Norwich

This past weekend we left our students to fend for themselves and took off for a couple days in East Anglia, about three hours due east and just a tiny bit south of here. We visited the town of King's Lynn, spent the night in Norwich, and visited a couple of country mansions in the region just south of the seaside town of Cromer.

King's Lynn is a town in Norfolk, just a couple miles inland from the mouth of the River Great Ouse (not to be confused with the other two rivers in Britain name Ouse, one in Yorkshire and the other in Sussex -- there seems to have been a lot of oozing in English rivers).

Vancouver's statue on the old docks, in front of the 18th century customs house.

As a seaport it doesn't see much action these days, but in the days of sail and empire it was quite the hub of activity. One can still see some of that legacy. A statue of Captain George Vancouver stands near the old Customs House. Vancouver, who lent his name to islands and cities in the Pacific northwest of America, was born here in 1757, when the port was in its heyday.

The old guild hall bears the seal of Queen Elizabeth I above the door. She was on the throne when it was built.

The town was known as Bishop's Lynn until the Reformation. When Henry VIII took over direct rule from the Bishop of Norwich, the name changed. Many signs and business names simply say, "Lynn" (neither king's nor bishop's), which comes from the old Celtic word for a lake or body of water.

High water marks near the church entrance.

The church is a focal point, and quite nice. But one can see the evidence of frequent floods.

Church interior -- water damage visible at the bases of the pillars, too.

On to Norwich (pronounced NOR-itch, the "w" is silent), which was once, before the Industrial Revolution, England's "second city" and an important market center. The old market is still a focal point, and the city is still a big center for shopping -- almost as much as Nottingham, even though Norwich is smaller.

Dragon Hall, built in the 15th century as a trading hall, and still used today for weddings and special events.

A big fire in 1507 pretty much wiped out the old town, but a thriving economy meant that much was rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries. Despite some heavy bombing in World War II, much of that architecture remains. The charming old buildings are what one comes to see, if one isn't into shopping.

Norwich Cathedral is a grand edifice, with tall spire second only to Salisbury Cathedral in height. But the interior lacks the grandeur of some of the other cathedrals we've visited, and the acoustics seemed rather odd to our ears. At evensong, either the guest choir was mumbling or the echo made it difficult to understand the words as they sang.

Norwich Cathedral

Piety is a part of Norwich heritage. Julian of Norwich, a 13th century nun, is considered a saint. This area remained a Catholic stronghold in the Reformation turmoil, and there is also a large Roman Catholic cathedral in town. It too is very grand on the outside, but we didn't get a chance to go in.

A tiny portion of Norwich market square, to the left, with St. Peter Mancroft  Church.
New, post-WW II city hall to the right.

The number of old parish churches is astounding. Many no longer function as churches, but are part of the landscape. The largest we visited was St. Peter Mancroft Church, overlooking the market square. It is said to have been admired by John Wesley as, to his eye, the most beautiful parish church in England.

Interior of St. Peter Mancroft. The organist has quite a climb up that spiral staircase!

Norwich has an old reputation as a city of breweries and alehouses. We got a chance to sample some of that in what claims to be the city's oldest pub, the 700+ year old "Adam and Eve." But we noticed that the city centre was nearly dead after dark on a Saturday night -- quite a contrast from lively Nottingham. We even had trouble finding a good place to eat.

Norwich Castle (or what's left of it)

As this post is getting long, I'll save the rest of our weekend for a second chapter.