It is believed that the Inn dates back to the 1600'eds though may well be earlier than that. There are records that only go back as far as 1735, when at that time the village boasted five pubs, two farriers, a shoemaker, slaughter house, barber and several other small businesses.

It is more than probable that the Lady of the house ran most of the pubs as the majority of the men, certainly in this area, were out on the land tending crops. Most did not open during the day; they waited for the men-folk to come home and serve them ale from stone jugs. From the records of that year, it is known that the broads had joined together to form what is still apparent today with the interconnections of the rivers and the broads themselves.

The Staithe down at Hickling Broad had moorings for two Wherry's that would bring in coal and other supplies, taking away crops of grain, sugar beet and other vegetable items grown in the area. One of today's main crops, that of potatoes, was not introduced for another 150 or so years onwards. It is also known that the village was beginning to expand at that time, so that small cottages were being built that eventually brought all five areas of Hickling together.

'Hickling Town', was centred around the Church. 'Hickling Green', around the village sign area. 'Hickling Heath' was an area near to where the 'four cross ways' is now. 'Hickling Staithe', around the staithe area. 'Hickling Stubb', down towards Willow Farm and beyond down to Stubb Mill.

There were several mills in the Parish, the majority housed pumps to move water away from the low lying areas. However, the Mill in the Heath area was a grain mill. The mill owners house is a large thatched house to the northern side of the mill, with a workers cottage to the side of it. Horses played a huge role in this area, hence the number of farriers that there were. The records show two, but it is believed that there might have been at least one, if not two others in the village.

One person in the village spent his entire working life on a farm on the outskirts of the village, with horses. He has recently passed away, but many a tale (or should that be tail) was told of his days in the fields when ploughing an acre of heavy ground could take the best part of a day, and a change of horses as well!!! Not so today with the modern tractor.

Hickling in the modern era, has played host to numerous films, or parts of them. 'The Go Between' had a swimming scene in it that was filmed on the edge of Hickling Broad. More recently a film called 'The Three Bears' was completed in Hickling, using part of the nature reserve, the lanes around the village, and outside of the Greyhound Inn.

On our ‘door step’ is a Nature Reserve that was created some years ago to preserve the natural area and habitat within its 1200 acres or so. Home to the rare Bitten and also to Cranes, Owls, Kites, Harriers and the like, the whole of the area attracts bird watchers, not just in the migratory seasons but all year round, as well as naturalists and Butterfly watchers, especially the large numbers of Swallow Tailed and the varied colours of the large Dragon flies that are encouraged to breed in the area.

More recently, a short film was made all round the Broads area, also featuring Hickling of course, and presented by Nicholas Crane, the senior presenter of the extremely popular ‘Coast’ series, amongst other natural areas of the British Isles, also hosted by him. Commissioned by the Broads Authority, you can see this short film here at the Greyhound. Please ask one of our staff who will be happy to run the film for you. It is worth a watch.

Hicklings own History Group, is actively engaged at the present time, in putting together a comprehensive picture of life here in the village from the time of the Monks that lived at the Priory in the twelfth century, to the present day. There are open days throughout the year, when records can be viewed, commented on, and indeed added too.