The Norwich Society

Events All Events

TALK William of Norwich: 12th century Murder, Miracles and Myth by Adrian O’Dell

  • Thu 25 Jan 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 10:30 am
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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.

Book tickets

TALK Norwich 1945 to 1960: A Journey from Austerity to Prosperity

  • Tue 30 Jan 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 6:30 pm
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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. 

Book tickets

TALK The Remarkable life of Thomas Fowell Buxton by Dr Alison Dow

  • Thu 29 Feb 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 10:30 am
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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.

Book tickets

TALK The Ups and Downs of Elm Hill, c.1450-2023 Speaker by Victor Morgan

  • Tue 5 Mar 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 6:30 am
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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.

Book tickets

TALK The Days of The Norwich Trams: Transforming Streets, Transforming Lives by Frances and Michael Holmes

  • Thu 21 Mar 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 10:30 am
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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

Book tickets

TALK Manifestations of Madness at the Norfolk Asylum by Julie Jakeway

  • Thu 25 Apr 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 10:30 am
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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.

Book tickets

TALK Balloon Mania in Norwich 1784-1840 by Ian Smith

  • Thu 23 May 2024
  • Open to all
  • The Forum, Millennium Plain, NR2 1TF
  • 10:30 am
  • £8.00 non-members / £4.00 members

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.

Book tickets

TOUR and TALK Waterloo Park and its Archives

  • Tue 4 Jun 2024
  • Open to all
  • Waterloo Park, Angel Road, Norwich, NR3 3HX
  • 2:00 pm
  • £18.00 non-members / £16.00 members

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.

Book tickets

WALKING TOUR Exploring Beccles past and present

  • Sat 13 Jul 2024
  • Open to all
  • Starting from Blyburgate car park, Beccles, NR34 9TF
  • 2:00 pm
  • £18.00 non-members / £16.00 members

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

Book tickets