|
 The
stories behind our street names
DOLPHIN GROVE (Nelson Street)
 NAMED
after a magnificent and imposing East Anglian flint
and stone building that has become a Norwich landmark
with a glorious history.
This is the palace that turned into a pub and has now
been given a new lease of life as the Norwich Hypnotherapy
Practice.
It is a building that has survived in Norwich against
all the odds.
The story starts way back in the 16th century when the
old walled city of Norwich was bursting at the steams.
Life was hard.
Most people didn’t have two pennies to rub together
while others had sackfuls of the stuff.
Rich merchants and tradesmen were desperate to get out
from behind the city walls and into the new suburbs
developing.
Heigham was a village in the Elizabethan era and this
house was built for former Lord Mayor Richard Browne
in about 1595.
An extension was added a few years later.
It is thought that a “coat of arms” carved
on a wall which shows a dragon’s head was later
seen to represent a dolphin. With the river location
the name stuck.
In 1643 the Bishop of Norwich, Joseph Hall, was forced
out of his official residence by Roundheads who had
taken over Norwich in the name of Parliament. He moved
in and it became known as the Bishop’s Palace.
During the 18th century the home of pious Bishop Hall
became a pub and it developed quite a reputation for
its bathing facilities and colourful gardens.
It remained a pub for almost 300 years and at the end
of the 19th century was famous for its “lock-ins”.
One landlord, Francis Rant was convicted of “allowing
consumption after hours” and was fined £2
with seven shillings costs. A hefty sum in 1891.
The Dolphin, with its stone fireplaces and fine plaster
ceilings, was a much-loved watering hole in the early
part of the 20th century.
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| The building in 1942 after
the Blitz. |
Then, in the Blitz of April 1942, it was
hit and badly damaged. Part of it reopened with a temporary
building known as “The Hut”.
In the 1950s the pub closed. Many feared it would be
knocked down but it was repaired and reopened in 1960.
The Dolphin was set on fire again recently. In 1999
the pub was closed and the buildings sold. Shortly after
being bought by the Plester family and following months
of renovation, vandals broke in and caused a lot of
damage.
It has taken most of this year to good that damage and
complete its transformation from pub to the new Norwich
Hypnotherapy Practice called Change 4 Good.
More than £150,000 has been spent renovating the
400 year old building., Much of the original character
has been retained. It is also the new home of John Plester
and his family.
“It is a lovely place to live. We are surrounded
by so much history but we still haven’t seen a
ghost,” he said.
Give it time.
DOWSON ROAD (Valpy Avenue)
IF THE big man with the clear eyes and bushy hair is
looking down on Norwich of the 21st century, he will
be a proud man
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| John Withers Dowson, the
first superintendent of the Sunday schools from
1822-70. |
Pleased to see he has a road named after
him but even more delighted to see the school bearing
his name.
The chances are not many people know much about this
colourful, big-hearted character from old Norwich who
devoted most of his life to caring for and teaching
children. Giving them a rare chance in life, although
he had no children of his own. There were hundreds of
boys he thought of as “his family”.
John Withers Dowson was born in 1800. He was the son
of Benjamin Dowson, who was a merchant of Geldeston.
He went to Norwich Grammar School and was then sent
off to be articled to a firm of solicitors in London.
After learning his profession, he returned to work in
Norwich, where he settled down. He married Maria and
they lived first at Castle Meadow and then in Prince
of Wales Road.
He was never rich and if he had money, I suspect he
would give much of it away.
So much of his life was dedicated to helping poor children
in the Norwich slums whose parents couldn’t afford
to send them to school.
At first he tutored boys in his summer house before
and after they were at work. Then he and his friend
James Martineau started a free school at the Octagon
Chapel in Colegate.
For many, this was their only chance of being taught
to read and write.
John organised special Sunday school outings. He got
to know their families and ran a Friendly Society for
the men, which could help them if they were sick or
lost their job.
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| The Martineau Memorial Hall
and Sunday Schools, Colegate, in 1907. |
When people saw the good work that John
was doing, he was invited to get involved with a host
of other groups in the city.
He was a pillar of the Octagon community, founder and
secretary of the Mechanics Institute (the forerunner
of Norwich City Council), a member of the Board of Guardians,
a trustee of the Coal and Soup Society and the rest
. . .
In 1870, when John celebrated his 70th birthday, he
was still superintendent of the Sunday school. To celebrate
his birthday, Captain Roberts painted his portrait.
He died in July 1879 and is buried in the Rosary Cemetery
with his wife, Maria.
Today, the name of Dowson lives on and the children
at Dowson First School can be very proud of big John.
The man who gave the poor children from the mean back
streets of old Norwich a chance.
DOVE STREET (Market Place to Pottergate)THIS
ancient thoroughfare, Dove Street or Dove Lane, was
previously known as the Hold Thor and later corrupted
to Holter’s Way.
This was a Jewish quarter in the 13th century and it
may be the original name came from the Hebrew words
Hoel Thora meaning “tabernacle of the law”.
A synagogue was also situated in the area.
At the corner of Dove Street and Lobster Lane once stood
the house of John Latymer, MP, in 1371.
DOUGLAS CLOSE (Dowding Road)
A LEGENDARY RAF officer, in 1940 Air Marshal Sholto
Douglas assumed leadership of RAF Fighter Command.
Many types of aircraft bear the Douglas name.
DOUGLAS HAIG ROAD (from Hutchinson Road)
What a patriotic name! Douglas Haig, the first Earl
Haig, was born in 1861 and in 1885 he joined the 7th
Hussars.
During the First World War he was appointed Commander-in-Chief
of the British Forces in France and held that position
until the end of the war.
He was promoted to Field Marshal and in 1919 he was
created earl and received a grant of £100,000
from the nation — a massive sum in those days.
He died suddenly in 1928 and was buried in Dryburgh
Abbey — and he is still remembered for the annual
Royal British Legion Poppy Day Appeal.
DRAYTON ROAD (Aylsham Road)
This, believe it or not, is the road that leads to Drayton
which was described over 100 years ago as “a fine
rural village in the Vale of the Wensum” with its
452 inhabitants.
Nowadays there are a few more folk out Drayton way.
DUKE STREET (Charing Cross to St Mary's
Plain)
TODAY, it is a mess. The crumbling St Andrew’s
multi-storey car park has been pulled down . . . but
there was a time when a grand palace stood on this site.
More about Duke Street
DUFF ROAD (Chamberlain Road)
A PIONEER of motoring — that was Granville
John Berney Duff who was Lord Mayor of Norwich in 1920/1
and a director of the well known city motoring company.
He was not married so his sister, Miss Duff, acted as
Lady Mayoress.
During the South African and First World Wars he won
both English and Belgium awards.
When he was elected Lord Mayor he told the civic gathering:
“I think I am the first representative of the motor
world.”
Loud applause followed.
Throughout his civic career he campaigned for more jobs
to the brought to the city saying he was becoming more
and more concerned about mass unemployment.
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