Christopher Berry

“ Norwich has experienced of late years, a number of improvements; the lighting is much more brilliant, and better regulated than formerly; the paving also, which is in great forwardness, and the alterations consequent thereon, have already much improved many parts, and will when finished, add greatly to the beauty of the city, and to the convenience and comfort of the inhabitants and occasional visitors. ”

“ Bethelham Hospital, or Bedlam, was founded in the year 1713, for the reception of lunatics; for its endowment, the founder settled by will, all her estates on a body of trustees, who were to have the management of the house forever. As many poor lunatics are kept here gratis, as the funds will allow—the inhabitants of the city having the first claim; after which the trustees have the power of selecting proper objects from any part of the county; they may also admit others, while there is room, whose friends will agree to pay the moderate allowance of four shillings and sixpence per week. ”

“ It is to be lamented that the fitting up of the choirs serve to destroy part of the grandeur and solemnity, and shuts out the sight from a general and comprehensive view of the building. Within the church and cloisters, still remain some curious memorials of the dead; but the greater part are removed, like those to whom they belong, to make room for others, or have fallen a sacrifice to the gradual inroads of time.
The Bishop’s Palace stands on the north side of the cathedral, was erected in the year 1318, and was enlarged and ornamented by several successive Bishops ”

“ In the garden is also a bowling-green and an orchestra for the reception of a military band, and the garden and pantheon on this occasion is elegantly lighted up with thirty thousand lamps, in a style superior to any thing of the kind out of the metropolis; the pantheon is at other times occasionally used for very large dinner parties, and for the exhibition of performances, for which the theatre is not adapted. ”

“ Norwich market has for a long series of years, been held in the highest estimation, for the quantity and quality of provisions, with which it has been supplied, particularly for poultry, which are sent from hence, in considerable quantities to London, and various other parts of the kingdom. The market is under the regulation of a Committee from the Court of Aldermen, and Commons. Market-days, Wednesday and Saturday. Collector of the market, Mr. R. Harmar. The Fish-market, adjoining, is generally well supplied (from Yarmouth) daily, as is the butchery, with beef and mutton. ”

“ The Sheriffs are chosen—one by a letter from the court of Aldermen, in the early part of July, and returnable if a full assembly can be made, within fourteen days, upon paying a fine of £80 to the corporation, till the 10th of August; on which day, whoever holds it must serve the office. The other Sheriff is elected by the freemen on the last Tuesday in August, and they are both sworn into office on Michaelmas-day. The Mayor with the Sheriffs, hold courts every Wednesday and Saturday, to hear complaints, and to do every other act tending to the peaceable government of the city. ”

“ Formerly, here were two workhouses for the poor, one the Duke of Norfolk’s Palace, hired by the Court of him for that purpose, and within these few year, pulled down; the other in St. Andrew’s, adjoining the Hall, which is the only place occupied for that purpose at present.
The annual expence of maintaining the poor of Norwich, has amounted to £20,000 on an average for the last 20 years, which has been raised by an assessment on the half rental of occupations, at about 5s. on the pound quarterly.
The workhouses falling to decay; inconvenient, unhealthy, and unnecessarily expensive ”

“ The keels and wherries which navigate between Norwich and Yarmouth are acknowledged to be superior to any other small craft in England, for carrying a larger burthen, and being worked at a smaller expence;—their burthen is from fifteen to fifty tons; they have but one mast, which lets down, and carry only one large square sail, are covered close by hatches, and have a cabin superior to many coasting vessels, in which oftentimes the keelman and his family live ”

“ Norwich Public Library, was instituted in 1784, and was held in the City Library-room adjoining St. Andrew’s hall, till 1794, when it was removed to the building formerly the catholic chapel, Wymer-street, where books are delivered by the librarian to the subscribers, every day, between the hours of eleven and two, Sundays and a few holidays excepted. It contains upwards of 7000 volumes. Every subscriber pays two guineas and a half, on his admission, and an additional half-guinea, annually. ”

“ It became necessary to import yarn, as well as wool, and the consumption of bay yarn from Ireland was very great. The neighbouring Counties and Scotland also contributed something considerable. At this meridian of prosperity, the trade, from the capriciousness of fashion, began again to decay, and the disastrous war breaking out, dissolved its continental connections, depressed the spirit of enterprise, and paralized the hand of industry. ”

“ The master has a good house on the premises, and a liberal salary.
The hospital for indigent blind of Norfolk and Norwich, was instituted in 1805, and in the p. 25month of October, various pupils were admitted. It is principally indebted to Thomas Tawell Esq. who purchased a very handsome house, with upwards of 3 acres of ground, in Magdalen-street, which he contributed for the use of the establishment, and applied it as an asylum for aged blind persons, and a school for the instruction of the young, in manufacturing articles, by which they may obtain a livelihood ”

“ The Norwich cattle-market, held on the castle meadow, every Saturday, has for many years been increasing, and is considered at this time, the first cattle-market in the kingdom, out of the metropolis. The Corporation, at an Assembly held in September, 1809, ordered pens to be erected for pigs and sheep, more convenient places to be assigned for beasts, horses, stalls, waggons, carts, &c. ”

“ Augustine’s Parish, on the south side the Gildencraft, which is a strong brick building with a large burying-ground; the other in the Goat-lane, near the market-place, which is much smaller and more generally attended. There are several other places of worship, used by the Protestant Dissenters, of which, that belonging p. 33to the Unitarians is by far the most elegant. It is an octangular building supported within-side by eight elegant Corinthian Pillars. The pews are wainscot, the cieling is an ornamented dome, and the effect of the whole, is remarkably striking. ”

“ At present, the merchants being shut out of foreign markets by war, and from our own by fashion, the number of hands employed must be considerably reduced. The principal articles of this manufactory, are bombazines and broad camblets, for the latter, of which the East India Company, have annually given large orders, and it is much to be lamented that the benefits, which formerly accrued from this manufacture, should within the last few years have been in a great measure dissipated by a narrow jealousy and want of unanimity amongst the manufacturers. ”

“ The bowling-green near chapel-field, is much the largest in or near Norwich, and is well frequented by the tradesmen in the neighbourhood, and strangers, during the summer season.
p. 38The Adam and Eve garden, in St. Martin’s palace, near the cathedral, is a pleasant rural spot, on the opposite side of the river to Vauxhall, it has a good prospect of the horse-barracks, and in the summer seasons is very well frequented.
At Bracondale and Carrow, are some pleasant gardens, commanding a beautiful general prospect, particularly towards Thorpe, over the river. ”

“ The Excise-office, is at the Bull, in Magdalen-street. The Permit-office, in St. Peter’s Hungate, opposite the Church. The Stamp-office, St. Giles’s Broad street, I. H. Cole, Esq. Receiver.
The Post-office is in the Tuns’ court, near the market-place, where the Mails arrive from London, every forenoon, (Monday excepted) , between and 12 o’clock, and are dispatched every afternoon, (Saturday excepted) , at four o’clock; the Mails from all the intermediate places branching upon the London road, arrive and are dispatched at the same time every day. ”

“ Norwich, in its present state, is said to p. 2occupy more ground, comparatively with its population, than any city in the kingdom, being much interspersed with gardens, and it is frequently stiled, a city in an orchard; its shape is irregular, and may not unaptly be compared to a shoulder of mutton—it is full one mile and a half in length, and a mile and quarter broad. It contains thirty four churches and a number of chapels and meeting houses, besides the cathedral ”

“ The commissioners under the paving act are one hundred and thirty-six in number; sixty-three permanent, besides the Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, Recorder, Steward, the Speaker of the Commons, the Rev. the Dean and Prebendary, in all thirty-one, and forty-two Parochial Commissioners, chosen annually. Clerk’s office on Elm-hill, there are also a surveyor and four collectors of the rates.
Among the modern institutions of the city is one which serves to shew that the fine arts are encouraged even at this distance from the metropolis ”

“ Harwin, lives in the Rose-lane, King-street, where 50 boys and girls are educated.
The Independents and other dissenters from the church, contribute something towards the education of the children of their respective persuasions; besides, a school for the education of girls has been lately established by the dissenters, which is supported by annual collections at the different meetings. ”

“ John Cosin, was born in Norwich, in 1594, he studied in Caius College, Cambridge; he was promoted to several church preferments, which, at the commencement of the civil wars, he was deprived of, being the first clergyman who suffered that species of punishment for his loyalty. ”

“ Mr. Wilkins says, Norwich castle is the best exterior of this kind of architecture extant. The area of the ancient castle, including its outer works, contained about 23 acres, the whole of which was surrounded by a wall; the principal entrance was by Bar, now Ber-street, through Golden-Ball-lane, by the Barbican Gate, which was flanked by two towers, and connected with the external vallum, by a wall; the extent of the outermost ditch reached on the west part to the edge of the present Market Pace, on the north to London-lane, which it included; and on the east almost to King-street ”

“ Great Conisford ward, including the Nominees, choosing twelve,—Great Mancroft ward sixteen,—Great Wymer ward twenty,—and the Northern ward twelve. In ward elections the resident freemen only have at right to vote, and the election for Nominees takes place on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, before passion-week.
The City is governed by a Mayor, Recorder, Steward, two Sheriffs, twenty-four Aldermen, (of which the Mayor is one,) sixty Common Council-men, a Town-clerk, Chamberlain and Sword-bearer, attended by suitable officers. ”

“ According to ancient manuscripts, a large arm of the sea flowed up to Norwich, till about the time of William the Conqueror. There exists positive evidence of Norwich being a fishing town in the reign of Canute, about the year 1020. In the time of Edward the Confessor, about the year 1050, it appears to have had 25 churches, and 1320 Burgesses; during the peaceable reign of Edward, and his successor, Harold, it continued to increase in wealth and population. ”

“ To articles before mentioned, have been of late years added, cottons, shawls and some other fancy goods, both of silk and cotton; some of which are calculated for furniture, and some for dress, and which for elegance, surpass any thing of the kind made in the kingdom. Cotton thread lace is also made here, and no inconsiderable quantity of hempen cloth.
The staple manufactory of Norwich, furnishes about fifty distinct occupations from the shearer of the sheep to the mariner who ships the goods. The earnings of the different artizens are various—men from 6s. to 30s. per week; women from 5s. ”

“ From the statement of the society, it appears that near 700 tradesmen’s widows and orphans have already received benefit from the funds of the association; and that the accumulating fund of the society from benefactions, &c. amount to nearly £3000. Mr. C. Bagg, Clerk.
The Norfolk Benevolent Medical Society, for raising and establishing a fund for the relief and benefit of widows and children of surgeons and apothecaries, and of indigent members of the profession, in Norfolk and Norwich, instituted in 1786. ”

“ According to Mr. Wilkins, the entrance into the Barbican was at the south end of Golden-Ball-Lane, and not at the north, as Blomfield has it; over each foss in this direction was a bridge, but only one of them remains; this extends across the inner ditch, and according to Mr. Wilkins, is formed of “the largest and most perfect arch of Saxon workmanship in the kingdom.” This bridge is nearly 150 feet in extent, and the Castle stands just across it on the south west part of the hill ”

“ The house when well filled, appears to the best advantage, and then any person who has a taste for theatrical amusements, neatness and elegance, cannot fail being agreeably entertained with the appearance of the audience, the performers and the house. ”

“ Julian’s church, being founded anterior to the conquest and for its exhibiting some specimens of Saxon architecture.
St. Peter’s Mancroft church, a handsome regular building, and after the cathedral, superior in size and architecture to any other; it stands on an elevated spot at the south west corner of the market place. Blomfield states it was finished in the year 1455; it consists of a square tower, about 100 feet high, though evidently intended to have been much higher, as appears by the double buttresses extending to the top, and the thickness of the walls ”

“ The author of the Tour through the Island of Great Britain, in 1724, gives a statement which was furnished by a manufacturer, whereby p. 12it appears 120,000 persons were employed in the various branches of the Norwich manufactory. Arthur Young considers the interval from the year 1743, till the unfortunate dispute with the American colonies, to have been a flourishing era; the number of looms were then found to be 12,000, and it was calculated that each loom, with its attendant preparation, produced work to the value of £100 per annum ”

“ The Guild-hall was originally a small thatched building, and in Edward the third’s time, was called a toll-booth; about the same time, a small room was added, from which it acquired the name of the Guild-hall, and continued in this state till Henry the Fourth in 1406, granted the city, a charter for electing a Mayor, &c., at which time, a committee was formed, and a warrant granted them to raise money, and press p. 30all workmen for the erecting of a new Guild-hall, which business was so vigorously pursued, that in 1409, the roof was raised ”