On the night of April 27th 1942 St Bartholomew, Heigham (a suburb of Norwich), was gutted following a German air-raid. The nave walls survived the attack but were demolished during the post-war period, but fortunately the tower was consolidated and here it still stands.
This was the church in which Bishop Joseph Hall (1574-1656), was buried. Following his expulsion from Norwich Cathedral Hall during the English Civil War, he had taken up residence nearby, in what is now known as ‘The Dolphin Arms’ (a property that also suffered extensive damage in the same raid). I have a copy of Bishop Hall’s will and in it he clearly expresses his wish to have a modest memorial. However, following the Restoration in 1660, his, no doubt, well meaning friends and supporters were responsible for a monument within the church, reputedly of extraordinary ugliness (no images survive).
Although the bombing of the church was a tragedy, it did mean that Hall’s wishes were, in a sense, eventually fulfilled. How appropriate, then, that Sir Thomas Browne, who was his doctor during his waning days, wrote the following lines after his death:
‘A
person of singular humility, patience and piety: his own works are [his] best
monument.’
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| Bishop Joseph Hall |
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