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Norwich is an ancient city that lies at the heart of rural East
Anglia. It was the Anglo Saxons who first made their homes beside
the river Wensum, and it was from one of these settlements, which
bore the name Northwic, that the city got its name. The settlement
grew and grew and merged with others to become the largest walled
town in medieval England. In 1066, at the time of the Norman Conquest,
Norwich was one of the most important boroughs in the kingdom. Trade
by river and sea was increasing and light industry had begun to
develop. The market on Tombland was thriving with local produce,
pottery, ironwork, wooden and leather goods, as well as furs from
Scandinavia and Russia, woollen cloth from Flanders and herring
from the North Sea.
Norwich
Castle was built by the Norman Conquerors as a show of strength.
A steep-sided artificial hill was constructed in 1067 which was
40 feet (13 metres) above ground level. Originally the castle
was made of wood and was replaced 60 years later by a stone keep,
which can still be seen today. The keep was roughly 70 feet (20
metres) high, with walls about 100 feet (30 metres) long, and was
virtually square in shape. It was built of local flint and mortar,
and faced with stone.
In 1096 work started on the Cathedral.
Churches
and Saxon houses were cleared so that a canal could be dug from
the River Wensum to the site of the Cathedral.
This meant that stone from Caen in Normandy could be brought directly
to the building site by water, thus making lighter work. By 1119
the transepts, presbytery and four bays of the nave had been built,
but the Cathedral
was not finally consecrated until 1278.
By Medieval times Norwich had within its walls 56 churches.
Many of these were built as a reflection of wealth of local landowners.
In 1194 Norwich became a city when Richard I granted a charter giving
rights of self government. 1349 was when The Black Death hit Norwich
and it is thought that as many as two-fifths of the population of
roughly 6,000 people may have died. With a high proportion of clergy
dying, four parish churches fell into disuse because of the lack
of priests and parishioners. However, by 1377, Norwich’s population
had risen back to 6,000. Many of the new residents were peasants
who had left their unproductive homeland to seek work in the city’s
growing textile trade. At the beginning of the 14th century, weaving
was the most important trade in the city and, within a hundred years,
Norwich was considered the main centre of worsted manufacture in
the country. This industry continued for the next five hundred years
until machinery was introduced during the Industrial Revolution
thus making skilled craftsmen redundant.
The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 meant life at the end of the
14th century was far from peaceful. Armies of rebels set fire to
the houses of lawyers and other wealthy folk and it was the bishop,
who, with his own army, eventually managed to restore order to the
city.
During the early 16th century there were several fires which swept
through Norwich, destroying whole streets of thatched and Tudor
timbered houses. It is thought that 718 houses were burnt to the
ground over a four day period in March 1507, and in June of the
same year an additional 360 homes were lost. This was almost half
of the city’s housing, which led to a decision that all new
buildings should have tiled roofs.
In 1549 an army of 20,000 rebels, led by Wymondham farmer Robert
Kett, took over control of the city; causing a lot of destruction,
they were protesting about an increase in rent and the enclosure
of local common land for grazing by rich sheep farmers. They made
their camp on Mousehold Heath and it took two royal armies six weeks
to defeat them. Kett and forty eight other rebels were hanged at
Norwich
Castle.
In 1565 there was great concern about the decline in the worsted
industry. The city authorities arranged for thirty households of
religious refugees to come over from the Netherlands to teach the
local craftsmen how to produce different types of cloth. Not only
did the ‘Strangers’ (as they were known) bring over
their knowledge of weaving, they also brought with them a love of
gardens and canary breeding.
By the end of the 16th century the weaving trade was busy and cloth
merchants and grocers were making their fortunes. The local gentry
could now buy medicines, imported food and fine clothes without
travelling to London. Norwich seemed to be prospering again; however,
according to the mayor, in 1570 about a fifth of the population
were living on charity and the city was rife with tramps.
Norwich experienced its last epidemic of Bubonic Plague during
1665-6; this resulted in most of the wealthy citizens leaving Norwich.
Unemployment became a serious problem, followed by a severe food
shortage in 1666, which was only averted by huge catches of herring
which were brought ashore at Great
Yarmouth. Agricultural wages in East Anglia were very poor and
country life became increasingly difficult; this prompted people
to move from the country into the city in search of work. The textile
industry was recovering from a slump as new interest in fashion
meant there were employment opportunities for many. Norwich was
now exporting its cloth to Europe, North America, India and China.
By the early 1670’s Norwich had a population of around 21,000
and was probably the largest provincial town in England. Improvements
to the main roads and the development of horse-drawn coaches meant
that travelling between towns became easier in the 17th and 18th
centuries. The gentry of Norfolk and Suffolk would come into Norwich
to make purchases and to take part in social events such as card
playing and dancing. During the 18th century Norwich’s leather
industry steadily grew, making such items as buckets, harnesses,
hosepipes, boots and shoes. Brewing also became increasingly important
and Norfolk malting barley was considered the best in the country.
By 1801 the city had six large breweries, supplying local needs,
as well as sending beer to London for sale.
Improvements in local agriculture meant an increased production
and a new cattle market grew up around the Castle.
Norwich’s first bank was opened in 1756 and it was in 1775
that a local family, John and Henry Gurney, started a bank which
still survives today as part of Barclays. It was in 1792 that Thomas
Bignold, a wine merchant and banker, started the insurance business
which was to become Norwich Union. The prosperity of the 18th century
meant there was money to invest in building work. Subsequently the
Assembly House was built in 1754, and the old Norfolk and Norwich
hospital was constructed in 1771-2.
During the 19th century the population of Norwich increased from
37,256 in 1811 to 80,368 in 1871. The city began to expand beyond
its walls and the living conditions were somewhat unhealthy; with
no supply of clean water there were epidemics of cholera and various
other deadly diseases. This improved when a new waterworks was built
which provided filtered water, and generally people’s awareness
of public health increased.
Norwich originally had three railway stations, but only Thorpe
Station, which was opened in 1844, remains today. The meadow land
around Thorpe Station soon became crowded with houses and hotels
for the railway workers, and factories were built beside the river
to take advantage of water and rail transportation. Professional
people began building their homes outside the city walls, as the
city centre was becoming overcrowded. The area between Ber Street
and King Street was particularly over-populated with slum housing.
In 1892 work began on the church of St John the Baptist, which was
later to become the Roman Catholic Cathedral.
It was in the 19th century that Jeremiah Colman built a new mustard
mill at Carrow, A.J Caley began making chocolates at Chapelfield
and John Jarrold opened his printing works at Whitefriars.
During the 20th century the city’s population increased from
121,490 in 1911 to an estimated 180,000 in 1980. Re-housing schemes
and slum clearance began in the late 19th century and continued
for many years, with council houses providing improved living conditions
for thousands of people. In 1900 an extensive tram system meant
that people could travel cheaply throughout the city, and it ran
for thirty years. By the 1920’s the Guildhall, which had been
the civic headquarters for over five hundred years, was now too
small. The decision was made to build a new city hall, which was
opened by George VI in October 1938.
Norwich was bombed more than forty times during the Second World
War, and was selected for two of the Baedeker raids in which historic
buildings were targeted; in excess of 30,000 houses were damaged,
100 factories, as well as seven medieval churches and numerous shops,
were destroyed. Rebuilding started in the 1950’s and the central
library was built in 1963, with the University of East Anglia (UEA)
taking its first students in that same year.
In the early 1990’s the site of the old cattle market was
excavated to house the Castle Mall shopping centre, an innovative
scheme, built on several levels, using the medieval street patterns
and linking the east and west sides of the city centre.
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