Norwich Street Photographs

Previous street: Mansfield Lane


Mariners Lane:
        From Ber St formerly to King St
Mariners Lane 1 to 5 [1296] 1936-08-22
Mariners Lane former Norwich Board School [6351] 1985-10-22
Part of the former St John de Sepulchre National School. Opened in 1872, it was the first Norwich Board school to be built under the Education Act of 1870.

Market Avenue:
        From Rose Avenue to Castle Meadow / Agricultural Hall Plain
      formerly from
Golden Ball St

      West side
Market Avenue 1 Plough PH [5136] 1967-04-22
Market Avenue car park entrance view [6676] 1991-05-12
Market Avenue car park entrance [7026] 1993-06-30
Side of the former Duke's Palace bridge re-used.
Market Avenue Shirehall Chambers [6613] 1990-06-16
Built 1908-09 as an extension to the Shire House to house departmental offices.
Market Avenue Shire House Shirehall [4369] 1955-09-01
Erected 1822, enlarged 1887, architect William Wilkins the younger.
Market Avenue Anglia House TV offices [6614] 1990-06-16
Built 1982, architects Feilden and Mawson.

Market Lane:
        Formerly from Scoles Green to Thorn Lane
Market Lane view west [1271] 1936-08-16
Ran south-east from Scoles Green towards Thorn Lane.

Market Place:
        Clockwise, from St Giles' St / Lower Goat Lane incorporating Guildhall Hill down to Exchange St / London St
      and Gentleman's Walk to
White Lion St / Haymarket then up to Bethel St / St Peter's St and via the Market back to the Guildhall
      passing
Davey Place, Royal Arcade
Market Place 1 Guildhall Hill [3199] 1939-08-07
Coronation Guildhall Hill from St Giles' St [1556] 1937-05-09
St Giles' St, highly commended street decoration. 1937 coronation decorations.
Market Place 1 Georgian shop front [0615] 1935-08-05
Market Place Labour in Vain Yard view NW [7901] 2002-08-22
Market Place Labour in Vain Yard west side [7672] 1999-08-02
Market Place Labour in Vain Yard west side [7895] 2002-07-26
Guildhall Hill Subscription Library [4368] 1955-08-24
Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library, erected 1837, architects Darkins and Blake.
In Dove St near its junction with Pottergate once stood the premises of Daniel Hurn, ropemaker, where a massive fire started on 1st August 1898. Spreading rapidly to the adjoining warehouse of Chamberlin and Son, which it quickly consumed, the blaze also gutted the Subscription Library, resulting in the loss of most of its 60,000 volumes.
The Edinburgh public house standing at the corner of the two streets managed, by some miracle, to escape the inferno. Four days later, though, weakened by the loss of adjoining premises, it suddenly fell with an enormous crash, seriously injuring two or three people. Above its doorway was a stone dated 1586 and inscribed S R M - the initials of former owners Richard and Mary Scottow. The cellars beneath, however - an upper and a lower one - were believed to be those of a much earlier house, probably of the 13c, once occupied by the city's Elizabethan printer, Anthony Solempne.
After the fire the site was surrounded by an advertisement hoarding. It remained vacant until a few years ago when two or three new shops were built facing Dove Street.
Silver Jubilee Guildhall Hill Chamberlin's [0504] 1935-05-02
Chamberlins, Guildhall Hill, commended. Silver jubilee decorations.
Guildhall Hill air raid precaution trench [3254] 1939-09-03
Market Place 6 to 9 Guildhall Hill [1306] 1936-08-23
A mansion of Queen Anne period.
Market Place 6 to 9 Queen Anne style COLOUR [2966] 1939-04-16
On the north side of the Market Place is Guildhall Hill, where Nos 6-9 still present one of the best examples of a Queen Anne mansion in Norwich. No 9 was for many years Rossi's gold- and silversmith's shop, four generations of that family having carried on the business there. George Rossi, the founder of the business, was born in Italy and fought under Marshal Soult in the Napoleonic Wars, but when he was eventually released from the army he did not return home and instead somehow found his way to Norwich. The business closed in March 1936, when Mr Theodore Rossi, who had been associated with it for 54 years, decided to retire.
In the Norwich Castle museum is a drawing dated 1799 by Robert Dighton depicting this end of the Market Place. This building is shown with all its original shop fronts of which that at No 9 survived until a few years ago. After Mr Rossi's retirement the premises were taken over by Prince's Tea Rooms, and while the old shop front was retained the three curious semi-circular window heads were obscured by a fascia board and neon sign. So it remained until 1973 when the premises again changed hands, the interior then being remodelled and the old front removed.
Market Place 7 to 8 rear Georgian doorway [5286] 1969-10-05
Guildhall Hill.
Market Place 9 Rossi's Guildhall Hill [0118] 1934-06-10
18c shop front.
Market Place The Walk view S from London St [0355] 1935-02-12
Market Place The Walk Victorian pillar box [3787] 1949-06-12
The oldest in Norwich. Penfold type.
Market Place The Walk Lyons' and Samuel's [0320] 1934-11-26
Market Place 16 to 19 The Walk Lloyds Bank [6686] 1991-05-20
Lloyds Bank. Built 1928, enlarged 1936-37, architect H.Munro Cautley.
Market Place 21 The Walk [4416] 1955-10-07
Market Place 22 to 23 hanging tiles removed [4013] 1951-07-16
Hanging tiles being replaced with plaster, 1951.
Market Place 24 Royal Arcade [1378] 1936-09-03
Royal Arcade entrance. Built 1846 by J.Stannard as the Royal Hotel. See also Royal Arcade.
Market Place 24 Royal Arcade [6620] 1990-07-12
Market Place 27 to 30 The Walk [1392] 1936-09-13
Inside it shows part of a timber-framed building of about 1500, but it took on its present form 200 years later.
Market Place 27 to 30 The Walk [2497] 1938-06-20
Market Place Fruiterers Arms PH rear [5122] 1967-02-25
From White Lion St entrance to Royal Arcade.
Market Place 27 to 30 rear demolition NW [5137] 1967-04-22
Fruiterers' Arms PH demolition, 1967.
Market Place 27 to 30 rear demolition SW [5138] 1967-04-22
Market Place 34 to 36 Garnet Wolseley PH [1359] 1936-08-30
36 Sir Garnet Wolseley PH, Regency period.
Market Place 36 Sir Garnet Wolseley to 37 [0153] 1934-07-05
37 built c1640. The birthplace of Sir J.E.Smith botanist, in 1759.
Market Place 37 Georgian shop front door [0465] 1935-04-19
Market Place 35 to 37 rear from churchyard [4064] 1952-03-17
From St Peter Mancroft.
Market Place Duke of Wellington statue [B263] 1932-05-00
Erected in Market Place 1854.
Market Place west side [0292] 1934-09-16
Municipal offices until 1938. The right-hand block was originally the Oxford Hotel and was acquired by the corporation in 1876. The whole block was subsequently purchased and used by the Town Clerk's, City Engineer's, and Estate Surveyor's departments.
Market Place 43 Waterloo PH Black Prince PH [1360] 1936-08-30
43 Market Place and The Butchery. Municipal offices until 1938 (Estates department). Few people regretted the passing of the old Municipal Buildings, least of all those that worked there. Standing on the west side of the square, the offices were housed in a block largely made up of late 19c public houses and hotel buildings. The little corner at the south end, however, was much older. These were once the Black Prince and the Waterloo taverns - the former with its gabled roof, and the latter with its balcony and wide bay windows, of which full use was made, no doubt, in the 18c and 19c when electioneering produced such lively scenes. Together these buildings paired admirably in both age and appearance with the nearby Sir Garnet Wolseley.
Market Place Tin Hut police office [1420] 1936-09-20
Municipal offices until 1938. Police offices and drill hall, called the Tin Hut.
Market Place building N side from Gaol Hill [1421] 1936-09-20
Municipal offices until 1938. From the passing of the Municipal Corporation Act in 1835 until the opening of the new City Hall in 1938, the ever-increasing duties of local government imposed a need for more accommodation to house its administrators. As long ago as 1898 the need for a new single building was recognised, but although plans were made, the advent of the Great War prevented their realisation.
Coronation Market Place Municipal buildings [1557] 1937-05-09
1937 coronation decorations.
Coronation Market Place [1559] 1937-05-09
1937 coronation decorations.
Market Place west side coronation floodlit [1632] 1937-05-13
Municipal offices until 1938.
The Market NE corner from The Walk [2086] 1938-02-24
The invasion by the Normans established a "new burgh" in what are now the parishes of St Giles and St Peter Mancroft. Here they founded a new market, and with the erection of the King's Tollhouse within its bounds (where all burghesses had to repair to pay their dues), it was inevitable that within a few generations the original Saxon mart at Tombland became entirely eclipsed.
The Market NE corner from Guildhall Hill [2087] 1938-02-24
The Market widening The Walk view north [2088] 1938-02-24
The Market lumber market view south [2110] 1938-03-05
The Market lumber market view north [2111] 1938-03-05
The Market lumber market behind Tin Hut [2112] 1938-03-05
The Market general view north [2113] 1938-03-05
Market Place building rear [2291] 1938-04-11
Municipal offices until 1938. From St Peter's St, view east.
The Market old fish market excavation [2305] 1938-04-13
Excavating the Market Place at rear of the "Tin Hut".
The Market old fish market excavation [2306] 1938-04-13
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2387] 1938-05-14
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2388] 1938-05-14
The Market Tin Hut before demolition [2389] 1938-05-14
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2390] 1938-05-14
Demolition of old Municipal buildings on west side of Market Place prior to its enlargement. The old materials laid out, ready to be auctioned.
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2460] 1938-06-16
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2461] 1938-06-16
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2462] 1938-06-16
Owing to the dry weather, a hose had to be played to keep the dust down.
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2463] 1938-06-16
The Market Municipal buildings demolition [2464] 1938-06-16
Fragments of wall being felled by means of a chain attached to one of Messrs.Pointer's lorries. The last of the old Municipal buildings.
The Market construction of terrace [2496] 1938-06-20
At rear of Market Place on site of old Fish Market.
The Market reconstruction view north [2522] 1938-07-06
The Market repaved view SW [2805] 1938-09-24
The Market repaved view NW [2806] 1938-09-24
The Market War Memorial garden construction [2807] 1938-09-24
The Market War Memorial flagstaff hoist [2809] 1938-10-06
The hoist used to erect flagstaffs at either end of the memorial garden.
The Market War Memorial flagstaff on ground [2810] 1938-10-06
Market Place City Hall Cenotaph [2845] 1938-11-05
Moved to front of City Hall September 1938.
Civic Week War Memorial wreath [2846] 1938-11-05
Wreath laid by the King on the Norwich war memorial.
Market Place Garden of Remembrance [2849] 1938-11-05
Opened 1938.
Market Place War Memorial gardens COLOUR [2962] 1939-04-13
Market Place view north COLOUR [2961] 1939-04-13
 
Market Place Guildhall Cenotaph [B069] 1931-08-03
Erected at east end of Guildhall 1927.
Market Place Guildhall Cenotaph [B303] 1932-06-00
Bassingham Gate on south side [0116] 1934-06-09
Formerly entrance to house of John Bassingham, a goldsmith, at 57-59 London St and dating from the reign of Henry VIII. It was bought for £12 by William Wilde when London St was widened in 1855-7 and inserted here at the Magistrates' entrance to the Guildhall.
Market Place Guildhall east side [0299] 1934-09-23
Municipal offices until 1938. The annexe to the south was reconstructed in 1861 for the Town Clerk's and Police departments.
South side from Gaol Hill [0300] 1934-09-23
Occupying the site of a humble thatched Tolhouse, Norwich Guildhall was built in 1407-13 in order that the larger self-governing powers conferred under the Charter of 1404 might be administered the more conveniently. In 1412 prisoners first occupied the crypts; that to the east - a relic of the old Tolhouse with its 14c brick groining -holding the most desperate cases. Two towers of timber and tile construction, on the north and south sides respectively, were destroyed when the roof of the Council Chamber collapsed in 1511. By 1534 the new Mayor's Council Chamber was completed, and today form the most beautiful part. Its eastern face exhibits a particularly fine example of contemporary chequered flint work and freestone, and has a central panel containing a fragment of the Arms of Henry VIII, flanked by two others containing (north) the City Arms, and (south) those of St George's Company. Within the Council Chamber is to be seen an open timber roof with panels and pendants, and the seating arrangement, with linen-fold panelling, carved shields of arms and quaint poppy-heads, exemplifies a Tudor Court of Justice. Many of the fragments of 15th and 16c stained glass in three windows came from the adjoining chapel of St Barbara, destroyed in 1625.
Civic affairs were conducted here until 1938, when a new City Hall was opened. However, Magistrates' Courts continued to be held in the old Common Council Chamber, which, with the Sessions Court below (formerly the Sheriff' Court) contained work of the 18c, notably a pillared doorway in the former, and the Judge's seat and railings in the latter. The Civic Regalia (now in the Castle museum) and many portraits of past Mayors, Recorders, and other local benefactors used to be housed in the Guildhall. These included Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634); Augustine Steward (who was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the Guildhall in 1534; he was M.P. in 1547 and thrice Mayor); Archbishop Parker (1504-1575); and full-length studies by Heins of Thomas Emerson (who presented the Sheriff's Chains in 1739) and Sir Benjamin Wrench, an eminent physician of the 18c. Many of these are now in Blackfriars Hall.
The additions to the south side were built in 1861 by Thomas Barry, the City Surveyor.
East front floodlit [0315] 1934-11-20
South side floodlit from Gaol Hill [0319] 1934-11-26
Market Place Guildhall Cenotaph at night [0321] 1934-11-26
East front Jubilee floodlit [0533a] 1935-05-05
South side Jubilee floodlit [0534] 1935-05-05
From NW [0743] 1935-09-08
The Market Gaol Hill extension construction [2511] 1938-06-26
New road between Gaol Hill and the Walk.
The Market dismantling War Memorial [2803] 1938-09-23
Being moved from in front of Guildhall to a new garden on west side of Market Place.
The Market dismantling War Memorial [2804] 1938-09-24
Civic Week Lord Mayor's coach [2811] 1938-10-23
Norwich Civic Week 23rd-29th October 1938:
The week commenced with a Civic Procession from the Guildhall to St Peter Mancroft church, at which a service was held. The Coach is parked outside the Guildhall, having brought the Mayor from his residence in Harvey Lane for the Civic Procession.
Civic Week Lord Mayor's coach [2812] 1938-10-23
A resolution of the City Council, passed on 11th October 1911, explains how the city came by the coach:
"Resolved on the report of the City Committee that the Lord Mayor has presented to the city for the use of future Lord Mayors the coach which was used on the occasion of the visit of His Majesty George V to the city on 18th June last, together with liveries for the servants and State harness for a pair of horses, that the very hearty thanks of the Council be given to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor (Alderman Sir Eustace Gurney) for his great generosity in presenting so handsome and interesting an equipage to the City." Sir Eustace was Lord Mayor in 1910-11, with Mr H.P.Gould as Sheriff.
Stored in a coach house at the Strangers' Hall, the coach went out of use during the Second World War, but it was restored to duty in 1950 after a call for its reappearance had been made by Basil Cozens-Hardy, a former Sheriff of Norwich. An initial difficulty was soon overcome when a local firm of brewers agreed to lend, free of charge, two powerful grey horses and their driver as and when required.
Civic Week civic regalia [2813] 1938-10-23
Civic Week Medical Officer of Health etc [2814] 1938-10-23
Civic Week Lord Mayor and Sheriff [2815] 1938-10-23
Civic Week corporation officials procession [2816] 1938-10-23
Bethel St.
South side from Garden of Remembrance [2844] 1938-11-05
Bassingham Gate on south side [2900] 1939-03-31
Guildhall air raid precaution [3253] 1939-09-03
Guildhall air raid precaution for window [3255] 1939-09-03
Safeguarding the ancient stained glass of the Council Chamber.
Guildhall air raid precaution sandbags [3276] 1939-10-08
East side [3826] 1949-08-09
Chequered work 1534. Clock turret 1850.
SW corner from St Peter's St [3827] 1949-08-09
The portion to the right of the first floor stringcourse rebuilt following collapse of roof in 1511.
Festival garden adjoining Guildhall [3997] 1951-06-21
From NW [4675] 1962-06-17
Ringbolt at SW corner [6703] 1991-07-07
Said to be where malefactors were tied up and flogged.
Market Place Guildhall drinking fountain [7447] 1997-04-27
At east end of Guildhall, presented in 1859 by Charles P.Melly.

Martineau Lane:
        From Bracondale to Long John Hill
      passing
Trowse Bypass, Barrett Rd
Martineau Lane at Bracondale [B788] 1933-10-08
It was in 1896 when a motor car first made its appearance in the streets of Norwich. The pioneer driver was Mt F.W.Fitt. By 1927 10,000 cars had been registered in the city and the traffic congestion was causing concern. One means of easing this problem was seen to be the formation of a "ring" road to send the traffic around instead of through Norwich. It was considered the more practical since considerable portions of it were already in being, consisting of Martineau Lane to the south, Mile End Rd and Colman Rd (to North Farm Teahouse only) to the west, Farrow Rd and Guardian Rd, Sweet Briar Lane, Boundary Rd, and Mousehold, Heartsease and Harvey Lanes.
Martineau Lane south side cottages [1697] 1937-06-07
Martineau Lane Villa Gardens north side [1704] 1937-06-10
A victim of one of the earlier air raids on Norwich was a house at Old Lakenham known as the Villa Gardens, in Martineau Lane next to the entrance to the Lakenham swimming pool. According to a stone on the northern gable of this substantially built house of 11 rooms it was built in 1638; certain alterations, including the addition of a pillared doorway, were made during the following century. One of its upper rooms formerly contained some fine wooden panelling incorporating a cupboard, all of the 17c, but this was moved earlier in the 20c to the Keep of the Norwich Castle museum.
At about 1am on the 17th May 1941, two heavy bombs were dropped near here, one of them on a piggery. Although the walls of the house withstood the terrific blast, many windows were broken and the tiles were stripped from the roof, some of the timbers of which collapsed. Furniture in all the rooms was twisted and broken, but in spite of this damage nobody was killed and only three people required hospital treatment. Several new semi-detached houses on nearby Long John Hill were also wrecked in the same incident.
Martineau Lane Villa Gardens south front [1698] 1937-06-07
Martineau Lane Villa Gardens Georgian door [1705] 1937-06-10
Martineau Lane County Hall construction SE [5126] 1967-03-23
Martineau Lane County Hall construction SW [5127] 1967-03-23
Martineau Lane County Hall main entrance [6684] 1991-05-20
Opened 24th May 1968 by H.M.Queen Elizabeth II, architect Reginald H.Uren.
Martineau Lane at Barrett Rd [B789] 1933-10-08

Next street: Midland St

Text and photographs copyright George Plunkett

 Street List

 Home