Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/650

Rh   NORWICH, a city of England, the capital of Norfolk, a county of itself and a municipal and parliamentary borough, stands mainly on the right bank of the winding Wensum, a little above its confluence with the Yare, by rail being 20 miles west of Yarmouth, 68½ north-east of Cambridge, and 114 north-north-east of London. The municipal and parliamentary boundaries enclose an area of 7472 acres; but the ancient walls (1294-1342), some portions of which remain, with their twelve gate-houses—the last demolished in 1808—were only 4 miles in circuit. Those narrow limits were long ago outgrown, for Evelyn writes in 1671 that “the suburbs are large, the prospects

sweete, with other amenities, not omitting the flower-gardens, in which all the inhabitants excel.” Beneath the low chalky heights of Household Heath, once wooded now heathery, lies antique Norwich. “A fine old city, truly,” to quote George Borrow, “view it from whatever side you will; but it shows best from the east, where the ground, bold and elevated, overlooks the fair fertile valley in which it stands. At the foot of the heights flows the narrow and deep river, with an antique bridge [Bishop's Bridge, 1295] communicating with a long and narrow suburb, flanked on either side by rich meadows of brightest green, beyond which spreads the city; the fine old city, perhaps the most curious specimen extant of the genuine old English town.”

In 1094 the seat of the East Anglian bishopric was removed by Bishop Herbert de Lozinga or Lorraine from Thetford to Norwich, where in 1096 he laid the foundation of the cathedral, and dedicated it to the Holy Trinity in 1101, establishing at the same time a Benedictine monastery. As completed by his successor before the middle of the 12th century the cathedral in style was purely Norman; and it still retains its original Norman plan to a much greater degree than any other English example of equal magnitude. True, changes and additions were made from time to time in the successive styles—the Early English lady chapel (demolished about 1580) belonging to the middle of the 13th century, the mixed Decorated and Perpendicular spire to the 14th, the west front and porch and the lierne stone vaulting of the nave, with its elaborate 328 bosses, to the 15th, and to the 16th the vaulting of the transepts and Bishop Nix's chantry, whilst the fine cloisters, 175 feet square, 12 feet wide, with 45 windows, in style mainly Decorated, were begun in 1297 and not completed till 1430. The following are the dimensions in feet of the cathedral:—total length, 407; length of nave, 204; length of transepts, 178; breadth of nave and aisles, 72; total height of spire, 315 (in England exceeded by Salisbury only); height of tower, 140; height of nave, 69½; height of choir, 83½. The chief entrance on the west is a Perpendicular archway, above which is an immense window filled with poor modern stained glass. The nave within is grand and imposing, divided by fourteen semicircular arches of great depth and solidity, whose massive piers are in two instances ornamented with spiral mouldings. The triforium is composed of similar arches. The side aisles are low, their vaultings plain. The choir, extending westward some way beyond the crossing, is of unusual length, and terminates in an apse, with the only fragment of an ancient episcopal chair that has been allowed to remain in situ. The oak stalls and misereres are very richly carved. A curious quatrefoil, opening on the north side of the presbytery, beneath the confessio or relic chapel, deserves mention. There are but two monumental effigies one of Bishop Goldwell (c. 1499), the other of Bishop Bathurst (1837) by Chantrey. Mural monuments are plentiful. Sir William Boleyn, great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth, is buried on the south side of the presbytery, in the midst of which stood the tomb of Bishop Herbert, the founder. Of three circular apsidal chapels, two remain; and in one—the Jesus chapel—the ancient colouring has lately been renewed, this being part of a series of restorations carried out at great cost since 1801. Two richly-sculptured gateways lead to the cathedral—the Erpingham gate (1420) and the Ethelbert gateway (c. 1300). The bishop s palace and the deanery are buildings of high antiquity, but both have undergone many alterations. The latter has a well-restored chapel. A beautiful Early Decorated ruin in the palace garden, known as “Bishop Salmon's gateway,” is supposed to have been the porch to the great hall (c. 1319). The grammar-school is a Decorated