like information about we would be glad to help with any queries. Please contact us by clicking the following link coddsbeck@aol.com

We are always on the lookout to buy Norfolk & Wisbech bottles and related items. So if you have any bottles for sale we would be very interested in them, anything considered, single items or whole collections. Top prices paid and some swaps available . Also if you have bottles which are not for sale and are not shown within this website we would still love to hear from you.  Please contact us by clicking the following link coddsbeck@aol.com.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who have assisted in putting this website together and have helped with images and information, without them this website would not have been possible. Thanks