Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

Many thanks to Sylvia for bringing Ebenezer Cobham Brewer to our attention on Tuesday.  He was born in Norwich and famous for writing, A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar and Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.  To find out more please select the following link:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Cobham_Brewer

Maharaja Duleep Singh

There is a statue of Maharaja Duleep Singh on Butten Island in Thetford.  So who is he?  Why is there a Sikh statue in Thetford?  He was the last Sikh ruler, removed by the British and exiled to Britain in 1854.  Where did he live on the Norfolk/Suffolk border?  Which member of the royal family was he a firm favourite of?  The following article talks about his life and the 2022 exhibition at the Norwich Archive centre.  To find out more please select the following link:  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-63225177

Thomas Fowell Buxton

For those that enjoyed last week's talk from Alison Dow and would like to learn a little more about Thomas, here is a related article.  The article is more related to his life in London but hopefully you will find it of interest.  I need to make a note to look out for his grave the next time I am in Overstrand:  

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/thomas-fowell-buxton/

Taverham Mill

I walked over to the Taverham Mill nature reserve the other day and enjoyed some pleasant tea and cake in their cafe.  On the wall was the below picture and some history of Taverham Mill, it must have a been a real hive of activity at it’s peak which is in contrast to the lovely peaceful surroundings of today’s nature reserve.  I thought that a related article would be of interest.  

https://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/taverham.html

Wanderings of a Fallible Flaneur

Colin has made a recent post to his blog “Wanderings of a Fallible Flaneur” describing his visit to St Margaret’s Stratton Strawless.  Please select the following link to find out more.  You may also wish to explore his blog:  

https://thefallibleflaneur.blogspot.com/2025/02/stratton-strawless-st-margaret-always.html

Augustine Briggs

One of the tokens that Adrian Marsden showed us on Tuesday was issued by Augustine Briggs, a grocer, a Royalist who became Mayor.  Here is an article about Augustine with some contributions from Adrian:  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-67772625

Photos From Guildhall Tour

I attended a tour of the above on Friday and here are some photos that I took.  The first is of some medieval graffiti which are love hearts carved into the crypt where Kett and other prisoners were kept.  These may well have been messages to loved ones in the prisoners' final days.  

Here is some graffiti of a boat from the same crypt.  It doesn’t seem certain whether the boats represented a vocation or whether they were a vessel of travel (e.g. escape or means of travel through purgatory), we will probably never know.  

The final photo is a picture of the wall around Norwich.  We are all aware that the wall didn’t extend to the area behind the cathedral and Bishop’s Bridge but I wasn’t aware that the gap in the wall was so large at St Martin’s Gate (top left in the photo) which in my view would make the city vulnerable to attack.  Obviously the river was the defensive barrier in these areas but as we know from Kett’s rebellion, a committed force could get over the river.  Anyway the other main purpose of the wall was for the collection of tolls and this along with the river performed an excellent perimeter for this purpose.  

 

Watts Naval School

I had a Ramblers walk at North Elmham a couple of weeks ago and I came across the remains of the Watts Naval School.  The County School station on the Mid Norfolk Heritage Railway also takes the name from this school.  It started off as a Naval College and then was taken over by Barnardo’s, one of its famous pupils was Sir John Mills, the actor who was born there.  Here is a link to learn more:  

http://www.pwsts.org.uk/watts.htm

Undercrofts of Norwich

We enjoyed an excellent film on the undercrofts today.  I didn't realise that there are at least 60 in Norwich.  To supplement the film, if you would like to learn more about the undercrofts of Norwich here is a website called Norwich Underground:

http://www.norwichunderground.xyz/undercrofts/

Lazar House

We had a talk about leprosy in Norwich by Peter Balcombe a few weeks ago so I thought an article about Lazar House would be of interest.  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