 |
| The
heart of historic Norwich - the Castle, built
in Norman times, faces the City Hall - one of
the 20th century's most striking civic buildings
- across the colourful market place. Meanwhile
the future takes shape in the form of the Millennium
Library (bottom left) |
A great
medieval walled city and trading centre, Britain's richest
provincial city in the 17th and 18th centuries - much
is known already about Norwich's past, but more is constantly
being discovered.
An active archaeological unit has
conducted major digs in recent years, notably on the
site of what is now the Castle Mall shoping centre,
and more recently close to St Peter Mancroft where the
Forum has stands proudly.
The Roman town of Venta
Icenorum stands at Caistor St Edmund, three miles south
of Norwich, and it is probable that Roman roads ran
through the site of the modern city, using the vital
river crossings.
The centre of the late Saxon
town was in Tombland, the site of the market place,
which was largely cleared for the building of the cathdral
in the 11th century.
The Castle, too, dates from this
period, as the Normans stamped their authority on the
land.
By the eve of the Black Death in
1349 Norwich had a population of around 30,000
and was a thriving commercial centre. A wall, parts
of which can still be seen, was completed of flint and
mortar, with 40 towers and 12 gates.
Trades included leather and the
growing cloth industry. Despite plague and fire the
city prospered and became England's second city in the
17th and 18th centuries.
A thriving marketplace impressed
visitors, and the textile industry began to dominate.
Its affluent merchants left their mark on the city -
see, for example, John Patteson's house in Surrey Street,
now part of Norwich Union.
By the 19th century Norwich's
growing population needed more homes, and terraced housing
spread across the city. The textile trade, though no
longer at its peak, was still strong, and engineering
works, breweries, flour mills and the Colman's mustard
factory kept the population at work.
The shoe industry was at its peak
in the 1930s, employing thousands fo Norwich
people in the many factories.
Since the 1960s, with the
influx of cheap foreign imports, it has been in decline,
but some factories remain in production today.
One of the finest 20th century
buildings is the City Hall, completed in 1938, with
its simple lines and twin bronze lions.
The second world war brought devastation,
particularly with the Baedeker raids of April 1942.
Medieval churches, homes, pubs, shops and industry fell
victim to the bombers. |