Proceeding eastward out of the Fenland and among the hills of Norfolk,
the little river Wensum is found to have cut a broad, deep, and
trench-like valley into the chalk and gravel plateau. Upon the elevated
bank of the river is the irregularly picturesque town of Norwich, with
the castle keep rising above the undulating mass of buildings, and the
cathedral and its noble spire overtopping the lower portion of the city
on the right hand. Norwich is an ancient town, but very little is known
with certainty about it anterior to the Danish invasions. We are told
that its original location was at the more southerly castle of Caister,
whence the inhabitants migrated to the present site, for--
"Caister was a city when Norwich was none,
And Norwich was built of Caister stone."
Canute held possession of Norwich and had a castle there, but the
present castle seems to date from the Norman Conquest, when it was
granted to Ralph de Quader, who turned traitor to the king, causing
Norfolk to be besieged, captured, and greatly injured. Then the castle
was granted to Roger Bigod. The town grew, and became especially
prosperous from the settlement there of numerous Flemish weavers in the
fourteenth century and of Walloons in Elizabeth's reign. It managed to
keep pretty well out of the Civil Wars, but a local historian says, "The
inhabitants have been saved from stagnation by the exceeding bitterness
with which all party and local political questions are discussed and
contested, and by the hearty way in which all classes throw themselves
into all really patriotic movements, when their party feeling
occasionally sleeps for a month or two." Norwich is pre-eminently a town
of churches, into the construction of which flint enters largely, it
being dressed with great skill into small roughened cubical blocks.
[Illustration: NORWICH CASTLE.]
The great attraction of Norwich is the cathedral, which stands upon a
low peninsula enclosed by a semicircular sweep of the river, much of the
ground in this region having been originally a swamp. The cathedral is
generally approached from its western side, where there is an open space
in front of the Close called Tombland, upon which two gates open from
it. These are St. Ethelbert's and the Erpingham gate. The latter,
opposite the western front of the cathedral, is named for its builder,
"old Sir Thomas Erpingham," whose "good white head," Shakespeare tells
us, was to be seen on the field of Agincourt. The cathedral is a Norman
structure, cruciform in plan, with an exceptionally long nave, an
apsidal choir, and attached chapels. The earliest parts of it were begun
in 1096, and when partially completed five years afterwards it was
handed over to the care of the Benedictine monks. Thirty years later
the nave was added, but the cathedral was not completed until about
1150. Twice it was seriously injured by fire, and it was not thoroughly
restored for a century, when in 1278 it was again consecrated with great
pomp, in the presence of Edward I. and his court, on Advent Sunday. The
spire, which is one of its most conspicuous features, was added by
Bishop Percy in the fourteenth century, though, having been seriously
injured by lightning, it had to be replaced afterwards. At the same time
the building was greatly altered, its roofs raised and vaulted, and
repairs went on until 1536. Yet, with all the changes that were made in
this famous cathedral, no other in England has managed to preserve its
original plan so nearly undisturbed.
[Illustration: NORWICH CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: NORWICH CATHEDRAL--THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.]
Entering the nave from the westward, this grand apartment is found to
extend two hundred and fifty feet, and to the intersection of the
transepts comprises fourteen bays, three of them being included in the
choir. The triforium is almost as lofty as the nave-arches, and the
solidity of these, surmounted by the grandeur of the upper arcade, gives
a magnificent aspect to the nave. Above is the fine vaulted roof, the
elaborately carved bosses giving a series of scenes from sacred history
extending from the Creation to the Last Judgment. Small chapels were
originally erected against the organ-screen, one of them being dedicated
to the young St. William, a Norfolk saint who in the twelfth century was
tortured and crucified by some Jews. His body, clandestinely buried in a
wood, was found, miracles were wrought, and it was translated to the
cathedral. The Jews of Norwich were then attacked and plundered, and
these outrages were renewed a century later. But times have fortunately
changed since then. The choir extends to the eastern apse, and at the
back of the altar recent alterations have exposed an interesting relic
in a fragment of the original bishop's throne, an elevated chair of
stone placed in the middle of the apse and looking westward. On either
side are apsidal chapels. Among the monuments is that to Sir William
Boleyn, grandfather to the unfortunate Anne Boleyn. He lived at
Blickling, about thirteen miles from Norwich, where Anne is believed to
have been born. Several bishops also lie in the cathedral, and among the
later tombs is that of Dr. Moore, who died in 1779, and whose periwigged
head is in grotesque juxtaposition with a cherub making an ugly face
and appearing to be drying his eyes with his shirt. The spire of Norwich
Cathedral rises two hundred and eighty-seven feet.
[Illustration: NORWICH MARKET-PLACE.]
Norwich Castle is a massive block of masonry crowning the summit of a
mound. Who first built it is unknown, but he is said by popular
tradition to sit buried in his chair and full armed deep down in the
centre of this mound, and "ready for all contingencies." But the castle
has degenerated into a jail, and the great square tower or keep,
ninety-five feet square and seventy feet high, is the only part of the
original structure remaining. It has been refaced with new stone, and
the interior has also been completely changed. The moat is planted with
trees, and on the outside slope the cattle-market is held every
Saturday. Norwich has some historical structures. In its grammar school
Nelson was a scholar, and his statue stands on the green. On the edge of
Tombland stands the house of Sir John Falstaff, a brave soldier and
friend of literature, whose memory is greatly prized in Norfolk, but
whose name has been forgotten by many in the shadow of Shakespeare's
"Fat Jack." The chief centre of the town, however, is the market-place,
on the slope of a hill, where modernized buildings have replaced some of
the more antique structures. Here stands the ancient Guildhall, which in
1413 replaced the old Tolbooth where the market-dues were paid. Within
is the sword surrendered to Nelson by Admiral Winthuysen at the battle
of St. Vincent, and by him presented to the chief city of his native
county of Norfolk. In the olden time the glory of Norwich was the Duke
of Norfolk's palace, but it was destroyed at the end of the seventeenth
century by the then duke in a fit of anger because the mayor would not
permit his troop of players to march through the town with trumpets
blowing. Not a brick of it now stands, the site being covered with small
houses. Norwich was formerly famous for its trade in woollens, the Dutch
introducing them at the neighboring village of Worsted, whence the name.
Now, the coal-mines have aided the spinning-jenny, but the worsteds are
overshadowed by other Norwich manufactures. Colman's mustard-factories
cover ten acres, and Barnard's ornamental iron-work from Norwich is
world-renowned. Norwich also contains an enormous brewery, but in this
the city is not singular, for what is a Briton without his beer?