St John’s Alley
St John’s Alley Here in 1939, just beyond the
Maddermarket theatre, I photographed a row of
three-storey timber-framed dwellings (Nos 4-5)
whose first floor projected slightly over the alley.
Writing about the parish in 1921, Leonard Bolingbroke
described how, coming from Pottergate and “passing
under the tower of the church, we get a glimpse of those
once very picturesque cottages standing in the church
alley. Unfortunately they have been recently sadly
defaced by a coating of cement”.A passageway between two of the houses led to a wide yard, surrounded on all sides by equally tall dwellings, some of early Georgian date. This was known as Farnell’s Court, named after one who, a century or more ago, had kept a school here. Described as a fine penman, Farnell produced copybooks, which were said to have been used in many of the Norwich schools. Text and photographs Copyright © G.A.F.Plunkett 2004 |