Vanessa Trevelyan is a Former Chair of the Norwich Society, and presents this video as the Society's first virtual talk.
Bridges of Norwich - self-guided Walk
A riverside trail from Carrow Bridge to New Mills
Events
Bridges of Norwich from Carrow Bridge to New Mills
By Vanessa Trevelyan
A tour of Norwich's bridges, comparing the bridges we see today with historic images.
Historical Research: Making and Using Maps
By John Trevelyan
A look at how to use existing maps in historical research, as well as how to create maps to illustrate research findings.
John Trevelyan is Chair of the Society's Civic Environment Committee, and presents this video as the second in our Historians Virtual Talks Series.
Accompanying notes to this video can be downloaded here.
River Wensum: from Major Highway to Pleasant Backwater
A look at the history of the River Wensum
This video by Vanessa Trevelyan was originally created for Heritage Open Days 2020.
Theatre in Norwich in the Long 18th Century
By Michael Blackwell
An exploration of what sorts of dramatic performances could be seen in Norwich, where these took place and the censorship theatre companies frequently had to deal with.
Michael has led on the coordination of the Society's Historians Group talks for a number of years. He has a particular interest in theatre and in this talk he shares his research on theatre in Norwich during what historians call 'The Long 18th Century', from the Restoration period in the early 17th century through to the Regency period in the early 19th century.
The Norwich Pub Detective: Evidence of Former Pubs & Associated Stories
By Jonathan Hooton
Norwich has had the reputation of a pub for every day. This claim is examined and taken as a starting point for finding out where they have all gone.
The Norwich Pub Detective examines the evidence still to be found to identify former pubs in the City of Norwich and its suburbs from the blindingly obvious to the obscure and quirky. It also is an excuse to discuss many of the interesting and intriguing stories from the past that surround our former pubs.
Jonathan Hooton is a City of Norwich Tour Guide, a former Head of Geography at Notre Dame High School and has a fondness for, and plenty of experience of pubs. He has been a regular feature in the Society's event programme, and had been scheduled to deliver both a live talk and a guided tour of Norwich pubs in the 2020 summer events programme.
300 Years of Pantomime in Norwich
By Michael Blackwell
A look at the history of pantomimes in Norwich over the past three hundred years. Grab a light-stick and a bucket of pick-and-mix and enjoy the presentation!
On behalf of the Norwich Society Historians Group, Vanessa, Jo and Michael would like to wish our growing band of members a very happy Christmas season…or at least as happy as it can be in the present trying circumstances! We thought we’d give our video release for December a seasonal theme - and what better than a trip to the pantomime!
WATCH THE VIDEO
The Undercrofts of Norwich
By Terry George
This talk is a voyage of discovery as Terry introduces viewers to the treasures hidden beneath our feet as we walk through the streets of Norwich.
There are in the region of 80 Undercrofts beneath the city of Norwich, Terry has managed to gain access to around 60 of them. Some are accessible to the public, for example at The Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell and Dragon Hall, but many are located underneath privately owned buildings, haven’t been visited in years and are all but forgotten.
Retirement has provided former teacher Terry George with an opportunity to explore the subjects he is passionate about. Terry’s talk follows on from an article in the Norwich Society’s Member magazine, Aspects of Norwich Autumn 2019, and was received with much enthusiasm and featured in the Eastern Daily Press. This publication can be purchased from The City Bookshop and Jarrold, see publications for details.
A Tour of Norwich Guildhall
By Richard Matthew
A virtual tour of this important, but often overlooked and taken for granted building located in the centre of Norwich.
Richard Matthew is a former Guildhall guide, and this tour focuses on the physical history of the building in the city from the 15th Century through to the present day.
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Building Norwich
Building Norwich is the first video in our Exploring Norwich Series.
This video by Vanessa Trevelyan looks at the various building phases which have shaped Norwich through the centuries.
School’s Out: Places of Learning in Norwich
Norwich can claim to be one of the most scholarly cities in England, with two universities, one of the earliest public schools, the most popular library in Britain, plus many other places where formal and informal learning can take place from writing to dancing.
Vanessa Trevelyan, a previous Chair of the Norwich Society, takes you on a tour of some of the interesting sites and buildings associated with learning over the centuries - some are well-loved landmarks, others are hidden gems...
Norwich and Norfolk and the Fight Against Slavery
By Ian Smith
From the 1780s onwards campaigns against the evils of the trans Atlantic slave trade and the harsh treatment of African slaves in the West Indian colonies grew in importance nationally. Ian will explore the response in Norwich and Norfolk.
How many local people attended meetings? Or signed petitions? And did people actually stop consuming sugar and rum produced by slaves? What roles in the national campaign were played by local figures such as Joseph John Gurney, Amelia Opie and Harriet Martineau?
The anti-slavery movement broke new ground. Never before had petitioning of parliament been deployed so intensively. Never before had weapons like the boycott of goods been used. Never before had public opinion been successfully aroused over the abuse of civil rights in a distant part of the world. Ian evaluates what part Norwich and Norfolk might have played in this success.
Ian Smith is well-known to us as an erudite and fascinating speaker about 18th Century Norwich. After a career in the Diplomatic Service he enrolled at the UEA where he completed a masters degree and began a Ph.D focusing on the history of Norwich during this period. His talk this time will be on Norwich and Norfolk and the Fight against Slavery.
This is a recording of the event, which took place on April 8th, 10:30am as our first live online talk.
150 years of Sewerage in Norwich
By Matthew Williams
The city’s first public sewerage system opened exactly 150 years ago last August, but how were the major geological and topographical challenges overcome in building it? Did it work? Has the system been changed or extended since then?
While preparing on a book about subterranean Norwich, Matt became intrigued by the depth and size of some of Norwich’s sewers, part of a hidden underground system we completely rely on, but hardly ever think about. In this talk, he draws together fragmentary information from a multiplicity of written and visual sources, and has crossed the city looking for manhole covers, to tell the story he calls ‘Norwich’s Netherflow’.
Matt is a chartered geologist and Norwich historian with an interest in tracing continuity from past to present, and in particular in how the city functions as a physical entity – his thesis being that ‘geology drives everything’. He spent 30 years in the construction industry and now enjoys writing local books while working part-time as a professional cycle instructor.
This is a recording of the event, which took place on December 16th, 10:30am.
Shardlake's Tudor History of Norwich
By Vanessa Trevelyan
1549 was a tumultuous year for Norwich as Robert Kett and 10,000 followers besieged the city and demanded social justice from the king. This is the setting for C.J. Sansom’s best-selling novel featuring Tudor Lawyer, Matthews Shardlake.
This live online talk follows in the footsteps of Shardlake as he visits Norwich and is caught up in the rebellion. This is possibly a first for the Norwich Society, taking a fictional character as the basis for a talk about a key period in Norwich’s past, in an event which will prove just as fascinating whether viewers have read the books or are still yet to! There is still so much of Tudor Norwich to see, and we hope it will encourage people to explore Norwich and read the Shardlake novels.
Our speaker, Vanessa Trevelyan is a past Chair of the Norwich Society but, perhaps more importantly, a founder member of the Friends of Kett’s Heights, which was set up to help maintain the site and raise awareness of its historical significance.
This is a recording of the event, which took place on January 28th 2022, 10:30am
The Great Thorpe Railway Disaster 1874: Heroes, Victims, Survivors
By Phyllida Scrivens
This live online talk will examine the facts behind the tragic events of the night of 10 September 1874, afterwards described by the Board of Trade Inquiry as 'the worst collision on a single track line ever seen in the history of the railways’
This illustrated presentation will also explore the identities of some of the heroes, victims and survivors, as researched in depth by the speaker; names that until now have only appeared in memorial lists of those involved.
Our speaker, Phyllida Scrivens, graduated from the School of Creative Writing at UEA in 2014 with an MA in Biography. Her resulting first book Escaping Hitler, the remarkable life story of the late Joe Stirling, was published by Pen and Sword Books in 2016. Phyllida has since written two further biographical works, The Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich 1923-2017, winner of the Best Biography Prize at the East Anglia Book Awards 2018, and in September last year, The Great Thorpe Railway Disaster 1874, an extensive exploration of a controversial incident which took place only a short distance from her home in Thorpe St Andrew. For over six years Phyllida has been a popular public speaker, sharing stories from her books and research journeys, with audiences in venues all over Norfolk as well as more latterly online.
This is a recording of the event, which took place on February 24th 2022, 10:30am
Jarrold 250 Years: a History
By Pete Goodrum
A journey through the development of the Jarrold business from its retail beginnings in Woodbridge to its current position - this is the story of a business and the people who built it.
This live online talk explores how and why the business moved locations, expanded into different sectors and withstood commercial and societal changes. Who were the people who built this business? Why is there so much more to this story than is often perceived? Given unfettered access to the Jarrold commercial and personal archives, our speaker – Pete Goodrum – has written the first account of the company’s history in over a century, and the most comprehensive account of the business ever.
Pete Goodrum is a Norwich man. He has held senior positions in advertising agencies, working on national and international campaigns, and now works as a freelance advertising writer and consultant for a wide range of clients in both the public and private sectors. He is also a successful author; his book ‘Norwich in the 1950s’, topped the local best seller charts for almost three months, the sequel, 'Norwich in the 1960s', also reached the number one spot. In 2020 ‘Jarrold 250 Years: A History’, published to celebrate the company’s anniversary, went straight to number one, staying in the charts for the rest of the year. He has also contributed to the Society’s publication, ‘Aspects of Norwich’.
Pete makes frequent appearances on BBC local radio, writes and presents TV documentaries and is a regular reader of his own work at live poetry sessions. Pete has a real passion for the history of Norwich and Norfolk.
This is a recording of the event, which took place on March 31st 2022, 10:30am
The Jewish Heritage of Norwich
By Sophie Cabot
This talk explores the long Jewish heritage of Norwich and the new Norwich Jewish Heritage Group.
A look at Jewish heritage in the city, including the medieval community which flourished from the 11th-13th centuries and the post-readmission community which has been in the city since the 18th century and which is now represented by two active religious congregations as well as many citizens of Jewish heritage. The talk will also introduce the new Jewish Heritage Group for Norwich, which has been developed with the project ‘Community Archives; Skills, Support & Sustainability’ at the Norfolk Record Office, and explain how this group is seeking to expand public knowledge of this aspect of the city’s heritage. Our speaker will ask why Jewish heritage is so underrepresented in people's understanding of Norwich, and offer some ideas for future projects to address this knowledge gap.
Sophie Cabot is a Community Archivist at Norfolk Record Office. An archaeologist by training, she is also Secretary of the Norfolk & Norwich Archaeological Society, and was formerly engagement Manager at Norwich HEART.
Image credit: Picture Norfolk
This is a recording of the event, which took place on April 28th 2022, 10:30am
Celebrating Norwich's Architectural Heritage of the Future
Join Vanessa Trevelyan as she reflects back on previous centuries and looks at the modern buildings that we hope will be the architectural heritage of the future, many of which have won Norwich Society Design Awards.
This year the Society is collaborating with the Norfolk Association of Architects and Civic Voice in the 2021 Design and Craftsmanship Awards, and this talk includes some of the nominations for these most recent awards.
This is a version of the talk given for Heritage Open Days 2021.
Exploring Norwich On-Line
Introducing our 'Exploring Norwich' Series
During COVID we had to suspend our live guided tours programme and instead introduced a series of videos which would take viewers through Norwich landmarks from a particular perspective.
The series also complements the series of self-guided walking tours which can be downloaded from our website.
Exploring Norwich's Textile History
Norwich was a centre of weaving as early as 1174 and, by the 1670's 50% of freemen were connected with the textile trade. This talk takes you round the sites involved and associated with this historic textile trade.
Our speaker, Vanessa Trevelyan is a past Chair of The Norwich Society but, perhaps more importantly an Honorary Life President of the Costume and Textile Association.
This video was recorded in March 2023.
People's Choice: the Norwich You Love
People's Choice: The Norwich You Love formed part of the Norwich 100 photographic exhibition held at The Forum during Heritage Open Days in September 2023.
The slideshow features places that Norwich people value or hold particularly dear, and can be viewed on the Society's YouTube channel.
Clocks, Sundials and Weathervanes
This slideshow showcases 77 sites across Norwich where you can see clocks, sundials or weathervanes.
The Norwich Society has produced two reports about clocks, sundials and weathervanes, including directories listing the sites where they can be seen. SEE HERE to read and download Society reports.
WATCH THE SLIDESHOW
Strategic Views
This slideshow showcases The Norwich Society's Views Report 2020 which provides an assessment of the views from the River Wensum bridges and strategic views of the Norwich's city centre in summer and winter.
The report is available to read and download HERE
WATCH THE SLIDESHOW
The Remarkable Life of Thomas Fowell Buxton 'The Liberator'
On the wall in a side-chapel of Norwich Cathedral a modest plaque reads – ‘Remember Thomas Fowell Buxton Bt. Member of Parliament Whose Efforts led to the Emancipation of 700,000 slaves on 1st August 1834.’ These simple words commemorate a towering Norfolk hero whose courage, compassion, bravery and tenacity helped change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Dr Alison Dow brings to life the story behind this plaque, looking at the life of Thomas Fowell Buxton and the Norfolk and Norwich community that inspired him and supported him though the brutal, decades-long Parliamentary battle that led finally to the end of slavery throughout the British Empire.
Dr Alison Dow was formerly a GP in Mile Cross, Norwich. She was born and brought up in Northern Rhodesia—now Zambia, the country where David Livingstone died and is still revered because of his strong anti-slavery stance. Alison is not the first in her family to undertake research on Africa-related topics—among her relatives she counts some eminent academics specialising in colonial and African history. She is particularly happy to play her part by researching the life of this local historical figure whose role in history has been much overlooked.
This video is a recording of a live talk at The Forum, Norwich on 29th February 2024. It has been made with the generous support of members of the Buxton Family.
WATCH THE VIDEO
NORWICH’S PARKS AND OPEN SPACES Some Interesting Historical Insights
John Trevelyan will tell us about The Norwich Society's Civic Environment Committee’s Atlas and Directory of the city’s more than 100 parks and open spaces—many of which have a fascinating and not well-known history. He will identify some of the clues to the past that we can discover for ourselves as we visit the places he will talk about.
John is a member and former chair of the Norwich Society’s Civic Environment Committee and led the project to produce an atlas and directory of parks and open spaces.
This talk was first presented live in January 2023 and recorded in March 2023.
NORWICH 100 Caring for the Past & the Future
How the Society has supported Norwich for 100 years.
The threat to Bishop Bridge in 1923 prompted the founding of the Norwich Society to help protect Norwich’s historic environment and encourage new development that will be worthy of our fine city. Norwich 100, a photographic exhibition, showcases 100 places in Norwich – one for very year of our existence – that we feel represent our activities and campaigning over the decades.
The exhibition was held at The Forum, Norwich during Heritage Open Days week in September 2023.
This slideshow showcases the photographs displayed during the exhibition and also additional photographs of the 100 places take during the exhibition development process.
WATCH THE SLIDESHOW
An exhibition catalogue containing all 100 photographs and captions is available to purchase. SEE HERE for details
VIDEO - ADAPTING OUR CITY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: A City-Wide Business and Community Conference
A recording of 'ADAPTING OUR CITY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: A City-Wide Business and Community Conference', 3rd October 2024, The Forum, Norwich, is available to view on the Society's YouTube channel.
The Norwich Society, with over a century of dedication to preserving the beauty, history and character of Norwich, invites you to view this pivotal event addressing one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change.
As part of our Climate Change strategy, we have collaborated with the City Council, academic institutions and the business community, to understand the impact of climate change on our City, and how we can prepare for and mitigate its effects on our community and built heritage.
WATCH THE VIDEO
SPEAKERS
Mike Stonard, Leader, Norwich City Council: Norwich 2040 City Vision
Asher Minns, Director, Tyndall Centre, UEA: Overview of climate change and its impact on Norwich
Nova Fairbank, Chief Executive, Norfolk Chambers of Commerce: The Green economy – opportunities and challenges for business
Stuart Wright, Operations Net Zero Delivery Director, Aviva: Addressing climate change in business strategies
Prof. David Pearson, Visiting Professor, Edinburgh Napier University: Technical innovation and its role in future development
Nigel Hargreaves and Michael Yates, Norwich BID: Norwich Solar System and the role of renewables in a low-carbon economy
Bridget McKenzie, founding director of Climate Museum UK and Culture Declares Emergency, facilitated engaging Q&A sessions encouraging active participation and ideas-sharing.
The event was sponsored by: Triple Bottom Line Accounting, Lanpro and John E Wright
Shardlake's Norwich - self-guided walk
A trail taking in the Norwich buildings with which C.J.Sansom's character Matthew Shardlake would have been familiar.
Clocks and Sundials - self-guided walks
Three trails to help you explore Norwich’s publicly-viewable clocks and sundials.
Signs of Times Past - self-guided walk
This trail looks at some signs of past times: plaques, parish boundary markers, street name signs and a memorial.
The City Walls - self-guided walks
5 trails exploring Norwich’s medieval defences.
Norwich Heritage Trail - self-guided walk
Three trails around the city centre to encourage you to find out more about Norwich.
Norwich Castle fee - self-guided walk
This 30 minute walk takes you around the original boundary, or fee, of Norwich Castle
TALK Norwich in the 1970s. Ten Years in the Life of a City (Ten Years that changed a City). Speaker: Pete Goodrum
For some the 1970s meant punk rock and political unrest. For others it was a time of ABBA and affluence. The decade’s dual identity was as striking in Norwich as it was nationally. While once-familiar streets were demolished, new buildings sprang up. Different brand names appeared in the city centre and with them came a new era of shopping and eating out. For those who remember the steakhouses and nightclubs, the football and the fashions of the 1970s, this talk is a fascinating flashback to a different Norwich. Following his incredibly popular Norwich in the 1960s talk for The Norwich Society in November 2025, Pete Goodrum’s look at the 1970s shines a light on another decade in the city’s history. From the ‘old’ Odeon to the Garlands fire, from Bonds to the ‘Berni’, this is how we lived in Norwich in the 1970s.
Pete Goodrum is a writer and broadcaster, and author of several books on local history. He frequently broadcasts on radio, on a range of subjects and gives talks based on his books. Pete presented Norwich in the 1960s to the Norwich Society’s audience in November 2025.
TALK Thomas Fowell Buxton, Anna Gurney and the two Nelsons. The story of Norfolk and South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. Speaker: Alison Dow
Following on from her talks, Thomas Fowell Buxton and the Abolition of Slavery in the British Empire, and the Norfolk Women of Abolition, Alison Dow will explore the connections between Norfolk and South Africa in the 18th 19th Centuries. Starting with the fight for freedom for enslaved Africans which took up many years of Thomas Fowell Buxton's life, she will uncover another struggle for freedom he supported - this time played out in the Southern tip of Africa. Alison will also talk about the little known but fascinating historical connections with Norfolk and South Africa.
Dr Alison Dow, formerly a GP in Mile Cross, Norwich, and now a public historian, was born and brought up in Northern Rhodesian and has a special interest in colonial and African history, and is happy to play her part by researching the life of local historical figures whose role in history has been much overlooked.
TALK Norwich – City of Gardens. Speaker: Vanessa Trevelyan
Daniel Defoe described a charmingly pastoral city during his tour of Britain, 1724-26. “The walls of this city are reckoned three miles in circumference, taking in more ground than the city of London; but much of the ground lying open in pasture-fields and gardens.”
We might not have so many “pasture fields” now but Norwich is still an exceptionally green city. This talk is an exploration of the many green spaces in our city from public parks to hidden gems, wildlife spaces to therapeutic gardens.
This is the first memorial lecture commemorating the work of Fred Dustin, a photographer and Norwich Society member who passed away in 2023 having recorded so many Norwich landmarks for our centenary celebrations in that same year.
Vanessa Trevelyan is a past Chair of the Norwich Society and currently Chair of the Norfolk Gardens Trust.
TOUR Norwich Cathedral in the Time of the Civil War
The English Civil War was a time of great disturbance both to civic and religious life. The city was rocked by the largest explosion of the century – involving roughly three times the amount of gunpowder as The Gunpowder Plot! The cathedral was ransacked and left nearly derelict, its bishop roughly evicted, cathedral furniture and valuables were burned in the marketplace, and a proposal was even made to demolish the building.
Join us on this specialist tour to learn about the history of ill-feeling which led to this turmoil, and the events of those violent years.
Norwich: a turbulent city.
Make your way to the Entrance in The Refectory. Take a left, go through the shop and into the Cathedral at the western end of the southern aisle where you will find the Society steward and tour guides. The tour will take approximately 1 hr.
Please get in contact if you have mobility issues.
TALK The Languages of Norwich: A Concise History. Speaker: Christopher Joby
In the last two thousand years, many languages and language varieties have been spoken and written in Norwich and the surrounding area. In this lecture, Professor Christopher Joby takes us on a journey from the language of Boudica to the many languages spoken in Norwich today. For much of this period, English in its many forms has been the dominant language in the city. However, invaders and migrants have brought new languages to Norwich including Old Norse, Norman French, Hebrew, Dutch, and, more recently, languages as diverse as Polish and Cantonese. Professor Joby examines who spoke these languages, to whom, and with what consequences.
Christopher Joby PhD, hab., FRHistS was born and educated in Norwich. He has degrees from the universities of Oxford and Durham and has lectured at universities in the UK, Netherlands, Poland, and South Korea. He has published many academic articles on the history of Dutch and other languages including English, and six monographs on contact between the Dutch language and culture and other languages and cultures in historical contexts. In 2015, he published The Dutch Language in Britain (1550-1702) (Brill), and in 2022, John Cruso of Norwich (Boydell & Brewer). He is currently writing a monograph on the history of language in early modern Norwich
TALK ‘Vice, Profaneness and Immorality’ in Georgian Norwich. Speaker: Ian Smith
Decline in religious observance and ignorance of Christian morals were widely perceived to be the cause of a surge in vice and immorality in Georgian England. Campaigns for the ‘Reformation of Manners’ failed to turn the tide and concern reached a climax with the Royal Proclamation for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue and for the Preventing and Punishing of Vice, Profaneness and Immorality issued on 1 June 1787.
In Norwich no one could ignore the evidence of empty pews in parish churches, failure to observe the Sabbath, drunkenness and blasphemous language in alehouses and the prostitutes on the streets. On the instructions of the magistrates, local constables did their best to stem the tide. More shocking examples of vices such as domestic violence and sexual harassment occurred behind closed doors or otherwise out of sight but some were brought to light by victims’ depositions to the mayor’s court.
Since doing a post-retirement BA and MA in History at the UEA Ian Smith has made a speciality of researching and giving talks to various audiences on the history of Georgian Norwich. This talk is a revised version of a talk first given in March 2020.
