Chapel Field
Chapel Field In Chapel Field East stood until 1972 a
Nonconformist church, built by the Congregationalists and
opened in 1858. When it was demolished a sealed jar was
discovered let into the foundation stone, containing
documents written by its first minister, the Rev. J.
Alexander, These referred to a meeting of a committee in
October 1856, leading to the purchase of the land for
£550 and the raising of £3,500 for the building.Constructed in the Norman style of white brick and Portland stone, the Chapel-in-the-Field had twin turrets, each eighty feet high, flanking a facade designed like its Theatre Street neighbour with a rose window above an open porch with triple arches. An eastern apse containing an organ was lit by four stained-glass widows. Chapel-in-the-Field Congregational Church was closed in the 1960s because depopulation of the surrounding area led to a diminished attendance and because increased traffic in adjacent roads created difficulties of access. The last service was held on 30th December 1966, after which its members united with the congregation of another Congregational church in Jessopp Road. In the same year the city council purchased the property for £27,500, and for a time its future possible use as a music venue, sports or conference hall was debated. All this came to nothing, however, and the building was demolished early in 1972 (the organ was dismantled and re-erected at Somerleyton church). A hall at the rear was saved, though, to become a useful adjunct to the adjacent Theatre Royal. Any stranger to Norwich visiting Chapel Field Garden before 1972 could have been excused for thinking that they were given that name because the congregational church formed such a prominent landmark on its eastern side. On the contrary, it had been known by this name for centuries before the church was built. In fact it was derived from a chapel and hospital built by John le Brun some time before 1250 in fields extending from St Stephen’s church and St Giles’ gates. It soon grew into a college of secular priests, which was suppressed in 1545; the Assembly House now occupies the site. The seal of the college had a Latin inscription, which the historian Francis Blomefield translated thus: The fields
and Virgin gave the name And may
good luck attend the same. |
 Shown as an archery ground on Braun and
Hogenberg’s prospect of Norwich dated l581, the area
now occupied by Chapel Field Gardens was in 1746 being
held on a lease by Thomas Churchman, who in that year
planted its three main walks with avenues of elms. A
century later the waterworks company, who had a reservoir
here, offered to give up their interest in the field to
the Corporation on condition that it was “laid out
in the style of the London parks, the reservoir to be
retained but altered in shape . . . it was also proposed
to place the Nelson statue on an elegant fountain
pedestal in the centre of the reservoir”.Things proceeded slowly, however, and in the meantime Nelson’s statue found its way from the Market, where it was originally placed, to its present site in the Close near the west end of the Cathedral. Not until 1867 was the ground enclosed by iron railings, and it was 1880 before the present gardens were completed and opened to the public. Perhaps the garden’s most conspicuous feature at this time was the ornamental pagoda or pavilion near the centre of the grounds. Originally costing £2,000, it had been constructed by Barnard, Bishop and Barnard, the Norwich iron founders, from designs by Thomas Jeckyll as a showpiece for various exhibitions, being first erected at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. In 1880 it was purchased by the city for £500, which was raised by public subscription. It was of two floors and for a while was used as a bandstand until the present purpose-built structure was erected. |
 The pagoda was highly ornamented - the
brackets supporting both upper floor and roof were
enriched with designs in bas-relief depicting flowers and
birds; a geometrically patterned railing surrounded the
balcony floor, which was reached by a spiral staircase;
and an outer wrought-iron railing fashioned to resemble
rows of sunflowers enclosed the small mound on which the
pagoda stood. Because of damage this railing was later
removed, but several of the better-preserved sections
were later re-erected as entrance gates to the
tennis courts at Heigham Park. After many decades service
there, they were refurbished and erected in 2004 at the
park entrance.
The pagoda itself unfortunately sustained some damage during the Second World War and was demolished in November 1949, because it was unsafe. A brick and tile shelter now stands on the site. |
 Another noteworthy structure was the
thatched tea pavilion. Dating from about the time of the
Ashanti campaign it became known as King
Prempeh’s Bungalow. How it slipped through the
regulations that forbade the erection of thatched
buildings within the city walls is rather a mystery. It
was taken down in 1938 and superseded by the present
teahouse. |
 Tuns Inn Yard, Chapel Field
Road.Text and photographs Copyright © G.A.F.Plunkett 2004 |