Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/99

Rh NORWICH. 87 NORWICH. Nix, it underwent several restorations, having teen much damaged by fire in the dissensions between, the citizens and monks, which were of frequent occurrence. After the Reformation, the interior was much disfigured by the Puritans, who broke the painted windows, and destroyed nearly 100 tombs and brasses. Considerable alterations were made at the beginning of the present century, when it underwent a complete repair. In its present state it displays much of its original Norman architecture, although from the friable nature of the stone of which it is built, the exterior in many parts presents a decayed appearance. The length of the whole building from E. to W. is 407 feet, the breadth at the transepts 178, the breadth of the nave and side aisle 72, and the height of the central tower and spire 315. It is built in the form of a cross, and has a nave with a carved stono roof, choir, side aisles, transepts, several small chapels, and cloisters, with a tower of ornamented Norman work rising from the centre, and surmounted by an octagonal crocketed spire, while the E. end of the building has a circular apsidal termination. It has fifteen flying buttresses, several pointed clerestory win- dows, and a W. window in the pointed style of archi- tecture, divided into three main lights, while the side divisions are in the Norman style. There has been a Lady chapel eastward, but it is now removed. The cloisters form an irregular square of 174 feet inner dimensions ; and the deanery and prebendal houses comprise the remains of Bishop Herbert's priory. Within the cathedral precincts are three ancient gates of remarkable construction the Erpingham-gate, built by Sir T. Erpingham in 1428, as a penance for being a Lollard. It is adorned with his statue and 38 minor ones. The gate of St. Ethelbert, with a chapel above, built about 1272, in place of a more ancient one. And St. Martin's, or the Bishop's-gate, leading to the palace. Also the old water-gate. The bishop's palace, the greater part of which was built by Bishop Samson in 1318, has recently been restored. It is chiefly Norman, and comprises a grand hall, 110 feet by 60, and a spacious chapel which was much disfigured by the Puritans. The other public buildings are the Guild- hall, an ancient and spacious structure of flint, built in the middle of the loth century on the site of the old thatched Tolbooth. It has a painted window, and contains the city regalia, portraits of William III. and of several of the mayors of Norwich, and the sword of Admiral Don Xavier Winthuysen, presented to the corporation by Admiral Lord Nelson. St. Andrew's or New Hall, originally built by the Erpinghams in 1415 for the nave of the Black Friars' church, but now con- verted into one of the finest Gothic halls in the kingdom, having been restored in 1774. It measures 120 feet by 70 feet, and contains a statue of Lord Nelson, by Thomas Milncs, also a good collection of portraits, including those of Queen Anne and her consort Prince George of Denmark, Horace Walpole, Lord Nelson, by Beechey, and others by Gainsborough, Opie, Catton, &c. It is used for public banquets, the musical festivals, and other popular gatherings. The Shire hall, built by Wilkins in 1822, is in the Tudor style, and stands near the castle ditch now filled in and planted. The county gaol forms part of the old castle described above. The city gaol, built in 1829, at a cost of 24,000, has accom- modation for 100 prisoners ; adjoining it is the old bridewell of good flint-work, where Peter, the wild man, was kept. The corn exchange is a Grecian structure built in 1828, at a cost of 6,000. The Theatre Royal, built in 1826, is a large and convenient edifice. The Assembly and Concert Rooms comprise a suite of apart- ments 143 feet long, and have recently been augmented by a new ball-room 70 feet by 35 feet. The union workhouse is a large building, including the Grey
 * y, and with the infirmary, will accommodate near

HIIO inmate*. The cavalry barracks cover ten acres. The County Lunatic Asylum at Thorpe is also an ex- tensive building, and has been recently enlarged so as to accommodate 400 patients. There are gas-works, water- works, and two railway stations ; also a literary institution, with 12,000 volumes, and a museum j public library founded in 1784, with 18,000 volumes ; a city library, with 2,000 volumes ; Dean and Chapter's library, with 3,000 volumes ; an anatomical museum attached to the college ; a society of arts, founded in 1803 ; a school of design, a people's college, young men's institute, bazaar, yacht club, several musical societies, a horti- cultural society, which holds its exhibitions annually, medical society, the Norwich Union Fire and Life Insurance offices ; and two cemeteries, one situated at Thorpe, and the other recently formed in the western suburb, the latter being of large extent and having two chapels. The musical festival is held triennially, and the profits devoted to the hospitals. The corn market is held in the Corn Exchange, mentioned above, and the cattle market in an open area adjacent to the castle. There are also a seed and skin market, and a hay market, as well as the meat and fish markets, which last are held in the grand market place. The diocese of Norwich forms part of the province of Canterbury, and extends over the whole of Norfolk and part of Suffolk, including those archdeaconries with that of Norwich. Until recently it was of larger extent, taking in partof Cambridgeshire. Now it contains 795 benefices, of which 46, annexed to Ely, are in the patronage of the bishop, whose revenue is fixed at 4,4C5. The bishop has the privilege of sitting in tho Upper House of Parliament, in his own right, as titular Abbot of St. Benet-at-Holme, being the only Abbot in Eng- land. Tho Chapter includes a dean, chancellor, three archdeacons, five canons, eight honorary canons, and seven minor canons, and has tho right of presentation to 43 benefices. Amongst the eminent prelates who have filled this see may be mentioned Cardinal Pandulph, Wren, Montague, Hall, Home, and Stanley. Besides the cathedral described above, there are the following parish churches, viz. St. Andrew, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Clement, Christ Church, St. Edmund, St. Etheldred, St. George Colegate, St. George Tombland, St. Giles, St. Gregory, St. Helen, St. John Maddermarket, St. John Sepulchre, St. John Timberhill, St. James with Pockthorpe, St. Lawrence, St. Margaret, St. Martin-at-Palace, St. Martin-at-Oak, St. Mary Coslany, St. Mary-in-thc-Marsh, St. Matthew's Thorpe, St. Michael Coslany, St. Michael-at-Plea, St. Michael-at- Thorn, St. Paul, St. Peter Hungate, St. Peter Man- croft, St. Peter Mountergate, St. Peter Southgate, St. Saviour, SS. Simon and J ude, SS. Stephen and S within, the livings of all which are rects. or perpet. curs., varying in val. from 232 to 43. Somo of these are interesting and even venerable structures. The most deserving of note are St. Andrew's, the second church in the city for splendour ; it has an antique font, a monument to Suckling, the father of the poet, and two early brasses. St. Etheldred's, a venerable pile founded before the Conquest, containing a Nor- man doorway and an old font. St. George Tombland, remarkable for its square tower, with pinnacles 120 feet high, which was rebuilt in 1445. St. Gregory's, an ancient edifice, containing an octagonal font, brazen lectern, several ancient brasses, and a monument with a long epitaph to a Francis Bacon. St. John Maddermarket, a large ancient structure, containing five brasses, the earliest 1430. St. Lawrence, built by the monks of Bury in 1472, on a site once covered by the sea, has a tower 112 feet high, and over the western doorway is a representation of the mar- tyrdom of St. Lawrence, and in the interior four brasses, the earliest 1425. St. Peter Mancroft is a perpendicular building erected in 1430, with a tower and peal of 12 bells; it is tho largest of the parish churches, being 212 feet long by 70 wide. There are two Roman Catholic churches in tho town, a Jews' synagogue, 15 places of worship belonging to tho leading sects of Protestant Dissenters, besides the old Dutch and Walloon churches, the former of which is now used as the chapel of tho union poor-house, and the latter as the sanctuary of tho New Jerusalem. The charitable foundations are numerous, and some of them