Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Norwich

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.

January 7, 2021
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!

January 6, 2021
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.

January 5, 2021
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.

January 2, 2021
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.

January 1, 2021
Lakenham – Church of St. John the Baptist (John Mackie)

It’s fair to say that I wasn’t over-excited about this church, but the churchyard of St. John’s has some interesting graves. This one puzzled me because of just how well it has been preserved. It stands on top of bricks and looks almost new, despite it dating back to 1796. I’m unsure of why this is, it gives the impression of having been moved from inside, but there’s no obvious evidence that this is what has happened.

Anyway, it’s the tombstone of John Mackie, as well as two of his children who died in their infancy, Mary and Charles. John married Mary Aram at this church on 8 January 1778. Mary, who is buried with her father, had been baptised on 4 August 1782, but she sadly died at the age of two and was buried at the church on 16 November 1784. Charles, also buried with his father, died at the same age, being buried on 17 March 1791.

I’m unsure how many children the couple had, but this is the baptism record for John and Mary’s son, also named John. He was baptised at the church on 29 March 1785, a reminder of how important St. John’s Church would have been to the family. Unfortunately, the younger John didn’t have that long a life, he died at the age of 33 in 1818.

John worked as a seedsman and this is one of the ads that he placed in the Norfolk Chronicle in 1788. He must have been reasonably well known locally, as he never placed his address in these adverts, but I think his nursery was on the Ipswich Road. That means it would have likely had a prominent location for those entering and leaving the city.

It was reported in the Norfolk Chronicle on 22 October 1796 that John had died, noting “Monday last died, Mr. John Mackie, nursery and seedsman, near this city, aged 53; whose abilities in his profession, attention to business, and obliging liberal behaviour, was exceeded only by his affection and tenderness to a disconsolate wife and family”.

The expense of the tombstone suggests that John wasn’t a poor man and his trade seems to be one which afforded him some luxuries. He also seemed to breed spaniels, as there are numerous adverts relating to that in the local press. His business survived though after his death, it was taken on by family members who kept the Ipswich Road site operational. It evolved into Mackie and Ewing’s Nursery and the business was still trading in the late nineteenth century.

December 28, 2020
Norwich – Breath by Paul de Monchaux

Just to show how little attention I pay to things sometimes, this sculpture has been here since 2011 and I’ve never really paid it the slightest bit of attention. It was commissioned by the council as part of the process of modernising the site of the city’s war memorial.

The war memorial was first unveiled in 1927, when it was located outside of the Guildhall (photo here) and it was moved in front of Norwich City Hall in 1938 (photo here). In 2011, the war memorial was moved slightly to face the other way, looking at Norwich City Hall, with this bronze sculpture placed where the memorial had once stood. The move was requested by veterans, as the memorial wasn’t being treated with respect by those who found themselves sitting near to it, so it needed a more fitting location.

The stone on the pavement noting the sculpture. The bronze sculpture is meant to show the connection between life and death, although I have to be honest and note that I struggle to see what the artist had in mind here. However, I like the concept and the motto notes “the living honour the dead, only a breath divides them”. It was quite a brave commission though, and there is something in the thought that it was only chance that divided those who lived and those who died in war.

The official information about the sculpture notes:

“Breath is made up of two elements: a tall central slab, flanked on each side by seven ‘leaves’ whose geometry suggests growth. The central element reflects Lutyens’ stone of remembrance”.

The war memorial itself was designed by Edwin Lutyens, one of the great architects of his generation. What I hadn’t realised until today is that he designed Castle Drogo, which is I think my favourite National Trust property. Although this isn’t perhaps Lutyens’s crowning glory, the thing leaks terribly and it’s costing the National Trust a small fortune to fix.

Anyway, I digress. I like the boldness of this sculpture and the concept is one that’s perhaps worth pondering.

December 28, 2020
Norwich City Centre to Whitlingham (and back)

One of the locations that I wanted to visit was Old Lakenham parish church, so that was where Nathan and I headed today on a minor little walk.

The Cock at Lakenham is looking ever more derelict and it’s got easy access via that open window. Well, not necessarily easy access for me, but for anyone who can climb things.

This is St. John the Baptist and All Saints Church that I had been meaning to visit and it’s located on top of a hill in a prominent location. Unfortunately, the church is now surrounded all on sides by housing and feels a bit forlorn. It was also not the pretty building that I was expecting, it’s covered in render which makes it look like a house extension from the 1970s. Given the remote and interesting location on a hilltop, it was slightly disappointing.

One of the most unimpressive priest’s doors that I’ve seen on what is a medieval church.

This is perhaps the most beautiful angle possible for this church, but that aisle extension is out of place.

The church tower which is a fifteenth century rebuild, with the main part of the church dating from the thirteenth century, albeit with many ugly additions.

I found it hard to see behind the render to see the beauty if I’m being honest. St. Mark’s church was opened in the 1840s as a Chapel of Ease and that meant that St. John’s lost a little of its relevance. The two churches are relatively far away from each other, St. Mark’s is up near the Rose pub, but this was nearer to where the centre of Lakenham had moved to.

There were several interesting graves I’ll write about later on. There are six war graves here, although we could only find three of them. Some of them don’t have the distinctive war grave style, so finding them all would have been challenging.

Standing at the bottom of the hill, it all felt more of a castle site than a church. There have been some Roman finds at the top of the hill and I can imagine that the Saxons had some dealings here as well.

The River Tas at Old Lakenham, where it meets the River Yare a little further upstream.

Fancying a little adventure, we decided to see if we could walk down the riverside path and it did prove to be possible. Although, only just, and it did involve wading through some rather large puddles of water. And indeed some minor lakes rather than puddles. We agreed between us that we had been very brave and noted that no-one else seemed stupid enough to try and make their way along the flooded path.

Normally it’s possible to walk across this field, which connects back into Whitlingham Lane. We were able to walk some of it, but it had only just opened up as there was a closure order marked up which had just expired.

Despite having written about this structure earlier in the year, I forgot the history here, and this is the former Trowse Newton Hall and its associated chapel.

The fields at Trowse, which look quite peaceful. In reality, there were a lot of people around and it’s one of the reasons that I rarely go to Whitlingham now. Cars are given priority along Whitlingham Lane, making it quite hard to socially distance whilst walking down the pavement.

Nathan had brought a few beers with him, which we had sitting on a bench drinking out of KFC cups. Not the most decadent and I think we rather gave false hope to some people that there was a KFC nearby. The cafe at Whitlingham Lake is still open, although there was a long queue, and rather helpfully the toilets were also open. Drinking on a park bench isn’t ideal, I’ll be pleased when pubs are open once again.

And the sun which was starting to set…..

This wasn’t a long walk, just under nine miles, but we have agreed that we will have to rather up our walk distances in preparation for the LDWA 100….

December 27, 2020
Norwich – River Wensum Following Christmas Rain

There is some flooding further down the River Wensum following the recent rain in Norfolk, but it’s not overly high in the city centre. I shall brave the Norfolk countryside over the next few days to see how sodden that is.

Taken from Foundry Bridge, at the end of Prince of Wales Road, the river is high but hasn’t burst its banks.

The still closed Red Lion on the left.

Taken from the other side of Bishop Bridge.

Looking towards Riverside Road.

The bench is now quite moist….

Water on the Norwich School playing fields, with the middle patch of water being where the tennis courts were 100 years ago.

December 26, 2020
Norwich on Boxing Day in 2020

This was the queue for Primark in Norwich just a couple of days ago, when the city was in Tier 2. Below are photos from today, Boxing Day, with a Norwich in Tier 4. Much quieter than I had anticipated, with little open other than Five Guys and Costa.

December 26, 2020