Welcome
To the e-travelguide to Hotels, guest houses
and attractions in Norwich
Make the most of your
time in Norwich, use the information provided
on this web site by clicking on the links
above to plan your visit.
Norwich is one of England’s most attractive medieval cities, and in addition to being the county town of Norfolk in East Anglia, it is also the administrative, cultural and retail capital of the area. It is a city with very much its own personality and character, due in part to its relative isolation, yet it is far from the insular and ‘local’ place that is often portrayed; Norwich is home to a dynamic and forward-thinking University – UEA – and enjoys a vibrant arts and entertainment scene in addition to a bustling nightlife, with a good mix of traditional and younger, funkier venues giving the city a broad appeal to all ages. Norwich also combines a pleasant situation in the heart of characteristically flat countryside, which is full of intriguing little villages, windmills and of course the Norfolk Broads National Park, with relatively easy access from London and the South East by road and rail.
Norwich, according to legend, was built on a man-made earth mound raised by human hands over the grave of an old Heathen King, whose tomb sits deep within it. Certainly there is little but anecdotal evidence of habitation of the area upon which Norwich now stands until the medieval era; during the Roman occupation of Britain a settlement was built at Caistor St Edmund, a few miles to the south, but little is known about Norwich itself until the 10 th Century AD, when the town of ‘Norvic’ began to appear in the records. Norwich benefited from its useful location on the River Wensum, along which wool was transported. Norwich was granted the status of a city in 1194, and by 1404 it had appointed a mayor, two sheriffs and aldermen to run its affairs. Norwich continued to grow during the Middle Ages, and remained an important textile manufacturing centres until the 19 th Century. Throughout this period the region became home to immigrant workers of many nationalities, most notably Spanish and Belgian, and this era also saw an unusually large number of churches built in the city, the largest of which is St Peter Mancroft - built between 1430 and 1455. Norwich is also unusual in that it has two cathedrals: the magnificent Norman Cathedral, one of the finest Anglican Cathedrals of its type in the world; and St John the Baptist Catholic Cathedral with its superb neo-Gothic architecture.
Contact:
0118 971 4700
|
