Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Framingham Earl – St. Andrew’s Church

    Framingham Earl – St. Andrew’s Church

    Although located near to Poringland, the church of Framingham Earl feels remote and peaceful.

    The locked thirteenth century porch, hiding the view of the Norman doorway within.

    The round church tower, probably dating from the early Norman period.

    I’ve read what a few historians have made of this and I’m not sure that I’m any the wiser as their assessments vary. Ignoring those later windows, this does look old, both in terms of the wall and what looks like a Saxon window on the left. Unfortunately, my architectural knowledge isn’t good enough to be able to add much else here, but I like to think that those who say this part of the church is Saxon are correct.

    There is definitely something magical with knowing this structure is over 1,000 years old, although at least it’s known that there has been a religious building on this site for at least that period. And investigations completed in 1984 do suggest that there was likely a Saxon apse at the end of the chancel, although that was unfortunately taken down long ago.

    An historian writing in the Eastern Daily Press back in 1876 said that he suspected there was once a Saxon apse because the wall was much more modern at the end of the church. His hunch was entirely correct, but he also noted that he was present when these circular Saxon windows were examined. He found evidence of an old grove where a wooden frame would have been, which protected against birds or weather at a time when there might not have been any glass to do that job.

    On the other side of the chancel, I think that’s another Saxon window. I note that George Plunkett also thinks it’s Saxon and I’m pleased at that, as he seems to very rarely be wrong.

    One of the church’s two mass dials.

    This one doesn’t make sense to me, it’s a mass dial but it’s upside down. Unless I’ve misunderstood its purpose, this is likely the result of the Victorian restorers.

    The grave of one of the most respected writers of the late twentieth century, Winfried Georg Sebald (1944-2001) who was killed in a car crash and is buried here as he lived nearby.

    The churchyard.

    And, on a personal note. I didn’t meander around many of the graves here, as they were mostly too modern to have much historic interest to me. I did note one particularly nice gravestone that I went to look at, before realising that it was someone in the same school year as me who died young. I didn’t know that he was from this part of Norfolk, but his gravestone and its message is beautiful. I can think of very few modern gravestones which have intrigued me, so for it to transpire to be someone I knew made it quite poignant. God bless his soul.

  • Norwich – King Street Letterbox

    Norwich – King Street Letterbox

    I might mention now that I can’t pretend that this is necessarily my most interesting blog post, but this letterbox is Grade II listed so there is definite heritage value to it. It dates to around 1870, so it’s only around a decade later than the first post boxes to be introduced in the UK, and it has only been closed up recently. It’s located on Howard’s House (97, King Street) in Norwich, a remarkable survival in itself which has so nearly been demolished on a few occasions.

    George Plunkett once again doesn’t let me down, the post box is visible (just) in this photo from 1934. Even given that it has recently been closed up, there’s something quite intriguing about anything that has remained in use for so long, this would have served the postal needs of thousands of local residents in the Victorian period.

  • Poringland – The Fish Inn

    Poringland – The Fish Inn

    The Fish Inn in Poringland, one of our destinations for the day. As can be seen, there was no shortage of customers waiting to get in.

    The chip shop is attached to the Royal Oak pub (which for reasons unknown has recently decided to rebrand as the Poringland Oak, but will no doubt confuse many people). This is extension is relatively new (1980s perhaps) and there are some interesting old photos of the pub at http://www.poringlandarchive.co.uk/poringland/the-royal-oak.

    I was pleased that the chip shop was open when we went, as there was no information on-line and we thought we’d just take a chance. The opening times are quite limited, but this is a temporary arrangement given current events. The lack of card payment always slightly annoys me (although I was prepared for that here as they’ve picked up some negative reviews already for this decision), but is harder to justify given the current health situation. I haven’t seen anyone paying by cheque for some time, I was moderately surprised to see that.

    Lack of contactless payments aside, the operation seemed very safe inside with only one customer allowed in at a time and large protective screens. The service was efficient and friendly, it all seemed well managed.

    The battered sausage and chips was £2.50, which is pretty reasonable. The chips were excellent and had a sufficient depth of flavour without being greasy, with the battered sausage being generic but still entirely acceptable. Sauces are extra, but salt and vinegar is available and is added by the staff member.

    The reviews for this chip shop aren’t that positive at all, but that seems a little unfair. The limited opening hours probably make this easier to run at the moment as they don’t need to have food sitting around drying up, but I had no complaints about the service or food. I probably won’t go back (although since I’d have to walk over 5 miles to get there and then 5 miles back, I was never going to be their biggest customer) as cash only places are becoming ever more rare, but perhaps they’ll change that in due course. At the moment they just have to have numerous signs up saying they don’t accept cards, no doubt because it’s such a common request.

  • Norwich – Flint Wall of Bridewell

    Norwich – Flint Wall of Bridewell

    This pathway doesn’t appear to have a name on either old or new maps, but it separates Bridewell Museum from St. Andrew’s Church. And indeed, it appears that if we could go back 500 years to take a photo, this would look nearly exactly the same. Well, other than for the paving, that might not have been as good.

    OK, this is just a flint wall on the north side of Bridewell Museum, but it has gained a reputation for being one of the finest walls of its type in the country. And I think that deserves a blog post all of its own….

    What is today known as the Bridewell was actually built as a residential property in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. It was upgraded by William Appleyard in 1386, and at a guess, I think that this was when this wall was constructed. The building’s use changed after 1583, when it became used to house the city’s poor and unemployed, putting them to work, which is when it became the Bridewell.

    As an aside here, a Bridewell is a prison, and it took its name from one which was set up in London that was next St. Bride’s Holy Well. The name stuck there and was then used throughout the country, although these buildings were often also referred to as Houses of Correction. Anyway, the building was badly damaged by fire in 1751, the prisoners were moved out and it was then used as a factory, warehouse, storage unit and anything else the locals could think of. In the early twentieth century, it was given to the city to be used as a museum and it is now known as Bridewell Museum, the Museum of Norwich.

    The quality of this wall is pretty impressive and I’d hardly call myself a flint expert.

    This intrigued me and I could think of only one person I knew that could tell me what this was, and that’s my fellow NORAH trustee, David Stannard. I hope he won’t mind me quoting him:

    “The Bridewell wall is a classic example of knapped flint, and the picture of the circular feature is just that, flint. Flint is amorphous, i.e. it has no crystal structure to determine the way it breaks, and this block of flint, when broken in half by a hammer has produced this curious bulb…..it is termed conchoidal fracture.

    Curiously, if you look at the picture upside down you get an optical illusion of a hole rather than a cone….so there may be a corresponding ‘hole’ somewhere else on the wall….the courses above and below show similar bulb features.”

    And he’s quite right, look at the photo upside down!

  • Norwich – St. Stephen’s Church (Gates)

    Norwich – St. Stephen’s Church (Gates)

    I’ve learned something new today….. These are the gates of St. Stephen’s Church in Norwich where it meets Chapelfield (Chantry) shopping centre. I hadn’t given them much attention before, but they are finely made and add some character to the entrance to the churchyard. Anyway, what I didn’t know is that the stones set within the gate are there for a reason, they represent the stones that killed St. Stephen, who was stoned to death for his Christian beliefs.

    I admit that this probably isn’t the sort of fact that someone will want to rush to tell others, but I’ll look out for similar such projects when I visit churches dedicated to St. Stephen. As an aside, if the UK had remained Catholic, it’s unlikely we’d have anything called Boxing Day, we’d be like many other European countries and have a St. Stephen’s Day on 26 December.

  • Norfolk – Hundreds and Parishes of Norfolk

    Norfolk – Hundreds and Parishes of Norfolk

    Hundreds of Norfolk (in .pdf format)

    The hundreds are the old administrative divisions of Norfolk, in place from the Anglo-Saxon period to the nineteenth century civic reforms. I hadn’t seen this Hundreds of Norfolk map before, which has the parishes and the hundreds marked on it, which is rather useful. The PDF has been produced by the wonderful Norfolk Record Office and it’s a handy way of seeing how the old parishes and hundreds were made up. There were surprisingly few changes over the centuries, with 36 hundreds in Anglo-Saxon times and 33 by the middle of the nineteenth century.

  • London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum (13th Century Doors from Gannat)

    London – Kensington and Chelsea (Borough of) – Victoria and Albert Museum (13th Century Doors from Gannat)

    OK, I’ll admit that this doesn’t perhaps seem like fascinating blog content. It’s some old wooden doors from the thirteenth century with ironwork and they’re from Gannat, a commune in central France. The museum has some notes about just how rare these are and how they can be dated from their design and also as it was a transitional process of how chisels were used on the iron scrollwork.

    To be honest, that level of detail is a little over my head, I just like the element of history here. These doors would have been in use for hundreds of years and at one stage they were hung upside down, which is evident from the much later keyhole and lock. It’s not known which building these doors are originally from, but such decorative iron would have been expensive, so this would have been a substantial property.

    What does interest me here is just imagining how many people used these doors over the centuries. There are several church doors in Norfolk that date from the Norman period and there’s something quite magical about the thought of just how many people have passed through the doors for baptisms, marriages, funerals and the more routine sermons (of which I’m sure at least a few have been quite dull and mundane). The next stop on the church tour that Richard and I are doing is Runhall Church, where the tower door is thought to be contemporary with the building of the tower itself in the twelfth century. More on this in the next few weeks hopefully….

    The V&A likely have these doors on display as they want to show the design of the ironwork from the period, but I just liked that things such as this have survived and are visible to the general public. For anyone fascinated by old doors (I’m not sure how big that niche is….), there is just one left in the UK which is made from wood felled in Saxon times and it’s at Westminster Abbey.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Ibis Shoreditch

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Ibis Shoreditch

    Back a few weeks to when people could actually visit London, this is the Ibis Hotel in Shoreditch which is just a short walk from London Liverpool Street. Ideally also, it’s opposite Aldgate East Underground station, so it’s an easy hotel to get to.

    This visit was at a time when people could have a drink if they were also ordering a substantial meal. But, although the hotel was offering meals, there wasn’t much of a take-up.

    Part of the hotel’s decor, trying to give that East London theme to proceedings. The whole arrangement felt modern and welcoming, with something of an Ibis Styles type approach to the design rather than Ibis.

    This is the free welcome drink, one of the better ones which I’ve been offered. It’s not the finest in the Brewdog range, but I do very much like Punk IPA, nice and citrusy…. I look forwards to other Ibis hotels offering something slightly more exciting than Budweiser.

    The bedroom, all clean and comfortable. And it was located on the top floor and away from the elevator, just where I like. There were no noise issues either, although I’m not sure that the 348-room hotel was actually that busy. The hotel also had windows that could open, as I’m one of those slightly strange customers who likes the noise of city traffic and police sirens. It also meant that the temperature in the room was easy to control, something which I do most appreciate.

    I did very much appreciate the gesture and that’s a nice handwritten card, although secretly (well, not that secretly actually) I would have preferred chocolate…..

    Anyway, the stay as all sufficiently uneventful, which is ideally how hotel stays should be if it means that no disasters took place. Staff seemed friendly, although slightly underworked through the lack of guests, and I’ll come back here again.

  • Streets of Norwich – Barwells Court

    Streets of Norwich – Barwells Court

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    This court connects St. Stephen’s Church to St. Stephen’s Street and isn’t the easiest of pathways to socially distance on, although fortunately I didn’t see anyone when walking down it.

    There is very little visually that is of much interest along this court, but its survival is quite remarkable as nearly every building along its route has changed over the last century. This was once where people lived and worked, but is now the rear of shops which stretch along St. Stephen’s Street. Norwich once had hundreds of courts and yards, although relatively few of them have survived in anything like their original form.

    This is the original width of the path and it has always been a thoroughfare and not just a court which has been opened up.

    This is looking towards St. Stephen’s Street and there is now a connection between the two properties which joins the buildings.

    Looking at the entrance to Barwells Court from St. Stephen’s Street, where there is now a Superdrug on one side and M&S on the other (formerly an H Samuels before M&S kept making their shop bigger).

    The court takes its name from Barwells Wine Merchants, which had been set up by John Barwell (1798-1876) and he was married to Louisa Barwell, the musician and educational writer. As ever, George Plunkett has a photograph here of interest, which shows damage from the Second World War and also what was underneath what is now Superdrug, but was then the premises of Barwells Wine Merchants.

  • Streets of Norwich – Fishers Lane

    Streets of Norwich – Fishers Lane

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project…. I hadn’t forgotten about it, and perhaps in 2021 I might finish it.

    This is Fishers Lane (Fisher Lane on the above map) which is between Pottergate and St. Giles Street. The map above is around 100 years old, the one below is around 150 years old and maps in general alternate between Fisher and Fishers Lane (as well as Fisher’s Lane).

    Clicking on the image will make the map larger and it’s possible to see there were two courts off this street, the Bear & Staff Court and Roache’s Court.

    From 1907.

    The police didn’t like the pub called the Bear & Staff and in 1908 they complained to magistrates that the customers were of a lower class and criminals frequented it. Its location, tucked away in that court, does give it a feel of being somewhat of a vibrant location. The pub sadly closed in 1910, if it had survived I imagine it would have been one of Norwich’s quirkiest drinking options. Unfortunately, the entire street has been lost, although George Plunkett was able to get a photograph of the southern side in 1938.

    The entrance to Fishers Lane from St Giles Street and that is St Giles Hotel on the left hand side.

    Sadly, most of the historic interest of this street has been lost, the entrance to Bear & Staff Court would have been around where the two buildings on the left hand side join. The ugly cladded building is Vantage House, which was used as offices by the council, but the owners have been granted permission to turn it into 44 flats. That cladding was added by Harley Facades, better known now perhaps for their work on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment. I’m not sure why the council have granted permission for it to be turned into flats (although I think they might have had limited powers to stop it as it’s a conversion), it’s not a pleasant building and I’d have thought it would have been better to demolish it and replace it with something more uniquely designed and purpose built for housing.

    Looking back to St Giles Street.

    The buildings on the other side of the road are older and are former warehouses, although nothing on the street is listed (other than the properties facing onto St Giles Street).

    Standing on Pottergate looking back up the hill.