Sir Thomas Browne
Sir Thomas Browne
by Marion Catlin
Polymath, physician, philosopher and Norwich resident, Sir Thomas Browne was a man of both science and prose. He boasts over 700 first-used words in the English Oxford Dictionary.
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From medieval rebels and mystics to pioneering reformers, artists, entrepreneurs and unsung heroes, these are the people who shaped Norwich over 1000 years- and whose legacy can still be discovered across the city today.
All our stories are told by twenty invited guest authors from across our city’s creative, tourism and cultural community.
Delve into the series and discover the places linked to these incredible people- from museums and tours to cultural landmarks and green spaces. We kindly invite you to- Step Into The Story.
Image: Marion Catlin
Stories Published So Far:
Jack Valentine | Emma de Guader | Pablo Fanque | Rumsey Wells | John Crome | Harriet Martineau | Julian of Norwich | Amelia Opie | Margaret Fountaine | Caroline Colman | George Skipper | Samuel Bignold | Margaret (Margie) Fahey McGrath | Margaret Paston | Edith Cavell
SIR THOMAS BROWNE
1605 – 1682
He’s little-known in Norwich and famous around the world. He is all around us and many people pass his statue every day without realising who he is. I am, of course, talking about Sir Thomas Browne: 17th century physician, philosopher, writer and polymath.
A man of insatiable curiosity who lived most of his adult life in Norwich, Browne practiced as a physician, growing medicinal plants, conducting experiments and writing about his thoughts, ideas and discoveries. Many new concepts were developing at that time and, as a result, the English language is rich with words and phrase he invented- medical, coma, electricity, migrant- just a selection that we still use today.
Born in Cheapside, London in 1605, son of silk merchant Thomas Browne from the Midlands and Anne Garraway from Lewes in Sussex, Sir Thomas Browne’s father died when he was young, leaving him with an inheritance that meant he could undertake schooling and a medical training to the best level in the 17th century.
After early education at Winchester College, he became a Master of Arts at Oxford, before studying medicine at universities in Montpelier, Padua and Leiden. At this time, the best medical training was offered in different cities around Europe – Montpelier for medicinal plants, Padua for anatomy and Leiden for surgery.
After working as a doctor for a spell in Halifax, Browne settled in Norwich, then England’s second city after London. Thomas was a quiet and modest man; it seems the hustle and bustle of big city life didn’t suit him, even though he was well-respected in medical circles.
He married Dorothy Mileham of South Walsham and settled in Norwich near Hay Hill with his family. His house, standing on the corner of Brigg Street and Gentleman’s Walk roughly where Prêt a Manger and Primark are now, was grand and yet full of strange and quaint things.
Whilst practicing as a physician to the gentry around Norfolk, he was also curious about the world around him. At the time, there were many new ideas and the concept of science was developing (previously ‘thinkers’ were philosophers not scientists). He pioneered the experimental method of science – asking a question, trying out an idea (an experiment) observing and recording the results – which is how research is conducted in the 21st century – but it wasn’t the common practice then.
Because of many new ideas, he needed new words to describe them. Throughout his life, he wrote books and essays to record his thoughts and findings. Unlike most scholars of the time, he was writing in English so he invented words or ‘neologisms’ to add to our language. He also documented the Norfolk dialect and identified its roots in Anglo-Saxon and Norman languages, noting how discovery, culture and conquest change language over time.
He has been described one of the greatest prose writers ever, with a rhythm and cadence to his writings that make them easier to follow if read out loud. His five major works – Religio Medici (the dilemmas of a religious person who is also a scientist – a topic still current today), Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Vulgar Errors which debunks myths or old wives tales of the time by running experiments and proving or disproving the common beliefs, such as whether or not badgers have two legs shorter on one side than the other. By observing a badger standing, he concluded that the belief was not true!
Urn Burial or Hydrotaphia was a contemplative work about our burial and memorial traditions and rituals, following the discovery of some Roman burial urns in Brampton near Walsingham. In the Garden of Cyrus he wrote about the ‘quincunx’ and the observations of patterns based on fives and a five-pointed shape in nature. Christian Morals was his final work before he died on his birthday, 19 October 1682 at the ripe old age of 77. Museum Clausum, published after his death, imagined objects that don’t exist in museums but might have done – an inventory of remarkable books, antiquities, pictures and rarities of several kinds, scarce or never seen by any man now living.
There were many other smaller essays, letters and publications and he has been studied extensively by academics across the world. Here in Norwich though, his home and adopted city, he is less well-known but is ever-present in the form of a statue on Hay Hill which shows him studying a piece of a burial urn. There are a number or artefacts still to be seen in St Peter Mancroft Church including a fine portrait of him and his wife, Dorothy. In Eaton Park is a set of sculptures ‘Homage to Sir Thomas Browne’ by French artists Anne & Patrick Poirer which relate to his life and work.
There are also many quirky stories attached to him, such as his skull being dug up in 1840 when they were excavating the church. Browne’s coffin was accidentally opened and his skull was removed by an opportunistic sexton. He sold it to a GP and then finally it was presented to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital – where it remained until 1922 when, after a number of casts were taken, it was returned to his grave in St. Peter Mancroft Church. In the church register, it is described as being 247 years old. More recently (2026) a 3D printed replica of the skull has been donated to the church as the plaster casts taken in 1922 are now damaged and worn.
There are many more tales about Browne and his life in Norwich. For more information visit www.sirthomasbrowne.org.uk and look out for events on Thomas Browne Day, 19 October each year. Recommended reading: The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century by Hugh Aldersey Williams and The Aquarium of Vulcan blog by Browne scholar Kevin Faulkner of Norwich.
Step Into The Story.
A city you don’t just read about – you experience.
See Homage, a series of sculpture in Browne’s honour, at Eaton Park. Credit: Marion Catlin
Sir Thomas Browne is present across Norwich.
On Hay Hill, you can see a statue of the polymath, watching out across the city centre thoughtfully. Elsewhere, you can see Homage, a series of sculptures in his honour that once stood on Hay Hill, at Eaton Park (close to the Sainsbury Centre). They were created by French artists Anne and Patrick Poirier,
At the adjacent St Peter Mancroft church, visit Sir Thomas Browne’s grave, where his skull was taken in 1840 and not returned and reinterred until 1922. You can find out more about this intriguing tale, as well as some of the words Browne invented, with Norwich Story Walks’ Weird & Wonderful Story Walk (£10, 90 minutes, private tours available).
See a 3D-printed version of Sir Thomas Browne’s skull (2026), scanned and printed by Steve Kingsley, as part of Thomas Browne Day events on 19 October 2026. Credit: Marion Catlin
For even more on Sir Thomas Browne, check out the dedicated website: www.sirthomasbrowne.org.uk.
Author bio: Marion de Mello Catlin has lived in Norwich for nearly half a century and during that time, has grown to love the city as her adopted home.
She has made it her mission to ‘develop and promote Norwich as a city of culture’ since 2003. She produces two publications, Art & Culture in Norwich and Music in Norwich, which are roundups of arts, cultural and music organisations and events around the city and county. She worked for Norwich City Council as Arts, Cultural Development and Heritage Officer from 2003-2011, leading a European Capital of Culture bid in 2003 and City of Culture bud in 2010. As a freelancer since 2012, she has continued to lead cultural projects in city and county, and in our twin city of Rouen, Normandy.
Marion became interested in Thomas Browne through a public art commission, Homage Sir to Thomas Browne, in 2007 and has organized Sir Thomas Browne Day events and a website since 2012, to try and make him better known and appreciated in Norwich.
