Our First Meeting of 2013...

Our first meeting of the New Year will take place on Tuesday 8th January, meeting at 10:30am in Marzano's cafe, located on the ground floor of the Forum (we gather at the reserved tables to the right of the serving counter). Once we have socialised etc we will be going up to the library's 'Training Room' to have a further look at the wonderful Norfolk Heritage Collection (their Wycliffite bible, that once belonged to Queen Anne Boleyn's uncle, is just one 'jewel' in this amazing archive). 

Please do join us!

PS Please note: Dave Tong would like to apologise to NCHC members for not being able to come and tell us some stories at our last gathering before Christmas. Unfortunately, a close family member was taken ill on the day and he left his house without his mobile. I am glad to report that his relative is currently in a stable condition. 

Norwich Heritage Newsletter

The Norwich Heritage Economic And Regeneration Trust's new e-newsletter is now available HERE

Christmas Tales and Historians Questions - Tuesday 8th January

We always meet at 10:30 in the Marzanos cafe, located in the Norwich Forum. Tables are reserved for our us to the right of the serving area. After half-an-hour socialising and talking history around our tables we, either, go to the 'Training Room' on the top floor of the library, or we go out and explore the city's many historic treasures. 

Christmas Tales...
For our final session before our Christmas break (we'll resume on Tuesday 8th January), Dave Tong (historian and professional storyteller) returns to regale our members with his fantastic Christmas tales. As ever, I'm sure he will be engaging, entertaining and informative. 

Historians Questions...
However, before we get to that, next Tuesday's session will see a change of approach from our recent talk orientated ones. Archive specialist, Liz Budd, is going to join us to answer our questions about how we would go about researching people, places, industries etc. What are the sources, and how can you access them? That kind of thing. This more interactive and informal session will also allow us to find out about each others interests, and we will be doing more of this format into the future...

Doing Different...
... Talking of which: yesterday, I had a conversation with BBC Producer, Gary Standley, about the possibility of club members getting involved with making some films about local historical places that mean something to them. We're resolved to make this happen, so, with that in mind, Gary will be coming to talk to us about this in the New Year. This is a great example of the way that we, in the Norwich Community History Club, "do different". 

Easy to reach history...
There is another point I'd like to make, and which I will repeat from time to time: our club is about making people feel comfortable and welcome (that's one of the reasons we always start by meeting in the Marzanos cafe). Part of this, is about facilitating access. Access doesn't just happen, there has to be an active will to make it work. For this reason, if anyone who attends doesn't understand something we've discussed, or wants to make a point, but is too intimidated by 'the crowd' to do so, please do feel able to come and talk to me. It might also be that you there are other barriers you are experiencing. If so, please discuss this with me. I will make myself available after our gathering for this purpose. We come in all 'shapes and sizes', and I aspire for our club to reflect that. (Oh, and by the way, I would once have been completely intimidated myself about joining a "HISTORY CLUB", assuming, as I would have, that they would be too posh and think themselves too clever for the likes of me - I had an inferiority complex masked by an aggressive mask back then!)

Also, we tend to think about access as purely about overcoming barriers, however, it is a far more positive process than that. For instance, not only do people with different experiences and backgrounds often ask different questions, they often ask seemingly simple questions that folk who are more formally 'schooled'/immersed don't think to ask. For instance, my friend, Jacques Kalume (a Congolese refugee - and an erudite and highly intelligent man), has stumped me on a number of occasions, such as when he asked me why the Duke of Edinburgh is not called a king (can anyone help us with that one?). In a wider sense, he also made a group, where I was tutor,really think about the value of our local historic heritage, when - amazed at the age of Norwich Cathedral - he explained that it was a wonder to him and his community that such a building could survive so long, as in the Democratic Republic of Congo a terrible civil war means that - to use Jacques' words at the time - "everything is smashed." In this context, the survival of archives, buildings etc should be savoured, celebrated and appreciated much more than we tend to do. 

Another example of this, is the way that people with dyslexia - perhaps because of the 'dyslexic gift' around their visual pattern recognition - seem to be really good at identifying, often seemingly incoherent, medieval graffiti. Indeed, his (then undiagnosed) dyslexia enabled Dave Tong to be excellent at reading old historic records when he was studying for his BA and MA in history at UEA...

Please click on image in order to enlarge:
An example of pre-modern handwriting from early
1600s, transcribed from the Norwich Mayor's Court Records:
"... Margaret Caly on Witson Tuesday [...] often tymes clapped her hand on
her backside and badd him [an official called, Christopher Gyles] kiss there"

I think you get my point - diversity is not just a positive exchange in itself, in our context, it also improves our thinking as historians. 

Finally...
On some other projects I'm involved with, other members like to get involved by, for instance, contributing to the project's blog. If you wish to write something to go on here, or post a photo perhaps - whatever - please let me know (I can make you a contributor, so you can post on here, just as I am doing now). You don't even have to be online to do so. I'm happy to transcribe what you've written, or scan images, on your behalf. Over time, I'm sure we'll develop a Social Media team of volunteers to make this more participatory and multi-voiced platform.  

See you next Tuesday!

~ Colin ~

Week 4: 'Norwich Before the Normans' - Sophie Cabot

Archaeologist, Sophie Cabot, delivered an excellent talk about the development of Norwich in the period before the Norman invasion in 1066. This survey, took us from the early development of the settlement along the banks of the river Wensum, beginning in the 6th-7th centuries, to the accelerated growth of the city during the period of Scandinavian (Viking) domination beginning in the 9th century. 

Given the immense changes since those times, most of the evidence for this relatively distant past is archaeological. Noting the many gaps, absences and, necessarily, scanty and skewed nature of the surviving evidence, Sophie nevertheless managed to help us picture the city's roots, routes and past. 

There was so much of interest to ponder, but one thing that - once again - struck me, was the importance of language in describing - or, in this instance, periodising - the past. I thought Sophie's explanation of the movement and migration of people from, initially, north-west mainland Europe to Eastern England, and the subsequent re-orientation towards Scandinavia was well made. Being in an area of the country that was dominated by 'Viking' settlement, means that Norfolk's history between the middle of the ninth century (800s) to the Norman Conquest (1066) should really be referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian period, rather than the much more commonly known, 'Anglo-Saxon'.

It is also true that Norfolk - despite the stereotypes - has always been subject to outside influences - hence my reference to 'routes' (above). There is an often neglected tendency for historians to underestimate the influence of geography - the effects that space/places exert.  Conversely, Human geographers often underplay the influence of history on the formation of places. This is one reason why I would love for someone like Tom Williamson (a Landscape historian who teaches at UEA) to get involved with us from time to time (in fact, I think I'll email him in a minute!). 

Listening, I made a note to self, thinking that one future session for the Club might be a generic one with an historian and an archaeologist talking about the way their chosen field generates knowledge of the past. Just a thought... If you think that would be of interest, let me know (and you can, of course, leave comments via this blog: easiest to sign in as 'Anon' - please note, all comments are moderated)

Anyway, Sophie definitely earned her round of applause at the end, and from the feedback I've received, left us wanting more.

Thanks Sophie!

Feedback on the day:
"A wealth of knowledge I would (otherwise) probably never find out about."
"Very interesting and informative. Thank you"
"Very interesting - learning a lot"

The Common Folk Will Yet Speak

A short piece, on another blog, about the discovery (yesterday) of this fascinating graffito at Norwich Cathedral

Medieval Graffiti - The Common Folk Will Yet Speak

Paws for Reflection

I'm interested in footprints - real and metaphorical. It always fascinates me when, through happenstance or circumstance, an otherwise transient moment is captured in time. A few years ago I was doing some doing some research on the fate of a family living next to Saint Peter Mancroft church during the plague of 1666. I was looking through the parish record, following the fate of a single  family (the Phipps') as they were decimated one-by-one. I noted with sadness when the - by now - familiar handwriting of the Churchwarden suddenly changed, and the previous incumbents name was added to the list of fatalities (noted by the abbreviation, 'pla'). Likewise, I was fortunate to be involved in an archaeological excavation in south Norfolk where an ancient butchery site, containing several mammoth skeletons had been discovered. It was so poignant to find the tip of an antler (used to pressure sharpen flint axes) that had last been held by another hominid c10,000 years previously - and that hand belonged to an living, breathing Neanderthal... 

And that takes me to the photograph above. This captures a moment in the brickyards at Sprowston in the late nineteenth century when a cat sprang up from a brick drying in the sun, leaving its impress for us to wonder at. The footprint is by the door of a relatives terraced house in north Norwich. History isn't just written in books. 

~ Colin ~

Norwich Before 1066 - Tues 11th Dec

Sophie in the limelight!

Next week we have Sophie Cabot, an archaeologist working for HEART, coming to speak to us about Norwich before 1066. Although there are occasional mentions of Norwich in documents, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, archaeology has played a vital part in helping us to picture the development of the city during this pre-Norman period.  Sophie is an excellent speaker and really knows her stuff, so come along, ask questions and enjoy. 

As ever, we will be meeting in Marzanos cafe (ground floor, Norwich Forum) at 10:30am (tables are reserved for our group, to the right of the service area). At around 11am we will go up to the Training Room in the Millennium Library to hear Sophie's talk. I'm excited to hear what she has to say!

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Week 3: The Medieval Graffiti Talk

Colin, talking about medieval graffiti

Thank you once again to everyone who made the effort to turn out on another cold day to meet and learn together. I gave a talk about Norfolk's recently discovered medieval graffiti, and about the work of the Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey, that I volunteer for. As I think I conveyed, for me, the two main things that draw me to study this area are:
(i) the material we are finding is, generally, made by people outside of the elite in medieval society (a useful corrective)
(ii) there is something very special to me about knowing you are standing where someone one stood hundreds of years previously

Knowing, as I do, something about the composition of the group, it was really pleasing to me to recognise a diverse range of people in the group. I was talking to one man who attended earlier today, and he said that, ordinarily, he would never have had the confidence to join a history club. However, having made that first step, he is really enjoying it. Although I didn't announce his presence, we were also very fortunate to have a Professor Joel Rosenthal in the audience. Joel is a medieval historian from Stony Brook University in America, and was very interested in the innovative graffiti project, and has promised to email me lots of questions. 

For those who are interested in becoming more actively involved, I am currently trying to organise a training session at one of the city's churches in the New Year (hopefully, St Peter Mancroft). Volunteers who undertake this will then be 'equipped' to join the survey team at Norwich Cathedral - which, I promise, is going to be very interesting indeed. I will let you know about this once I have confirmation of the date. 

Selections from the session feedback:
"Wonderful and very clear to understand."
"It was good to hear about 'people's history'!"
"I could relate to some of the reasoning why people would draw graffiti in those times. We are not so different from those people..."

Best Wishes,
Colin

Please note: our comments section is now live. You don't have to be signed up to Blogger to leave a comment; just click on the 'No Comments/Comments' link below each post, and select 'Anonymous'. All comments are moderated, but will be added to the blog. We'd love to have feedback/thoughts/responses from you. 

Next Club Meeting - 'Walls Speak: Discovering Norfolk's Medieval Graffiti'

Come along and find out why we call this
'Andrew's Horse'

For those of you who have attended the Norwich Community History Club thus far, it will come as no surprise to learn that next Tuesday's sessions will be about one of my passions: medieval 'graffiti' (take note of the inverted commas - they're there for a reason). I'm heavily involved with the community archaeology project, The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey, and in this presentation I will share with you some of the projects discoveries. 

When & Where...
Tuesday 4th December 
10:30 informal gathering in Marzanos Cafe (in Norwich Forum, ground floor, near piano)
11:00-12:00 presentation, 'Walls Speak: Discovering Norfolk's Medieval Graffiti'. 

Speaker: Colin Howey (Deputy Director of the Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey)

STOP PRESS!
Future speakers who have agreed to come and speak to our Club so far (specifics to be arranged):

• Sophie Cabot, archaeologist and Engagement Manager at HEART (HEritage  And Regeneration Trust)
• Professor Carole Rawcliffe, professor of medieval history at UEA
• Brian Ayers, former Norfolk county archaeologist

We are really grateful for the amazing support and contributions being given to our venture thus far - thanks!

Christmas Heritage Hours at Millennium Library

Please click on image in order to enlarge

Prayer in Stone

In preparation for a presentation I'll be giving later this week about medieval 'graffiti' in Norfolk, I have been re-visiting Norwich Castle earlier today, in search of some decent photographs for my talk. Here is a really interesting little graffito, that can be found on the wall opposite one of the castle's latrines. Looking at the tooling marks on the ashlar (worked limestone), I would imagine this stone to date from sometime in the 1400s - or thereabouts. Lots of background 'noise'; a flurry of lines and 'scribble' - and there, to the right of the stone, a figure. It appears to be Christ on the cross, head bowed slightly to the right - just as it would have been on a pre-Reformation rood (carved figure of Jesus above the screen demarcating nave from chancel in a church - none of which survived the destruction wrought by the English Reformation[s]). Looking, as I did, with my high-resolution magnifier at the lines in the graffito it is clear that this figure has some real age to it. The lines are fully carbonated - a result, no doubt, of accumulations of smoke from prisoners fires burning low-grade charcoal in an attempt to stay warm. The whole 'feel' of this one is medieval. It stands short of five feet (in old money) from the floor level. Assuming this, then, to have been carved at a chest height, the person who conceived it (from brain to wall) was of diminutive stature. 

We will never be able to reconstruct the thoughts of that person. If it were not for this 'whisper' of their presence, they would be just one of a legion of 'invisible' people who have passed through this space during its 900 years of existence. If I am correct, and the stone does indeed date from the fifteenth century, and the graffito is pre-Reformation, then it is most likely carved by someone who was a prisoner in what was, by then, the county gaol. We know that graffiti tends to proliferate during times of social tension - war, famine, plague -, so it seems psychological coherent to conjecture that a prisoner facing possible execution might seek to leave a permanent mark - but not any old mark. Was this perhaps a form of devotion; a prayer in stone? Regardless of any interpretation, it does remind us that others - as alive and 'contemporary' in their day as we are in ours - once stood here. 

Rigorous handling of the evidence is vital if we are to gain a better understanding of the past. However, for me, to stretch one's historical imagination and explore a sense of wonder at the strangely familiar presence of those who have passed before us is important too. History isn't just written on parchment, paper or velum - that's for sure. 

For further information about medieval graffiti in Norfolk, click on the following link:
Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey

~ Colin Howey ~ 

Week2: Maps, Chats, Muddles & Puddles

Dr. Carole Hill, talking to Club members about
Francis Blomefield's county history

Another great turnout for this, the second meeting of our new history club. I want to thank every one who made the effort to join us on what was a wet and windy day. 

From now on we will always meet for the first half an hour or so in Marzanos cafe, in the Norwich Forum. We sat around our respective tables and folk seemed to be chatting away nicely. Not wanting to over-direct things, I left people to just catch up and socialise (meeting and mixing is an important part of this Club). I also took the opportunity to invite people to leave feedback about last weeks presentation by historian and storyteller, Dave Tong. Here are a couple of excerpts from that exercise:

"Dave was rubbish..." Only kidding! Here's the real feedback:

"Dave was brilliant - more than living up to his storyteller reputation. Knowledgable and very interesting."

"Excellent, really enjoyed it. Interesting and funny."

I think we should get Mr. Tong back at some point - in fact, I'm meeting with him tomorrow and will attempt to bribe him to return with the irresistible offer of baked beans on toast at the All Saints Cafe (no expense spared at this Club!). 

Back to today: having supped and socialised, we went up to the library's meeting room, where the Community Librarian, Clare Agate, awaited. As she took small groups into the strong room to view a little of the amazing Norfolk Heritage Collection (see video in previous post), those remaining looked at a large copy of the first map of Norwich (Cuningham's 1558 map); the two Norwich volumes of Francis Blomefield's 'History of Norfolk..." (1805) and a late nineteenth century copy of the Eastern Daily Press (reporting floods in the city). 

Clare had expected me to talk authoritatively about the Cuningham map; however, I started by muddling Chapelfield with Cowholme, whereupon Sophie (from HEART), quite rightfully sensing my 'upside-down-ness' (ie my ineptitude!), stepped in and talked us through some of the salient features, answering questions from the group (I meekly shut up - it's a strength to be aware of one's limitations... that's what I tell myself, anyway).  

Dr. Carole Hill then very kindly talked about the uses and limitations of Blomefield's seminal 'History', from the perspective of the historian. Although it is important to be aware of Blomefield's biases, errors and omissions, he had access to a lot of records that no longer exist - and that makes his work a very useful resource indeed. Although the 'Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk' (draws breath... gasp!), is now available online (see HERE), you can't beat connecting with the real books, in all their musty authenticity. 

Finally, we looked at some contemporary coverage of the 'great flood' in Norwich, as recorded in the EDP of November 1878. This event happened before the more famous flood of 1912, after which the river Wensum was widened in order to help prevent further inundations. Hundreds of people were made homeless as a result of the rising waters. This is well out of living memory now, but reading the account in the paper made it feel vividly real. 

~ Colin Howey ~

A Norfolk Heritage Treasure Trove!

The early Fifteenth century Wycliffite bible.
Please click on image in order to enlarge

I'm still buzzing from the amazing success of our first meeting, yesterday! Whilst Dave's session was excellent and well received, the two of us - both used to belting out at volume - agreed that Marzanos cafe was a real challenge to a speaker in terms of background noise. Fret not though, anonymous reader, for we have worked out a solution...

The Club will continue to meet at Marzanos at 10:30 on Tuesdays, however, I propose that we meet at there for the first half an hour, and then move on: either, to the Training Room in the Millennium Library (very kindly offered in partnership to us by the Norfolk Library & Information Service!), or to any sites we are visiting. 

Thus, next Tuesday (27th November), we will assemble in the cafe, enjoy a drink and socialise a bit, before going up to the Training Room. Waiting for us there, will be the wonderful Clare Agate (Community Librarian), who is going to show us some of the fascinating historical materials held therein (see, for instance, the illuminated bible, above). We are hoping to be able to take small groups into the 'strong room' where the c500,000 Norfolk-related books, photographs, postcards are kept. In the meantime, I will talk about some of the items which will be out on display in the Training Room. If she is able to make it along, my friend, Dr. Carole Hill (author of, 'Women and Religion in Late Medieval Norwich', published 2010), will also be available to talk about some of the work. Trust me, you won't regret making the effort to see this for yourselves. As a little taster, I will share a video I recently made (as part of a series of short films, called, 'Why We Love Our Library'):



Come along next Tuesday and get in touch with history!

Week 1: A Really Encouraging Start!

Please click on image in order to enlarge

Summary...
As you can see from the photo (above) we had a fantastic turn-out for our first Club meeting yesterday! Massive thanks to everyone who made the effort to make the journey on what was, initially, a grey, drizzly day. 

The gathering (kindly hosted by Marzanos cafe in the Norwich Forum - thanks to all the staff for facilitating this!), began with me introducing myself and outlining my ideas about how the group might develop. It would have been very easy for folk attending to passively listen to me and Dave (our speaker), but as encouraging people to socialise with other 'history nuts' is part of our ethos, people worked in small groups, sharing then writing down their reasons for attending and initial ideas about how the Club might develop (this has been really useful feedback for me, by the way!). 

Dave then gave a fascinating, engaging and often funny presentation about the nature of civic order and disorder in Early Modern (Tudor/Stuart: 1500-1600s: 16th/17th centuries) Norwich. Being a professional storyteller, he also interspersed this with some entertaining short stories, that he set in the context of the times.   

Feedback...
I have received some really positive feedback about the session from those present. Here is an example:
"I was thoroughly entertained, educated and enthused by today" - Simon.

Next...
We're currently working on the content of next Tuesday's session and I'll be posting something here about that very soon. 

Welcome...

Medieval graffiti in St Peter Mancroft church, Norwich.
Please click on image in order to enlarge

We're starting a new club - the Norwich Community History Club - where people can meet together in a friendly, inclusive and informal setting (Marzanos cafe in the Forum) to learn more about history (focusing primarily - but not exclusively! - on local history). This club is open to all, but I will be actively recruiting those who experience barriers, being deemed to be 'hard to reach'/hardly reached (it's always the organisations that fail to do the 'reaching' in my experience!).  

The sort of thing we might end up doing as the group evolves, includes:

• Listening to/learning from guest speakers
• Sharing books/broadcasts we have enjoyed
• Skill sharing - raising and answering questions; sharing 'in-house' knowledge
• Visiting historic buildings in the city (and beyond)
• Initiating our own history projects
• Developing an Info Bank of available historic resources
• Developing a blog (this one!)
• Socialising/meeting new people brought together through common interests
• Encouraging and supporting each other on our learning journey

For our first meeting (Tuesday 20th November, 10:30-12:00 - members/guests will meet every Tuesday at that time/place thereafter) I have invited my friend, and former museum colleague, Dave Tong, to come and talk to us about a subject he has genuine expertise in - namely, folk who lived outside the 'rules' around Norwich market in the Tudor/Stuart period (1500-1600s). He has entitled this one, 'Playing Games and Being Shamed on Norwich Market Place.' Dave is a lively and entertaining speaker (as you would expect from someone who is, both, an historian and a professional story teller). Come along, then, and get a 'flavour' of life on the margins in Tudor/Stuart Norwich. 

Finally, if you have a particular area of expertise that you would be happy to donate to our club, or access to resources that we would benefit from, that would be VERY welcome indeed. If this voluntary organisation is to develop in the way I hope it will, your contributions will be a key part of our growth and I look forward to your support. 

For further information, please contact Colin Howey on:
colin.howey@norfolk.gov.uk