England
City of Norwich
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City of Norwich, Norfolk County, England.
by Ken Ward
Photographs © Ken Ward
Population: 121,000 and growing rapidly!
Administration: Lord Mayor & 39 Councillors.
Location: 52º 37' 26“ N 1º 17' 36” E.
Norwich: The 1000 year old 'parent' to the world Norwich communities.
Today a city of great contrasts, with medieval streets like Elm Hill and modern buildings like The Forum.
The city centre within the city walls (which encompass an area larger than any other city in England) still retains the layout of roads which date back to the times when the many Saxon settlements started merging together to become Norwich.
The early Norwich had a turbulant history. The Vikings raided the town many times, and eventually Eastern England surrendered to the Danish King Sweyn in 1013. Many of the streets in Norwich have names of Danish origin.
When the Normans arrived in 1066, Norwich was one of the largest towns in the country. From the Domesday Book we know that they demolished at least 90 houses and several churches when they built the castle and its earthworks.
The castle still dominates the city centre today.
Tombland (which means 'open space' and is nothing to do with tombs!) was the Anglo-Saxon market place before the Normans arrived. Based on an ancient cross roads, it is believed that the palace of the Earls of East Anglia stood at the southern end. In the photograph above you can see two of the gates leading into the Cathedral Close. The steeple of the Cathedral is just visible through the trees in the centre.
At the northern end of Tombland, The Maids Head Hotel with its Georgian 'mock-tudor' appearance stands on the site of a much earlier inn.
Charles Dickens stayed here.
Augustine Steward's House, now home to a collection of antique dealers, was built in 1530.
Today a tranquil scene, but the building looked upon some of the bloodiest fighting during Kett's Rebellion in 1549.
The Cathedral and its precincts stand to the east of Tombland. The building was started in 1096 and took nearly 200 years to complete. The stone used was shipped from Caen in Normandy.
After the townsfolk set fire to the cathedral in the riots of 1272, the timber roofs were replaced with stone vaulting with carved and painted roof bosses - the first use of story bosses anywhere. There are over 1,000 throughout the Cathedral and Cloisters, now being carefully restored.
Norwich has in fact two cathedrals. This is the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist, built in the late 1800's with finance supplied by the Duke of Norfolk.
Today the Lord Mayor uses modern transport for most of his travels, but on all too rare occassions he uses the Lord Mayor's Coach, seen here making its way down Elm Hill.
St James's Mill (built 1839) stands as a monument to the failed attempted to revive the declining wool trade which had moved to the industrial north of England.
The weaving trade was the first of Norwich's industries to disappear.
The shoe industry which was built up from dozens of small businesses and eventually saw massive factories built, has now gone, with Startrite, the last of the shoe factories, closing as production is moved to the far east.
Norwich once had 2 pubs for every day of the year, and many large breweries to keep them supplied! The breweries, like most of the pubs, have now gone.
So to are the great engineering works of Boulton & Paul who produced aircraft during the second world war. And Lawrence Scott Electromotors who made some of the world's largest electric motors.
With the decline of the City's major manufacturing industries, the largest employer in Norwich today is the Norwich Union Insurance Group, its original grand building now swamped by the companies ever growing office blocks that now cover a large area of the city.
The city centre is traditionally based around the Market Place - the largest open air market open 6 days a week in England. It has stood on this spot since Norman times.
Beneath its multi coloured canvas roofs an 'Aladdins Cave' of goods and services are available. Besides the fruit & vegetables, meat and fish stalls, there are clothing, tools, electronics, books, records, and even an internet cafe.
The market place is currently having a modern 'make-over'.
Overlooking the market are the old and new seats of local government - the Guildhall and City Hall.
The Guildhall is a large complex building, reflecting the status of Norwich at the time of building (1410) when the city was amongst the largest and wealthiest cities in England.
Its many rooms include council chambers as well as justice courts with the accompanying prison cells.
The current City Hall was built in 1938, though never completed due to World War II and a subsequent lack of funds. At the northern (clock tower end) you can still see the stub girders on the unfinished section.
Web Links
City of Norwich Council
Norwich, The Old City
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