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Houses on the hill are just a
memory
June
26, 2003
GRAPES HILL
(St Giles)
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| The old Grapes
Hill just after World War II. |
TODAY it is little more than a busy road and a roundabout,
but there was a time when Grapes Hill when a hustling,
bustling community with houses, shops and pubs.
During the 1960s the whole place was flattened to make
way for the inner ring road that sliced through so much
of old Norwich destroying a large chunk of our heritage.
This way in olden times, ran beneath the City Wall.
It was originally called St Giles Way up from St Giles
Gate which was the most westerly entrance to the city.
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| The whole road
was bulldozed in the sixties to make way for a roundabout
in 1978, and a four-lane road in 1973. |
It must have been quite a sight and was surmounted
by 15 battlements.
Tolls were imposed on people coming to sell in the markets
and great rivalry between gatekeepers to persuade traders
to pass their way.
Anyway, it was named Grapes Hill after the pub that
stood at the top of the hill. This became the headquarters
of the Blue and Whites during the election in the 1860s.
And it also became the meeting place of the Norfolk
and Norwich Bicycle Club.
Hundreds of people would gather to watch this smart
chaps in knickerbockers and cloth helmets on their strange
machines.
During the 1960s, the people of Grapes Hill had to move
out of their homes as they were bulldozed to make way
for the road.
By 1969, only a dozen were left including Ernest Howard
who ran a clothing business which had been started by
his grandfather a century before.
Then came the road, roundabout, traffic lights and footbridge.
They opened up in 1971.
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