In the Cathedral Quarter:
Tombland
Tombland is located in front of the Cathedral, it was once the Saxon Market place in Norwich and hence the centre of trading. Many people think that its name relates to a burial ground but instead it actually comes from the old English words and means ‘empty land or space’. Today, you can find many beautiful old buildings in Tombland together with wonderful little alleyways. One such building is the Augustine Steward House. This fine example of a Tudor’s merchant House has a crooked appearance from the outside and is currently home to some antique dealers. During Kett’s Rebellion, it became the headquarters of the Earl of Warwick who finally suppressed the rebellion. It is also not far from the place where Lord Sheffield and Sir Thomas Cornwallis were killed by the rebels which is marked by a plaque on the Cathedral wall. From Tombland two gateways lead to Norwich Cathedral, Erpingham Gate built around 1420 and Ethelbert Gate, named after St Ethelbert, a young king of East Anglia who was killed in AD 794.
Cathedral Close
Norwich Cathedral Close, one of the largest in England, extends to over 44 acres. It contains a mixture of residential and commercial properties, ranging from stately eighteenth and nineteenth-century terraces to more distinctive Dutch gables. The Close houses the entrance to the Cathedral Herb Garden which is open to everyone and the Deanery, formerly the Prior’s lodgings and now the home of the Dean, head of the Cathedral community.The close is a haven of tranquility where the visitor can encounter a vibrant and dynamic community that lives and works within it. With its gates flung wide open, Norwich Cathedral should no longer be seen, in the words of former Dean Alan Webster, to exist within a ‘Close’ but within an ‘Open’ – extending the warmest of welcomes and engaging with the thousands of pilgrims and visitors who venture to it.
Explore Cathedral Close - download itinerary
here Elm Hill
Elm Hill is the city’s most famous medieval street, almost the same in appearance now as it was when most of its properties were last rebuilt, after the major fire of 1507. At that time it was home to prosperous merchants, craftsmen and civic dignitaries. This charming cobbled street was saved from demolition during the slum clearance in the 1920s and is now home to a number of individual and speciality shops and cafes.
Spend an afternoon in Elm Hill - see suggested itinerary
here.
Along the River Wensum – Cow Tower & Pulls Ferry
A vast area of the Cathedral Quarter is made up of green spaces including a section of Wensum Riverside Walk. If you start this walk at Fye Bridge it will take you past the following landmarks:
Cow Tower – an impressive medieval brick defensive lookout that was built at the end of the 12th Century at a strategic bend in the river where there had previously been a tollhouse to collect tolls from boats coming upstream.
Bishops Bridge – the oldest bridge in the city, it is largely unaltered since its construction around 1340 and is the only original medieval bridge in Norwich
Pulls Ferry - marked by a picturesque 15th Century water gate, a canal from the river was dug here by the Normans to allow stone for the cathedral to be ferried as close to the construction site as possible. The Caen stone was brought by sea from France and shipped up the river. Later, the inlet was used to bring in provisions and remained until the late 1700s. There was also a ferry service across the Wensum here until the 1930s.
Princes Street
A beautiful street that takes you from the top of Elm Hill to Tombland. There are several 18th century houses on one side of the street and at the corner of Princes Street you will find Armada House, believed to contain timbers from a shipwrecked Spanish galley.
Did you know...?
• One of the most beautiful pieces of Anglo-Saxon art found in the City is this tiny carved ivory crucifix, found on the site of St Michaels Church in Tombland.
•The Maids head Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in the Quarter, the remains of a stone capitol in the cellar goes back to the 12th or 13th Century and the burial ground of a lost chapel has been found underneath its car park.
• One of the most exciting archaeological finds in the Cathedral Quarter is also one of it’s hidden gems: Underneath the Magistrates Court building are preserved the remains of a Norman stone town house, complete with a toilet flushed by the rise and fall of the tide! Visiting (for pre-booked groups) is by appointment.
• Norwich Cathedral has a herb garden which has been created close to the site of the original Benedictine Infirmary and physic garden. As well as a variety of medicinal herbs you can also see two box hedge ‘knot gardens’ whose pattern reflects the stone tracery of the famous Norwich Cathedral roof bosses.
• Norwich Cathedral’s new Hostry Visitor Centre houses a Japanese karesansui garden arrangement. The garden was designed by Graham Hardman of the Japanese Garden Society and funded by SISJAC, the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, which is based in the Close.
The Cathedral Quarter Trail Booklet
An ideal way to explore the Cathedral Quarter at your own pace and learn more about its history. The Cathedral Quarter Trail Booklet is available at the following outlets:
• Jarrold’s
• Colman’s Mustard Shop & Museum
• Norwich TIC
• Norwich Castle
• Norwich Christian Resource Centre
• Dragon Hall
• St Gregory’s Art Centre
RRP £1.95