Gazetteer page 9

The Cathedral contains a few interesting tombs. That of the founder, Herbert de Lozinga, is at the foot of the high altar. Originally it was raised above the ground, and on its sides were the arms of the members of the chapter in whose time it was erected. Its top slab is now let into the floor, and bears a Latin inscription by Dean Prideaux. [The tomb of Sir Thomas Erpingham, the builder of the Erpingham Gate, has disappeared; its site is marked by a raised seat along the wall of the north choir aisle.] Sir William Boleyn, of Blickling, grandfather of Queen Elizabeth, was buried here in 1505. His tomb is in the first arch south (counting from east) of the presbytery. The next recess contains a monument to Bishop Overall (1618-19), and the third the tomb of Bishop Gold well (1472-79) the builder of the vaulted stone roof. The effigy gives a very good idea of the ecclesiastical vestments of the period. Other tombs and monuments are those of Prior W. Walsham (1218), Sir Thomas Windham, vice-admiral (1421), Bishop Wakering (1426), Sir John Hobart, attorney-general to Henry VII., Bishop Nyx (1536), Bishop Parkhurst (1575), and Chancellor Miles Spenser (sixteenth century). The tomb of Bishop Bathurst, who died in 1837, is in the south transept. It is the work of Sir Francis Chantrey. Bishop Stanley, father of the famous Dean of Westminster, is buried in the centre of the nave. The flags hanging from either 298 side of the junction of choir and transept are the colours of the 54th or West Norfolk Regiment of Foot.

Of the Cloisters, Dean Goulburn writes: " The cloisters form one of the largest and most beautiful quadrangles of the kind in England. They comprise a square of about 174 feet, and are twelve feet wide. At first sight they appear uniform in construction, but upon examination there will be found a considerable difference in form and detail. They were commenced by Bishop Walpole about 1297; and although proceeded with by succeeding prelates, were not completed until 1430. The style of architecture is Decorated, mixed with traces of the Perpendicular. The eastern part will be found to be the most ancient; and a progressive change may be observed in the tracery of the windows, commencing at the north-east corner, and continuing through the south, the west, and terminating with the north sides. The roof is much admired for its exquisitely beautiful groining, and its sculptured bosses at the intersections of the groining." Some remains of a priory founded by Bishop Lozinga may be seen near the cloisters, the most conspicuous being three clustered columns, with curiously carved capitals.

The Erpingham Gate, which faces the west front of the Cathedral, was built by Sir Thomas Erpingham, who fought at Agincourt, and to whom Shakespeare makes King Henry V. say on the morning of the battle.

"Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham,

A good soft pillow for that good white head

Were better than the churlish turf of France."

the old knight replying: -

"Not so, my liege; this lodging likes me better,

Since I may say, ' Now lie I like a king.' "

A figure in a niche of the pediment is supposed to be that of the builder. St. Ethelberfs Gate, at the other end of the open space known as Tom bland, was erected as an act of penance by Norwich citizens who had quarrelled with the Prior of Norwich, and burnt and sacked his priory. It dates from about 1272. The Palace or St. Martin s Gate, on the north side of the Cathedral, in St. Martin's Plain, was built by Bishop Alnwick about 1430.

The Bishop's Palace stands on the north side. Little of the original building founded by Bishop Lozinga remains. Some ruins in the garden are supposed to be those of the entrance into the great hall. The chapel, restored in 1662, contains monuments to Bishops Reynolds and Sparrow.

The Free Grammar School, which stands a little distance from the west door of the Cathedral, was originally a chapel dedicated to St John. It dates from about 1325. The portico was built by Bishop Lyhart in 1463. Lord Nelson and Sir James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak, were scholars here. The statue of Lord Nelson, opposite the school, is by Milne.

A. double arch by the waterside, at the extremity of the close, is the old water-gate to the precincts. It is popularly known as Pull's Ferry.

Norwich Castle, which now contains the Museum, stands on an artificial earthwork of unknown origin, and overlooks the great cattle mart known as the Castle Hill. Although the entire building is called the Castle, only the great square Norman keep has a right to the name, for the other portions were built for a prison in 1824. A tradition generally accepted is that the kings of East Anglia had some kind of seat on the castle mound; but history has no definite record of any building existing before the Conquest. The first stone fortess was begun by William Fitz-Osbern, one of the Conqueror's followers, whose duty it was to keep in subjection the vanquished English of the district. In 1074 the constable was Ralph Guader, upon whom the king bestowed the Earldom of Norfolk and Suffolk. Two years later Guader married Emma, a daughter of Fitz-Osbern, who, when her husband rebelled against the king, and was absent from home, held the castle for three months against the king's troops. Of this castle, the Rev. W. Hudson writes, it is doubtful if there are any relics " except perhaps a fewslight remains in the walls of the basement." The existing keep is probably the work of Earl Roger Bigod (lord of the castle in the reign of William Rufus), and of his son Hugh, who played a prominent part in the barons' wars against King Henry III, In 1217 it was taken by Louis of France, but soon recovered. From this time until 1345 it was used as a royal prison. It was then handed over to the Sheriff of Norfolk for a county gaol. In 1806 it was transferred to the county magistrates, who held it till 1884, when it was purchased by the Norwich Corporation and eventually converted into a museum.

The keep was formerly accessible by an external staircase. This has been destroyed, but it originally terminated in the fore-building known as Bigod's Tower. The interior was lighted by very narrow windows only. '' Between these narrow openings on the south side are some curious pipe-like passages in the wall, by which the archers could communicate with each other. The level of the floor of the basement was several feet lower than the present floor. It may be reached by a staircase at the southwest corner, and there the general arrangement of the building may be seen. It was divided into two halves by a great wall running from east to west. The foundations of this wall are still there; it is marked above by the line of modern columns, and it rose to the height from which the double-pitched roof now springs. The passage through the wall below is the original passage. In the northern half of the basement are the bases of an arcade of Norman columns, which supported a floor on the level of the present gallery. In the southern half will be seen another great wall, which sub-divided that half of the building into two parts. In the angle between these two walls is the old well, a most important feature of such places of refuge....

Beyond the sub-dividing wall are remains of dungeons with some interesting scratches made, probably in very early times, by some prisoners.... The visitor should go up to the gallery. At the north-east corner is the great entrance, with its richly ornamented Norman doorway, still existing outside. It gave access to the great hall, which extended across the keep on the level of the gallery." Hudson. The view from the battlements of the keep is a grand one. The visitor who wishes to identify its various features will do well to obtain a detailed description of them sold in the castle.

Some reference to the contents of the Mztseum is made in Itinerary II.; but to fully appreciate its splendid collections the visitor should get Mr T. Southwell's "Official Guide to the Norwich Castle Museum" (is.).

Omitting those recently built, the following are the Norwich churches.

St Peter Mancroft in the Upper Market Place.

St Andrew's, in Broad Street, rebuilt in 1506; contains some interesting monuments of the Suckling Family, especially one to Sir John Suckling, the secretary, comptroller, and privy councillor to James I.; and another to Abraham Lincoln, said to have been an ancestor of the American President.

All Saints, in Westlegate Street, contains a handsome font.

St Augustine's, in St Augustine Street.

St Benedict's, in St Benedict's Street.

St Clement's, in Colegate Street.

St Edmund's, in Fishgate Street.

St Etheldred's, in King Street, has a fine Norman doorway and round tower with octangular belfry storey.

St George Colegate contains some fine oak carving; also the tomb of " Old Crome," the famous Norwich artist.

St George's, Tombland.

St Giles's, in St Giles's Street. A fine Perpendicular church with a tower 120 feet high. It contains some good brasses.

St Gregory's, in Pottergate Street, has the altar raised above the level of the floor, and a passage beneath it. It contains a brass lectern, dated 1496, an interesting ringer's gallery, remnants of an old painted screen, and a Sanctuary Knocker on the vestry door.

St Helen's, in Bishopgate Street, now the church of St Giles's Hospital.

St James', Pockthorpe, contains an ancient font ornamented with carved figures.

St John's, Maddermarket, contains some fine brasses, and a tablet to the second wife of the fourth Duke of Norfolk.

St John de Sepulchre, in Ber Street.

St John the Baptist, Tiraberhill.

St Julian's, in King Street, has a Norman doorway and contains other Norman work. Its round tower is believed to date from before the Conquest.

St Lawrence's, in St Benedict's Street.

St Margaret's, between Lower Westwick and St Benedict's Streets.

St Martin's-at-Oakj in Oak Street.

St Martin's-at-Palace, in Palace Plain.

St Mary's, in Coslany Street, has a round tower believed to be Saxon.

St Michael's, or St Miles', in Coslany Street, is a good example of Norfolk Perpendicular work, and contains the "Thorp Chapel," famous for its flint and stone panelled work. Here is also a chantry chapel built by William Ramsey, mayor in 1502-8, and containing his altar tomb.

St Michael-at-Plea, in Queen Street, has a reredos composed of restored fourteenth century panel paintings.

St Michael-at-Thorn, in Ber Street, has a Norman porch.

St Paul's, in St Paul's Square, has an ancient round tower.

St Peter Hungate, on Elm Hill.

St Peter Permountergate, in King Street, contains a tomb (1623) with recumbent effigies; also a carved oak reredos with a panel picture of " The Last Supper."

St Saviour's, in Magdalen Street, contains the curiously carved stem of an ancient font.

St Simon's, in Wensum Street, contains some ancient monuments.

St Stephen's, in Rampant Horse Street, contains some fifteenth and sixteenth centuries brasses, and a large number of mural monuments.

St Swithin's, in St Benedict's Street, a dilapidated building, containing Norman work and a carved roof, is now disused.

At the corner of Blackfriars Street is the famous St Andrew s Hall, a magnificent Perpendicular building, open daily to the public. Originally it was the nave of a Blackfriars priory. It was built about the middle of the fifteenth century, when a son of Sir Thomas Erpingham was a friar of the priory. The arms of his family are on the outside wall of the clerestory. The Hall was granted to the city at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Since then it has been used for many civic purposes, and in it Charles II. was entertained when he visited Norwich and knighted Sir Thomas Browne. The Triennial Musical Festivals have been held in it since 1824. Among the many portraits it contains are those of Queen Anne, George, Prince of Denmark, Robert, Earl of Orford, Horatio Walpole, Lord Nelson, Sir Harbord Harbord, by Gainsborough, and the late Lord Stafford. The Nelson portrait is by Beackey, and is the last for which the gallant admiral sat. Two historical pictures at the west end are by Thomas Martin, a native of Norwich, and pupil of Cipriani. They represent Edward and Queen Eleanor, and the death of Lady Jane Grey. Edward VI. Middle School, northward of the Hall, contains part of the cloisters and domestic buildings of the Blackfriars priory.

The Guildhall, in the market-place, is a black flint building dating from the fifteenth century. It contains several portraits of early mayors and benefactors; also the sword of the Spanish admiral Don Xavier Winthuysen, taken at the battle of St Vincent, and presented to the city by Lord Nelson. The city regalia, kept here, includes a mace presented by Queen Elizabeth in 1578. In a chamber under the Hall Thomas Bilney the martyr was imprisoned until burnt at the stake in the Lollard's Pit, near Mousehold Heath.

The Shirehall, on the east side of the Castle, was built in 1823. In it was conducted the trial of Blomfield Rush, who murdered Mr Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, and his son, at Stanfield Hall. The Agricultural Hall, at the city end of Prince of Wales Road, was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1882.

Visitors entering Norwich by Prince of Wales Road cross a bridge over the Wensum. A little way above is the Bishop's Bridge, built in 1295 by the Prior of Norwich. Some traces of the city's old fortifications are seen about here in the Cow Tower (so-called from a story that a cow once climbed its stairs), and the Devil's Tower, near Carrow Bridge. From the Bishop's Bridge it is not far to Mousehold Heath, on a hill of which are the barracks and county prison. The Heath was the scene of the final battle between Kelt's rebels and the Earl of Warwick's troops. It is now converted into a People's Park; but the greater part of it remains in a wild state.