Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/651

Rh NORWICH 595 edifice of c. 1316, originally a chapel, with a &quot; carnary &quot; or crypt below. Among its scholars have been Coke, Lord Nelson, Rajah Brooke, and George Borrow. St Andrew s Hall (124 by 64 feet) is the seven-bayed nave of the Black Friars church, rebuilt with the aid of the Erpinghams between 1440 and 1470. A splendid specimen of Perpen dicular work, with its twenty-eight clerestory windows and chestnut hammer-beam roof, it has served since the Re formation as a public hall, in which from 1824 have been held the triennial musical festivals, second only in date and in fame equal to those of Birmingham. It was restored in 1863. The guildhall, on the site of an earlier tolbooth, is a fine flint Perpendicular structure of 1408-13 ; one of its rooms, the mayor s council-chamber, fitted up with furniture of the time of Henry VIII., is an interesting specimen of a court of justice of that period. Of forty-three churches Perpendicular flint- work, mostly of the 1 5th century St Peter Man- croft, restored in 1880- 83, is by many esteemed the finest parish church in England. Measuring 212 by 70 feet, it has a richly-ornamented tower and fleche, 1 48 feet high, with a matchless peal of twelve sweet bells,a long light clerestory of thirty- four windows, a beauti ful carved- oak roof, a remarkable font cover, and the tomb of Sir Thomas Browne. St Andrew, St Stephen, St Michael Coslany, St John Maddermarket, St Lawrence, and St Giles the last with a tower 126 feet high are also noticeable. A new Ro man Catholic church, about to be built at the cost of the duke of Nor folk, will be much the largest and finest of a number of Nonconform ist places of worship. The museum (1839) has collections of fossils and birds (especially Raptores). It houses the literary institution (1822 ; 26,000 vols.), as also archaeological, medical, art, and meteorological societies. Ad joining it is the free library (1857 ; 8000 vols. ). These two buildings mark the site of the 17th-century palace of the dukes of Norfolk, said to have been the largest town -house in the kingdom out of London. The public library (1784; 50,000 vols.) in 1835 was transferred to its present quarters, a handsome building with Doric portico. The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, first built in 1772, and rebuilt in 1879-83, is in the Queen Anne style, and on the pavilion system, with 220 beds. Other buildings are the lunatic asylum (1877-80 ; accommodation, 300), the workhouse (1858-60 ; accommodation, 1057), Jenny Lind Infirmary for sick children (1853), St Giles s or the old men s hospital (1249), Doughty s Hospital (1687), an asylum and school for the indigent blind (1805), the cavalry barracks (1791), the drill hall (1866), the agricultural hall (1882 ; 175 by 103 feet), the corn exchange (1861 ; 125 by 81 feet), the post-office (1865), and the theatre (1826). The cemetery (1856 ; 43 acres) has four mortuary chapels and a striking soldiers monument (1878). The textile manufactures of Norwich, once so important, have declined ; and now its great industrial establishments are a mustard and starch works employing upwards of 2000 hands, three or four large breweries, and ironworks. Boots, clothing, vinegar, and Plan of Norwich. agricultural implements are also made in large quantities There is one daily paper, and eight others are published weekly The corporation consists of a mayor, deputy mayor, and sheriff (elected annually), sixteen aldermen, and forty-eight councillors ; and the city has sent two members to parliament since the reign of Edward 1. The population has been successively (1801) 36832 (mn 61,110, (1871) 80,386, (1881) 87,842-males 40,288, K 47 554 m 20,764 houses (1881). Norwich seems to have been the Caer-Givcnt of the Britons, the Venta Icenorum of the Romans; and its name of Nord-wic or, ? 0r , , n&amp;gt; , wl T h first a PFears in the Saxon Chronicle under date 1004, is thought to refer to the large and perfect Roman camp of Caister, 3 miles to the south, which by earlier antiquaries was itself identified with Venta Icenorum, and by tradition is said to have been &quot;a city when Norwich was none, for Norwich was built of Caister stone A Saxon &quot;burh&quot; appears to have stood at Norwich m 767, but the present castle was probably built or rebuilt in the reign of Rufus. Only its keep remains, which, crowning the summit of a steep mound, has been adapted to prison purposes. Frequently sacked by the Norsemen, Norwich was Guthrum s headquarters in 878, in 1004 was burned by Sweyn, and in 1017 was Canute s residence. In Domesday the city is de scribed as having 1320 bur gesses with their families, 25 parish churches, and be tween 800 and 900 acres of land. Ralph de Guaer in 1075, rebelling against the Conqueror, defended the castle unsuccessfully ; in 1122 Henry I. gave Nor wich a charter containing the same franchise as that of London, and the govern ment of the city was then separated from that of the castle, the chief magistrate being styled Prsepositus or provost. In the same reign a colony of Flemish weavers introduced the woollen manufacture at Worstead, about 13 miles from Nor wich ; and a second colony settled at Norwich itself under Edward III., when the city was made a staple town for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The dauphin plundered and burned the city in 1216 ; and in 1272 the priory was burnt in a riot between the monks and the citizens. The &quot;black death&quot; of 1348-49 cut off two -thirds of the inhabitants, and in 1381 the Norfolk Levellers, under John le Littester, did much damage ; but by 1403 the city had sufficiently recovered to be honoured with a charter, under which it might elect a mayor and two sheriffs. In 1422 the doctrines of the Reformation made their appearance in Norwich ; and several persons were executed as Wickliffites or Lollards. Among the list of martyrs is the name of Thomas Bilney, who was burned in 1531. In 1549 the city was the scene of an insurrection which grew out of the enclosure of commons, and was headed by Robert Kett alias Knight, a tanner. Norwich, in common with all Nor folk and Suffolk, warmly espoused the cause of the Reformation ; and under Elizabeth the burnings of Roman Catholics rivalled the flames which Protestants had fed in former reigns, whilst martyrdoms for heresy of doctrine even among Protestants themselves were far from uncommon. In 1582 the city contained 5000 Dutch and Walloons, Protestant refugees from the Low Countries, who did much to foster manufactures. During the Commonwealth the city was put in defence against the royal cause and the castle was forti fied for the service of Cromwell. But at the Restoration Norwich was amongst the earliest to do homage to Charles. In June 1660 the fee-farm of the city was resigned to him, with a present of 1000 in gold ; and in 1663 the charter of the city was renewed and en larged. In 1701 the art of printing, which had been introduced in 1570 but discontinued for many years, was revived, and news-