In The Hippopotamus - the central character
Edward Wallace stays with Lord Logan on his estate in
Norfolk. Fry's autobiography Moab Is My Washpot
(2000) deals intimately with his years in Norfolk before
attending Cambridge University.While filming the ITV
series
Kingdom (which
was shot on location at Swaffham
and Wells-next-the-Sea) Fry used
to stay at his house in West Bilney.
West Bilney also has another fascinating literary link
- for it was here that the Norfolk poacher Fred Rolfe
worked as a gamekeeper. According to research by
Charlotte Paton, who has written a book on Rolfe called
The King of the Norfolk Poachers: His Life and Times,
he lived in the cottage on the West Bilney estate.

Fred Rolfe: King of the
Norfolk Poachers
Rolfe was born
at nearby Pentney, but spent his final years at Bungay where his
memoir I Walked By Night came to the attention of Lilias Rider Haggard.
Lilias received a 'dog-eared' manuscript from a farmer's
wife but quickly realised its significance in terms of
Norfolk country lore.
Rolfe was frequently imprisoned but remained
unrepentant about his activities:
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