Swaffham is one of the many locations for the archetypal Man Who Became Rich through a Dream folk tale.

 

John Chapman, a pedlar from Swaffham, dreamed for three consecutive nights that if he waited on London Bridge he would eventually hear good news. Arriving penniless in London, he waited all day on the bridge.

 

A passing stranger eventually asked him why he was waiting, and the man told of his dream. The shopkeeper laughed, and replied that he often dreamed that if he went to a certain orchard in Swaffham and started digging, he would find buried treasure. The pedlar returned to Swaffham, and found the treasure.