Norfolk Dolls was set up in 1993 by Auriel Mims, bringing together Auriel's interest in local history with her many years experience making wooden toys and dolls. These dolls have found their way to collectors and to children in 20 different countries including Australia, Japan, Russia and the USA .

When Auriel first came to North Norfolk with her family in 1975, the older generation amongst her new neighbours had clear childhood memories. From them, Auriel learned about local life in the early 1900s. Unlike today, communities then were more or less self sufficient, served almost entirely by local craftspeople and tradesmen. Much has changed since, of course, but it is this era that was the inspiration for the first Norfolk Dolls.

The original dolls were 20" tall, heads, hands and feet were carved in lime, and the bodies were soft - initially calico and later linen. They were dressed in late Victorian children's costume typical of the North Norfolk area. Examples are shown above (click to enlarge).  

As a member of the British Doll Artists Association and the British Toymakers Guild, Auriel marketed her dolls through the Norfolk Dolls stall in London's Covent Garden and at a number of craft events throughout the country. These included the National Exhibition Centre (Bears and Dolls), the Business Design Centre (The Country Living Fair), and the annual British Toymakers Guild Fair (The Art of Play). To augment her display, Auriel designed and made various other traditional toys. Auriel was awarded the British Toymakers Guild Silver Cup for the year 2000.

In 2001 Auriel stopped attending craft fairs in order to concentrate on writing children's stories about country life in Norfolk around 1900. She restricted her doll-making to meeting orders which 'slipped through the net'. As the characters grew in her stories, Auriel made dolls of them, of the blacksmith, the carpenter and undertaker, the schoolteacher etc. The size of the heroes George and Emily - the original Norfolk Dolls - was reduced in order to accommodate the larger adult figures.