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Norwich, England Vacations, Tours and Travel packages  |
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For 900 years, the county town of Norwich has been the seat of the bishops of eastern England. The city boasts no fewer than 32 medieval churches; only London can claim more. With a city center which has grown harmoniously over the centuries, Norwich is one of the most pleasant cities in the country to live in. Around Market Square, itself one of the largest and most important in East Anglia, are ranged the 15th-century Guildhall, the City Hall (13th century), and the Library (1963). To the south, the church of St. Peter Mancroft in Perpendicular style stands on the square in front of the Royal Theatre and the Assembly Rooms (used for concerts and the like). Passing through the Art Nouveau Royal Arcade, you'll come to the base of the castle mound, topped by the 12th-century Castle. At the center of this complex is a Norman tower which served as a prison until 1884. Today, the castle houses an archaeological museum, and collections of weapons and paintings.
North of the castle is the Bridewell Museum which exhibits local products such as silk shawls, Mackintosh sweets and the first wire netting machine in the world (1844). Right beside the museum is the Old Curiosity Shop, which presents another specialty of the town, the famed Colman's mustard. John Robinson, pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers, once preached in nearby St. Andrew's church. Princess Street leads to Elm Hill, a steep cobbled street with a plethora of inviting shops in historic buildings. West of Elm Hill, at the Maddermarket (dyers' market) is Strangers' Hall, named for the first Flemish weavers who fled to Norwich as religious refugees. Dating from the late Middle Ages, the building houses a museum of costume and furniture.
The Norman-Gothic Cathedral has the second-highest tower in England (314 ft/ 96 m). Building started in 1096 and was completed in 1145. In the early Norman nave with its 14 crossbeams, the windows, in Decorated and Perpendicular styles, have been preserved. Notice the richly-decorated misericords in the choir and the keystones of the arches and capitals. Northeast of the cathedral, Riverside Walk leads along the river Wensum past Cow Tower (part of the old city walls) to the 14th-century Bishop's Bridge, one of the oldest bridges in England.
On the western fringes of the city is the campus of the University of East Anglia, built in the 1960s in what the students think of as a modern brutalist style, with residences in the form of ziggurats. The creative writing course here, led by Malcolm Bradbury, has produced a slew of successful young writers, including Ian McEwen and Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day). Also on campus is the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, a collection of modern art with works by Picasso, Giacometti and Moore.
The Brecklands
Southwest of Norwich is Thetford, a bishopric until the 11th century and the birthplace of Thomas Paine, who later crossed the Atlantic and actively worked to bring about American independence. In Thetford, too, you can still see sections and ruins of five of 80 former monasteries and nunneries, as well as a wellpreserved medieval moue, castle hill.
North of Thetford, in the wooded Brecklands, are Grimes Graves, an archaeological site where neolithic flints, spear- and arrow heads have been found. Further north is Oxborough Hall, one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Norfolk. At Mildenhall, on the river Lark, one of the greatest Roman treasure troves was found in 1946. Called the "Thetford Treasure," it is exhibited today in the British Museum.
Bury St. Edmunds, south of Thetford, is named after King Edmund who was buried here after being killed by the Danes in 870. The picturesque ruins of the famous Benedictine Abbey (11th century) can be seen in the town's park. The massive Abbey Gate was added later in Perpendicular Style. On November 20, 1214, the mightiest nobles in the land met in the abbey to proclaim the Magna Carta and to force King John Lackland to accept it (which he finally did in June, 121.5). Worth a visit is one of the oldest houses of East Anglia, Moyse's House (12th century), now a museum, and the Church of St. Mary (15th century), near the Norman Gate. It contains the grave of Mary Tudor.
Newmarket, on the border of Cambridgeshire, is the home of the Jockey Club, the horse-racing control board founded in 1840, as well as the National Horseracing Museum. You will need a permit to visit stables in Newmarket, but anyone can enjoy watching the thoroughbreds at exercise in the fields, free of charge. |
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