St Martin’s Lane
St Martin’s Lane
Occupied by weavers in the seventeenth century, the building had become vandalised and derelict by 1980, and concern was expressed that steps should be taken to restore it. In support of restoration it was said that whereas two hundred years ago Norwich had over four thousand such cottages, now there were only five of the kind left in the city. Nevertheless, it was decided that deterioration had gone too far, that it would cost over £40,000 to put the property in order, and that it would have to be virtually rebuilt. In July 1981, therefore, it was agreed that it should be demolished; it was cleared away soon after. Text and photographs Copyright © G.A.F.Plunkett 2004 |
To the north of St
Martin’s church in Oak Street lies St Martin’s
Lane, where an archaeological excavation was carried out
in 1977 by the Norwich Survey team on the corner opposite
the churchyard. Documentary evidence established that
site fronting this end of the lane had been occupied by
at least 1300, when it was described as a messuage with
buildings belonging to Thomas de Lingcole, a tanner. No
doubt the inscription in St Mary’s church to Thomas
de Lingcole commemorates the same person. By the
mid-fourteenth century it had become a textile-working
tenement, and towards the end of the fifteenth century it
was owned by Gregory Clerk, a mercer who was Sheriff in
1477. This was not his residence, for he lived in a
mansion that survived in nearby Dial Yard until about
1940. His widow bequeathed “her dwelling place”
and the St Martin’s Lane property to her son, also
Gregory, who was Mayor in 1505 and died in 1516.
Archaeological evidence suggested that this was rebuilt,
probably after the death of the younger Gregory, to
survive as 67-69 St Martin’s Lane.