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.
WATCH THE VIDEO
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.
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.
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
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
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 William of Norwich: 12th century Murder, Miracles and Myth by Adrian O’Dell
Who was William of Norwich, remembered in the city by a street and school named after him (St William's Way and St William's Primary School)? The story of the young boy William's "martyrdom" took root in the mid-12th-century, during the period of Anarchy under King Stephen (1135-1144). What was the social context in Norwich at that time and why was one minority group envied and vilified by the English and French population? When the Norfolk lad was found "murdered", how was his death attributed to the aliens in their midst by the people of Norwich and how was a series of astounding miracles attributed to him? How did William's death engender a genre of racism and myth called “Blood libel” which has fuelled centuries of oppression for the Jewish people?
Adrian O'dell is the son of a Polish Air Force officer and a nurse from Lancashire and was educated at the City of Norwich School. After an international career in the oil industry, he ‘retired’ to Norfolk and has devoted himself to the study of Norfolk and Norwich’s history and heritage. He is a freelance city tour guide and was also a trustee of the Norfolk & Norwich Heritage Trust (Dragon Hall) before it was passed on to the National Centre for Writing. He has completed post-graduate studies in Landscape History at UEA. He is Chair of the Norfolk Polish Heritage Group which researches and archives stories of Polish immigration into Norfolk since World War II and has dual British/Polish nationality. Adrian has taken an active interest in the present plight of Poland’s neighbour Ukraine and at the end of his talk there will be an opportunity to donate to a fund helping Ukrainian refugees in Norwich.
TALK Norwich 1945 to 1960: A Journey from Austerity to Prosperity
Join Frances and Michael Holmes for a trip down memory lane. They will bring back a time when after years of war the City was rebuilt and regenerated; when City workers made shoes and chocolate; when Teddy boys added colour to the City and youngsters danced the night away at the Samson & Hercules. A trip which will take you from the rationing of the post-war years to a time when we ‘never had it so good’.
Frances and Michael have researched and written a number of local history books. They operate as Norwich Heritage Projects and full details of their work can be found on their website www.norwich-heritage.co.uk.
TALK The Remarkable life of Thomas Fowell Buxton by Dr Alison Dow
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. This presentation will bring to life the story behind this inscription. It will look at the life of Buxton himself 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.
TALK The Ups and Downs of Elm Hill, c.1450-2023 Speaker by Victor Morgan
Today Elm Hill is considered to be one of Norwich’s major tourist attractions, yet it has experienced a number of economic and social ups and downs and cultural transformations since the late-medieval period. In some ways these encapsulate changes in the City as a whole. But despite what is sometimes assumed, Elm Hill was never a ‘typical’ Norwich street. Drawing on documents, historical illustrations and the surviving standing structures Victor will tell the story.
Victor Morgan came to UEA as an undergraduate in 1965. He has been around at UEA and in Norfolk almost ever since! At one time Director of the Centre of East Anglian Studies. He also been Harkness Fellow In the US for two years during which time he was a participant at the Davis Center for Advanced Historical Studies, Princeton University; teaching at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; visiting fellow, Clare Hall Cambridge; Leverhulme Research Fellow at The National Portrait Gallery, London; and an AHRC Research Fellow.
Victor has always been interested in how best to teach history and how to teach more generally. This is reflected in the seven years he spent ‘post-retirement’ working half-time for UEA’s Centre for Staff and Educational Development. From the outset of his career he has been involved in various forms of extra-mural teaching throughout the region. In part this is because his own research interests have focused on East Anglia. Currently he lectures on behalf of NORAH, a charity that supports the work of the Norfolk Record Office. For much of this he was given an award by UEA for his contribution to its community engagement.
TALK The Days of The Norwich Trams: Transforming Streets, Transforming Lives by Frances and Michael Holmes
In 1900 trams arrived on Norwich’s streets. They were greeted with awe as a technological wonder that not only revolutionised travel but also radically changed the City.
Using a combination of images, archive material and contemporary accounts Frances & Michael will illustrate that story of the trams is about so much more than a vehicle – It is the story of how that vehicle transformed our city.
Frances & Michael Holmes have researched and written a number of local history books, including ‘The Old Courts and Yards of Norwich’, ‘Norwich 1945 – 1960’ and ‘The Story of the Norwich Boot and Shoe Trade’. They operate as Norwich Heritage Projects and full details of their work can be found on their website www.norwich-heritage.co.uk
TALK Manifestations of Madness at the Norfolk Asylum by Julie Jakeway
A look at life within Norfolk County Lunatic Asylum in the years 1851 - 1870, including case studies of women whose lives, through poverty, debility, and physical exhaustion, brought them to the asylum for a period of refuge.
Julie Jakeway was educated at Carew School, Ealing. An MA in local history from Leicester University stimulated her interest in Victorian asylums, her dissertation being on the subject of Norfolk Asylum. Her subsequent research into the personal histories of many of the patients led to the publication of her book, Manifestations of Madness.
TALK Balloon Mania in Norwich 1784-1840 by Ian Smith
The appearance in Norwich from 1784 of balloons filled with hot-air, later with hydrogen and much later with coal gas was greeted with growing enthusiasm among the population which quickly developed into ‘balloon mania’. This talk will examine the impact of balloon mania on city life and how these early balloon ascents rarely went smoothly. It will identify some of the worst mishaps and also look at how hoaxers took advantage of the often-credulous population
Since completing a post-retirement BA and MA at the UEA, Ian Smith has pursued his special interest in Georgian Norwich.
TOUR and TALK Waterloo Park and its Archives
A tour of waterloo Park followed by a talk centred around the history of Norwich's Waterloo Park, from it's inception in the 1890s to its restoration in the 21st century, using maps, original documents, newspaper articles, and photographs held by the Friends of Waterloo Park, the Norfolk Record office, and other organisations in the county.
Meet outside the café in the park.
Talk and tea and cake in the café.
WALKING TOUR Exploring Beccles past and present
A guided walk in the historic market town of Beccles with local historian and town councillor Dr Barry Darch.
Includes tea and cake.
Starting from Blyburgate car park, Beccles, NR34 9TF and finishing at St Michael’s Church for tea and cake