The stories behind
our street names

JAMIESON PLACE (Dereham Road)
THE British tank rolled towards the centre of the small and battered group of Royal Norfolks . . . and straight into the gunsights of a hidden German panzer. One man had spotted the danger during the savage battle of the Orne bridgehead in August, 1944. David Jamieson, the young Norfolk commander of the infantrymen, tried to shout a warning.
More about David Jamieson

JESSOPP ROAD (Colman Road)
HE WAS regarded as perhaps the greatest of all the headmasters at Norwich School ... and a man who saw ghosts. Dr Augustus Jessopp arrived in the city back in 1859 as head of King Edward VI School, then described as a moribund, dilapidated old place with fewer than 30 pupils.
More about Dr Augustus Jessopp

JEWSON ROAD (Bullard Road to George Pope Road)
A tribute to generations of the family which has made such a mark on our city.
More about the Jewson family

JEX ROAD, AVENUE and LANE (Marlpit Lane)
HE WAS the boy who rose from the slums of Norwich to become a great civic leader — a man described as one of the most outstanding citizens of his time. Fred Jex was born in Norwich in 1886 and he died in the winter of 1968. During that time he devoted much of his life to helping others . . . and he won their hearts.
More about Fred Jex

JOHNSON PLACE (Vauxhall Street)
It's good that the name of Johnson was kept after Johnson Street in old Norwich disappeared. This cul-de-sac off Vauxhall Street was approved in 1969 but I wonder how many people know just who the good Dr Johnson was? At one time he worked just around the corner – at what is now the old Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
John Goodwin Johnson, who was born in 1797 and died in 1874, was the youngest son of the Governor of Norwich Castle. A pupil of Edward Rigby he became a highly respected surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich from 1838 to 1847. He became a leading figure behind the foundation of the Jenny Lind Hospital for sick children.
Dr Johnson was Mayor of Norwich in 1855/6 and he fought long and hard for a decent sewerage system to be introduced across the city to improve the health of the people. He was chairman of the sewerage and irrigation committee in 1869 when the high and low sewers were constructed…and he served for many years as a Haven and Pier Commissioner.

JOLLY BUTCHER'S YARD (Ber Street)
THERE was a time when Ber Street, one of the most historic streets in Norwich, was a rabbit warren of courts, yards, alleys and lanes. They were home to hundreds of men, women and children. Up and down the street were enough shops to stock a town. And the people of Ber Street spoke of “going up the city” as if the rest of Norwich were foreign territory.
More about Jolly Butcher's Yard

JOLLY GARDENERS COURT (Waterloo Road)
NAMED after the old pub that stood on this site from 1830 until 1969 — and this is how it looked.
Today it has gone and has been replaced with homes, but for decades it was a popular watering hole for the locals.
It was opened back in 1830 at 138 Waterloo Road in the Parish of St Clement by the famous Norwich brewery Steward and Patteson.
It was listed as Catton Road in 1836 and then as Infirmary Road in 1856-64.
The pub was also known as the Gardeners Tavern and the Gardeners Arms and it was said to be the birthplace of the legendary Norwich boxer-turned-landlord John “Licker” Pratt.
The first landlord was William White, but during the last century it was in the hands of members of the Roll family — first William, then Alma and finally Ethel.
The pub was hit during the Norwich Blitz of 1942 but it survived until December 1, 1969, when it finally closed and was later demolished.

JORDAN CLOSE (Wilberforce Road)
NO, this isn’t named after a busty page three girl who has been entertaining us in the jungle and was in Norwich recently to help celebrate the opening of the Mercy night club. And I’ll bet most of you will not know who it was named after. Well, this is another of the roads connected with the Quaker Gurney family of Earlham Hall. Old Jordans was a 17th century farmhouse and a meeting place of the early Quakers about two miles from Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire.

JUDGE’S DRIVE and JUDGE’S WALK
(Unthank Road and Newmarket Road)
ASSIZE Week in old Norwich, when the judges arrived to sentence those who had fallen foul of the law, was a time of celebration for the toffs from both the city and county.
More about Assize Week

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