|
 The
stories behind
our street names
GALLEY HILL (Drayton Road to Bowers Avenue)
GENERALLY, this is a street name that denotes the grisly
site of a gallows in bygone days.
It was not considered unusual for a manor to have its
own gallows for the execution of thieves and other criminals.
Later, gibbets were an upright post with an arm on which
the bodies of executed criminals were hung up and exposed
until they rotted.
They were usually placed on high ground, outside a village
or the high walls of a city, in order to act as a warning
to others.
Let that be a lesson to yer.
GAMBLING CLOSE (near Norwich Airport)
 To
have one road named in your honour is a tribute . .
. but to have two! Now that is a rare achievement.
And they remember a man who devoted most of his life
to helping the people of Norwich.
His name was Ted Gambling and when he died almost 11
years ago he was described as the “backbone”
and the “father” of Norwich City Council.
More about Ted Gambling
GAOL HILL (Market Place)
A name so rarely used now that it has disappeared
from the maps. It ran between the Guildhall and the
market and reminds us of the human misery taking place
in the ancient Guildhall back in the days when prisoners
were locked away in the dark and dingy dungeons. mThe
civic authorities then tried to salve their consciences
by setting up the Chapel of St Barbara for the prisoners.
In 1472, on receiving £200 from three aldermen,
the Great Hospital undertook to provide a chaplain to
perform services in the Guildhall. The “gaol chaplain”
was paid by the hospital until 1830.
GAS HILL (Bishop Bridge
Road to St Leonard’s Road)
IN MAY of 1830, the Norwich Gas Company bought five
acres of land near Bishop Bridge on which to build works
“for supplying the whole city with coal gas”.
That was the beginning of the gas complex. Before that,
in 1825, the Norwich Gas Light Company had a piece of
land in “World’s End Lane”, St Martin
at Palace, on which they had put up buildings and works
for supplying the city with coal gas. By 1930, there
were four miles of gas pipes. This was extended to 12
miles. It meant the end of 900 old oil lamps —
gas lamps were put in their place and of course the
cost went up — to £500 a year. There was
light, but at a price — and one which only the
rich could afford.
- At the turn of the last century hundreds of people
would gather to see “new-fangled” motor
cars trying to make their way to the top.
Does anyone have any memories of the races that used
to take place up the hill — on bike and on foot?
I am told that large amounts of money changed hands!
GAWDY ROAD (From Rider
Haggard Road)
Thomas Gawdy was a powerful 16th century judge who
ruled the roost in rough and tumble Norwich where punishment
was swift and harsh. He was a Sergeant at Law, Recorder
of Norwich and for 14 years one of the Judges of the
Land.
GENTLEMAN'S WALK (Market
Place)
IT’S our very own promenade where generations have
gone strolling . . . and paused for a mardle.
More about Gentleman's Walk
GEOFFREY ROAD (Cricket
Ground Road)
THIS peaceful little street was named after a member
of one of the most powerful Norfolk families who helped
to build and shape Norwich of the 21st century.
More about Geoffrey Road
GEORGE BORROW ROAD
HE WAS the man who described Norwich as “A Fine
City”, but there was far more to George Burrow
than a civic motto.
More about George Borrow
GEORGE POPE ROAD (Jewson
Road)
THEY say that Dr Pope made more speeches than anyone
else during his term as Lord Mayor of Norwich —
but no one bothered to count them!
And he was a man who was always boasting about the attractions
of Norwich and persuading the new-fangled “broadcasting
company” to “unfold the charms of the city”.
Dr George Stevens Pope died in 1932 at Park House, Eaton
Road, at the age of 68. He was the leader of the Conservative
Party in the city and was active in political affairs
right up until his last days.
Born in India, he was the son of the Rev Dr Pope, of
Balliol College, Oxford and grandson of a Plymouth shipbuilder.
George qualified as a barrister, but graduated at Manchester
and Edinburgh and became a “mental specialist”
at various institutions around the country.
He married in 1899. Retiring from the duties of public
service in 1919 he then came to settle in Norwich where
he became a partner with Dr Gordon-Munn (Mayor in 1914)
in the private asylum at Heigham Hall.
He entered local politics as a Conservative Unionist
in 1922 and became Lord Mayor in 1924-5. During his
year in office he saw the opening of the Bridewell as
a museum by the Duke and Duchess of York and the purchase
of Earlham Hall and its estate for £20,000 for
“housing and other purposes”. The “other
purposes” were ideally suited to a vast development
on the site in later years — the University of
East Anglia.
GILMAN ROAD (Mousehold)
He was a busy man was Charles Suckling Gilman, who died
in March of 1888 at the age of 80. But it was his son
who fed the poor of Norwich by handing out 125 carcasses
of sheep and 20 quarters of beef.
More about Gilman Road
GLADSTONE STREET (Earlham
Road)
The Rt Hon William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), the
great Liberal statesman was known and loved as the G.O.M.
— the grand old man.
When he visited Norfolk in May 1890, tens of thousands
of people turned out to see him.
They loved him and to prove it they put up a huge banner
that stretched across with The Walk. It declared: “Welcome
to the G.O.M.”
He stayed at Carrow Abbey with the Colman family, spoke
to a 7,000-strong crowd at the old Agricultural Hall
and also found time to pop into the castle and cathedral.
GLOBE PLACE (Vauxhall
Street)
NAMED after the street that ran from Rupert Street to
Union Street where the Globe pub once stood.
 Before
the Second World War, it was a densely populated part
of Norwich with row after row of terraced homes. It
was blown to bits during the Blitz of 1942, pictured,
and the Globe disappeared, along with much of the area.
A whole community was torn apart — and life was
never quite the same again.
There were several pubs called The Globe in Norwich
of the 19th Century. In the Golden Ball Street area
there was once a boozer known as the Hell Cellar, but
this later gave way to the Glove and Seven Stars.
The proprietor had a bizarre party trick. He was skilled
in “bleeding with great ease and safety”.
And this operation would be performed providing those
watching would buy him large quantities of beer.
GUILDHALL HILL (Market Place)
RUSH-HOUR in old Norwich... a fascinating glimpse of
life outside the Norwich Guildhall, captured in 1824
by the talented city artist David Hodgson.
More about Guildhall Hill
GOLDEN
BALL STREET (Ber Street to Cattle Market Street)
ANOTHER famous old pub that stood in the way of progress
— so they knocked it down. The name originally
comes from the time of Constantine the Great who adopted
a golden ball as an emblem of his imperial power.
There is a suggestion that the Golden Ball and Rising
Sun (another pub sign) were connected. It may be that
the Golden Ball was called the Rising Sun at some time.
It was also the silk mercers’s sign, as silk, in
the Middle Ages, was brought from the East.
The old public house bearing the name was at 18 Cattle
Market Street, just up from the Buff Coat, and here
is a picture of the place to bring a few happy memories
back. It had quite a history and was a popular watering
hole for both locals and livestock market traders for
many moons. In the past, it had been a rough and tumble
old boozer — some of the lads who came off the
market loved a drink or three after selling their animals.
According to pub historian Derek McDonald, the pub probably
dated from before 1745. In 1760 the landlord was cordwainer
Matthew Buttivant. By 1886, the licensee, William Playford,
was also a hay and corn merchant and the pub was a two-storey
building with a large name board over the front and
a big Golden Ball. In April 1918, another landlord was
fined £5 or ordered to serve 13 days for selling
drink out of hours.Then in 1933, one was fined £5
or one month for permitting drunkenness and in 1934
another £5 fine was handed out for selling out
of hours. The last mine host at this Bullards pub is
registered as Percy Shepherd.
In the early 1960s, when so much of historic Norwich
disappeared under the bulldozer, it closed and then
it was demolished to make way for a road widening scheme.
The Golden Ball had finally rolled off into the sunset...
 GOLDEN
DOG LANE (Magdalen Street)
TODAY they serve medicine of a very different kind
at 34 Magdalen Street in the heart of old Norwich. It’s
a tonic to see that this ancient building and former
pub which closed in the 1930s — now a Chinese Medical
Centre — has survived over the years.
The first recorded landlord of the old Golden Dog public
house was James Hubbard way back in 1850. There was
also a Golden Dog Brewery and in the early days, Cann
and Co of Wymondham and Elijah Crosier Bailey of Surrey
Street, Norwich, were involved. It was a rough old place
in the early days and in 1886 they were fined the hefty
sum of £5 for failing to admit the police into
the place.
In 1894, the brewery and the pub were bought by the
famous Norwich brewery Morgans — eager to snap
up as many of the small breweries as possible. Competition
was brisk and a lot of ale was supped. In 1905, the
police objected to the licence being renewed because
the “back door opens into enclosed yard”.
But Mr Reeve, on behalf of the landlord John Hall, gave
an understanding that the requirements of the Chief
Constable would be met. In the end, the pub closed down
in 1933, but life in the lane went on in the ancient
little byway between Magdalen Street and Calvert Street.
Many talented craftsmen operated from the ancient lane,
including the master shoemaker Sidney Thompson. Then
there was the firm of William White and Son, manufacturers
of fine silk goods, and CF Stevens, the coppersmiths
and braziers, who had workmen “copper-bottoming”
kettles and the like. There was also a small factory
for handloom silk weaving on Jacquard looms. One of
the looms went to the Bridewell Museum.
Parts of the narrow lane have remained unchanged for
centuries with flint walls, gabled houses and gated
entrances opening to modern cottages and restored houses.
But there was a huge row in 1972 when 17th century houses
were pulled down by the trustees of the Doughty’s
Hospital so they could build new homes for the elderly.
The lane was originally known as Brent Lane because
it passed close to a lost church, St Mary Unbrent, which
stood in that part of Norwich destroyed in a great fire
during the 11th century. It later became Golden Dog
Lane — named after the pub on the corner. Good
to know it is still barking.
GOLDSMITH STREET (Dereham
Road)
NAMED in memory of the Norwich goldsmiths, although
it’s a fair way from where they did business. The
north end of the Market Place, from Dove Lane to Little
London Street, was originally Goldsmith’s Row.
And years ago, Little London Street was called Smethe
Row or Smethy Lane by the working goldsmiths who lived
there. In 1286, a house called Stone Hall belonged to
John le Brun, founder of Chapel-in-the-Fields (on the
site of the Assembly House) and it eventually became
the Goldsmith’s Hall. The Street was adopted in
1886.
GOLDWELL ROAD (Hall Road)
NEXT time you look up at the towering spire of Norwich
Cathedral, think of James Goldwell … the man we
have to thank for this wonderful and majestic landmark.
More about James Goldwell
GOULBOURN ROAD (Frere
Road)
NAMED after a gentleman in love with Norwich Cathedral
– and a man who dug deep into his pocket to support
the wonderful building.
Edward Meyrick Goulburn was born in London in 1818 with
a silver spoon in his mouth.
The son of a QC, he was educated at Eton and Oxford
and was later appointed the headmaster of Rugby School.
He then held various positions with the church in London
before arriving in Norwich as Dean in 1866 and falling
in love with the city.
A brilliant historian, he became president of the Norfolk
and Norwich Archaeological Society.
Goulburn did much for the restoration of the cathedral.
He gave £10,000 of his own money – an enormous
sum in those days – and raised another £4000.
He died in 1897.
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