The Changing Face Of Norwich

By A. P. Cooper

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Stokowski Press
• Release date: Jun 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528763288

Book preview

THE

CHANGING FACE OF NORWICH

BY A. P. COOPER, D.A.A., M.I.A.M.A.

CHAPTER I

The Market Place

SO obvious are the changes which have taken place that it scarcely seems possible that only twelve years separate the dates of the two photographs which form the subject of the first chapter of our Changing Face of Norwich series. Yet such is the case, for the picture on page 5 was taken in 1935, whilst the larger one was photographed quite recently. Moreover, in these alterations the hand of war has played but a small part, most of the changes being due to planned improvements first contemplated when hostile activity was but a vague possibility and most of them actually completed before bombing was more than an impending threat.

That an adequate and modern building was necessary to house the multifarious activities of local government is obvious from the mere appearance of the patchwork premises which formed the offices for many departments of the City Corporation at the time of our 1935 picture. The City of Norwich Estates Department, for instance, occupied the two blocks on the left of the picture which appear previously to have been public houses—we think they were the ‘Waterloo Tavern’ and the ‘Royal Exchange,’—whilst the remaining premises between there and the ancient Guildhall housed the Town Clerk’s Departments, the City Engineer and the offices of the Education Committee.

Having so hopelessly outgrown these Municipal Offices, many departments had their staffs dotted about in premises at varying distances from the Guildhall. The police, for instance, though they occupied part of the Guildhall itself, used a temporary erection generally referred to as The Tin Hut, which stood midway between the offices shown on our photograph and St. Peter Mancroft Church.

The Fishmarket which had stood hereabouts for years, with steps leading up to that part of the Upper Market known as The Butchery, had been moved to its present site in Mountergate many years before even our earlier picture was taken.

Turning now to the modern picture, we express no opinion upon the architectural merits of the new City Hall, for whilst some of those best qualified to judge regard the design as a very good one, others are less flattering, one extremist referring to it in the Eastern Daily Press as resembling a marmalade factory. Be that as it may, its internal accommodation is certainly a vast improvement over the higgledy-piggledy premises from which the City staff had previously to operate.

The next most striking change which the photographs disclose is the way in which the ancient Guildhall, erected early in the 15th century, has been thrown open to the view and now stands out in splendid isolation despite the comparative magnitude of its more newly-erected neighbour.

One of the features of Norwich Market Place which, though largely taken for granted by local people, catches the eye of visitors, is the attractive and colourful appearance imparted to the view by the striped tilts of the market stalls. Our photographs are a reminder that whereas the stalls used to be arranged in lines parallel with the Walk, they now run up and down the hill. A stranger is always impressed by the flower and fruit stalls, especially those nearest to the Walk. In pre-war days the array of produce and the modest price at which fruit was sold were a source of surprise to visitors from other districts. Prices have certainly changed since then and some of the imported fruits are no longer to be seen yet visitors still aver that we are fortunate in the variety and quantity of produce on offer.

In the earlier picture the statue of the Duke of Wellington is visible above the stalls near the lamp standard. When the market was re-designed this statue was removed to the Upper Close, where it forms a companion to the one of Nelson which faces the King Edward VI School he once attended. It may not be generally realized that the Duke of Wellington’s statue was unveiled in the Market Place in 1854 by Sir Samuel Bignold, the son of