Given the time of year, here is an article that explains the origins of Christmas and how it has been celebrated through the years. You will probably know some of this but it will be a good refresher:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-christmas/
I undertook a walk of the Castle Fee with Colin on Monday and I thought a related article would be of interest. The Castle Fee is an area outside the Keep that is controlled by the Crown and is normally defined by a stone wall for defensive purposes, very much based on the Motte and Bailey principle, the Motte being a mound with a Keep on it and the Bailey being the walled courtyard outlining the extent of the Fee. The city would have control of the area outside of the Fee. There were instances where you could reside inside the Crown jurisdiction, commit a crime outside the Fee and walk free! The Fee ended in 1345 when the military purpose of the castle diminished and the Crown started selling off their land to the city authorities.
Here is an article that shows you the extent of the Castle Fee and the early history of the castle. I didn’t realise that it was subject to at least two sieges:
https://norwichcastle.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/a-castle-fit-for-a-king/
Here is an interesting article on Norwich Cathedral. A great deal of this information you will know but a refresher is always useful. The section on graffiti and curses is particularly interesting. Colin gets a mention so the information is from a good source. Please select the following link:
https://burialsandbeyond.com/2019/06/18/hidden-curses-and-witch-graffiti-at-norwich-cathedral/
Colin brought my attention to this the other day on one of his Heritage Walks when we were walking around St John Timberhill. They can take many shapes and sizes but fundamentally they mean the same thing. Many think it is War Office-related, but it is in fact an OS benchmark (BM) and a means of marking a height above sea level. Surveyors in our history made these marks to record height above Ordnance Datum Newlyn (ODN – mean sea level determined at Newlyn in Cornwall). If the exact height of one BM was known, the exact height of the next could be found by measuring the difference in heights, through a process of spirit levelling. They can be found cut into houses, churches, bridges and many other structures. There are hundreds of thousands of them dotted across Great Britain, although we no longer use them today.
I came across this castle a couple of years ago when walking with the Ramblers. The remains are quite impressive including the keep and the circular moat. It is well worth a visit. The castle was built in 1176 by William d’Albini, a Norman Baron and supporter of William The Conqueror. D’Albini also built Castle Rising and he built a new town to service his new castle but what was it called and how did this town become wealthy? To find out more, please access the following link:
https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/norfolk/castles/new-buckenham-castle.htm
You may have seen this story on the national news recently. In early 2019, seven metal detectorists found a cache of 2,584 coins dating to the Norman Conquest in southern England. Now, the nearly 1,000-year-old silver pennies have sold for £4.3 million—making them the most expensive treasure ever found in the United Kingdom. To find out more, please select the following link:
Here is an article to supplement Andrew Tullet's talk of two weeks ago. It outlines his quest to log and photograph all the Norfolk village signs - there are supposed to be 520 in all. Please select the following link:
