Norwich Flood of 1912

Here is an interesting film requested by Mike Hudson from the Little Bit of History series.  You may have seen the flood level signs scattered around the city but what really happened in 1912?  And it all happened in August!  What areas of Norwich were worst hit?  How many people died?  3500 homes and 15,000 people were affected but how many people lost their homes?  Which King and Queen made a personal contribution to the emergency fund?  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link, you can play the film by selecting the play button (you may need to move the red bar back to the start):

https://youtu.be/y1Z-EUhq-Q0 

Here is a supplemental article from the Broadland Memories Blog about the 1912 Flood.  There are some wonderful pictures of the damage caused and how people coped in the crisis.  You can access this article via the below link:

https://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/2012/08/1912-floods-photo-gallery/ 

Norwich Great Hospital

David Woods has requested an article on the above.  Bishop Walter de Suffield founded the Great Hospital in 1249 but who were the original beneficiaries?  How many beds were earmarked for the poor and how many did they feed at the gate each day?  The Chancel was lavishly decorated with 252 panels, each depicting a black eagle but who was it painted in honour of?  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:

http://www.greathospital.org.uk/history/

Lazar House

I attended an interesting talk on the above by the Magdalen Walks Group.  It dates back to late 11th and early 12th century but what was its original purpose?  Magdalen House was built beside Lazar House but who did it house?  What happened to Lazar House under the dissolution of the monasteries and what was it known as?  And what is it used for now?  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:

http://www.sprowstonheritage.org.uk/Lazar_House 

School’s Out: Places of Learning in Norwich

Here is another interesting film from the Norwich Society about the history of Norwich schools, colleges and universities.   Did you realise that the oldest place of learning in Norwich was the Greater Hospital?  A Charnel House is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored but did you know that the Norwich School Chapel was used as a Charnel House?  Why was the Bracondale School erected in 1821?  Where was the Norwich High School for Boys and which famous film star was a pupil there?  Carrow Hill School was built by local Philanthropists but which famous local family was it?  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link, you can play the film by selecting the play button (you may need to move the red bar back to the start):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qt1fJ9E7CI&t=27s

Here is a written EDP article on Norwich School Chapel being used as a Charnel House.  These were the days when you could pop round to see the remains of your ancestors and get comfort that they are ready to walk to paradise!  You can access this article via the below link:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/weird-norfolk-bone-house-norwich-charnel-house-1489592

Wood Farm - Wolferton

After the sad passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, here is an EDP article on the Norfolk farm where he spent the last years of his life.  The origins of the farm as a royal residence start with Prince John, the youngest son of George V, who resided at Wood Farm from 1917 until his death there in 1919.  It is also used to accommodate divorced spouses of royals such as Sarah, Duchess of York, during holiday periods.  What type of activities did the Duke undertake at the Farm and what activities did the Queen undertake when she stayed there?  There are some lovely pictures of Wolferton Station which closed in 1969 and this is very well preserved and worth a visit.  You can imagine the royalty and dignitaries getting off the train and heading to Sandringham.  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/wood-farm-sandringham-is-royal-retreat-1591850

Robert Hales - The Norfolk Giant

Here is an interesting film from the series A Little Bit of History.  I had never heard of Robert - so who was he?  He towered over brothers and sisters that were well over six foot, so how tall was he?  How much did he weigh?  After a brief career in the Royal Navy he joined the circus and had some very distinguished admirers but who were they?  He then journeyed to the United States, but whose famous circus did he join?  And in which Norfolk village is he buried?  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link, you can play the film by selecting the play button (you may need to move the red bar back to the start):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziKVBQTlIJ0&t=8s

Here is an EDP article on Robert to supplement the above film which can be accessed via the below link:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/weird-norfolk-robert-hales-giant-pt-barnham-1477246 

River Wensum: from busy highway to pleasant backwater

Here is an interesting film by the Norwich Society.  I do like their films!  Do you know where the origin of the River Wensum is?  How many herring pies did Norwich have to provide to the king?  How many wherries were there on Norfolk rivers?  There is a lovely photo of Petch's Corner.  What was the original purpose of Pulls Ferry and of Dragon Hall?  Where did the leather workers live?  Why was the Wensum coloured red?  To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link, you can play the film by selecting the play button (you may need to move the red bar back to the start):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp7xpFZn6Q0

The Founding of St James Mill, Norwich

 

Standing by the bank of the River Wensum nearby to Whitefriars Bridge, is the iconic English Industrial Revolution mill building, now known as, 'St James Mill' (completed in 1839). Nowadays, it is an office building. However, in its original form, it was fitted with power looms and together with six buildings in total, formed a mill complex. Today, only the mill building and its engine house survive. We don't tend to associate Norwich with the Industrial Revolution, so what is the story behind this development (the only survivor from several other mills of a similar date, incidentally).

Facing competition from the resource rich (in terms of coal and water) North, between 1825-1837 the Norwich weavers faced a protracted recession. It wasn't just about resources and good riverine transport infrastructure (canals etc) that left Norwich at a competitive disadvantage: the city's weaving had long been primarily a domestic endeavour undertaken within households. The construction of large weaving mills in the North, with all of the attendant cost advantages that gave factory owners, also left Norwich struggling to compete. This is a long and complex story and if you want to learn more I can recommend Richard Wilson's excellent chapter, 'The Textile Industry', within the 'Norwich Since 1550' volume (Eds. Rawcliffe & Wilson). 

It was in this context that in 1833 Sir Samuel Bignold established the 'Norwich Yarn Company' in an attempt to construct a mill that could provide employment for local weavers and which could compete with the Northern factory production. At the ceremony marking the laying of the building's foundation stone (which, regrettably, I haven't been able to locate), a local wool-sorter called Joseph Spence read the following oration* which he had composed for the occasion:

Please click on image in order to enlarge

This address captures something of the optimism and hope that local people were investing in this venture, 'to extend the Norwich [weaving] trade'. The reference to Bishop Blaize is most apt, as he was the patron saint of weavers. However, sadly, those hopes did not translate into the kind of boom in factory produced weaving that folk had hoped for. The Yarn Mill never really thrived and has only survived by being used and adapted for a range of activities over the succeeding years. 

Although this failure to compete resulted in very harsh human consequences for local weavers, the one redeeming - and altogether, unintended - consequence of this, is that, being largely 'by-passed' by the forces of the Industrial Revolution, Norwich now has an incredibly rich built heritage of medieval and Early Modern buildings. Make no mistake, had these ventures really taken off, this built-heritage would have been obliterated without any sentiment. 

Colin 

* I own a facsimile copy of this address, which is the one pictured above