Chapter XL

HERE, on this famous Heath of Mousehold where the gorse and heather and the less common broom yet flourish, despite the electric tramways that bring up the crowds and the picnic parties, Nature, rugged and unconquerable, looks down upon the city, revealed as a whole. Even though the chimneys of great factories may intrude and smirch the sky when winds permit the smoke-wreaths to trail across the view, it is a view quite unspoilable. The cathedral, as is only proper, is the grand dominating feature, with its central tower and graceful crocketed spire rising to a height of 320 feet. Second to it, on its left hand, the huge bulk of the castle keep rears up; a time-ball on its battlements to give the time o' day to the busy citizens; those battlements where from a gibbet they hanged Robert Kett in 1549, when his rebellion was crushed and his army of 20,000 peasants who had encamped on Mousehold defeated. In similar fashion his brother William was hanged from Wymondham steeple. Between castle and cathedral the great tower of St Peter Mancroft looms up, and on the other side of the cathedral tower the twin spires of the Roman Catholic place of worship crown the sky-line. To the extreme right of the accompanying illustration is St Giles's, and on the extreme left, in company with the pinnacled tower of a modern church, the dark tower of St John-at-Sepulchre, Bracondale, which for shortness and simplicity the citizens call "Ber Street Church." For the rest, it is a mingling of town and country, of houses and gardens and churches in great number, that one sees down there; old Norwich, in short, exclusive of the modern suburbs that are flung everywhere around and cause the Norwich of to-day to outnumber the Norwich of coaching times by 80,000 inhabitants. It must be evident from those figures that the picturesque old Norwich numbering a population of only 30,000 has been in great degree improved away and borne under by that human deluge. It is delightful now, but what it was at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Crome and De Wint and others sketched and painted its quaint bits, the picture-galleries of the Castle Museum can tell. Nay, even down to the mid-nineteenth century it was still very different, as a collection of early photographs in the castle proves. Then, before St Peter Mancroft was restored, before the old Fish Market was cleared away, Norwich had many more quaint nooks than now to show the stranger; even as, centuries before, it was yet more quaint and even more remarkable for its many churches than at the present time.

"The nearer the church the further from God," says the old saw. How irreligious then should Norwich be, that has even yet a cathedral and thirty-four ancient churches, and modern places of worship fully as numerous! Let the citizens, therefore, as old Fuller suggested, "make good use of their churches and cross that pestilent proverb." These churches bear a close resemblance to one another, having nearly all been rebuilt in the Perpendicular period, some five hundred years ago, and all built of the black flint that gives a character to East Anglian architecture quite distinct from that of other districts. The time when they were thus rebuilt was not only a great period of church-building throughout England, but a time of especial prosperity in mercantile and trading Norwich; a time when guilds grew powerful and merchants wealthy in the flourishing industry of cloth-weaving introduced some time earlier by Flamand and Hollander immigrants. English wool that before had gone across the narrow seas for manufacture into stuffs was now weaved in the land of its growth. "Many thousands," says Blomefield, "that before could not get their bread could now by this means live handsomely." In that age, to become rich and prosperous was to become also a founder and benefactor of churches; hence the great ecclesiastical buildings that, according to the picturesque metaphor of an old writer, writing when there were no fewer than sixty-one churches in the city, "surrounded the cathedral as the stars do the moon." The old citizens sleep in the parish churches for which they did so much; their monuments in brass or marble, stone or alabaster curiously wrought, often with their "merchant's marks"--the distinctive signs with which they labelled their wares--engraved on them in lieu of coats of arms. It is as though a modern trader were to have the registered trade-mark of his speciality engraved on his tombstone. A typical memorial of an old Norwich trader is that of Thomas Sotherton, in the church of St John Maddermarket. He--

"Under this cold marbell sleeps,"

and was no common fellow, mark you, but

"Of gentell blood, more worthy merrit,
Whose brest enclosed an humble sperryt."

Although the calendar of saints is a long one and more than sufficiently lengthy to have provided each one of the Norwich churches with a patron, yet so popular were some saints, that several churches to the same one are found in Norwich, as seen also in the city of London. As in old London, it was in those cases necessary to confer surnames, so to speak, upon those churches.

They are surnames of the geographical sort and not a little curious. The four St Peters are, for example, St Peter Mancroft, the largest and most important in the city, so called from the Magna Croft, or large field of the castle; St Peter per Mountergate, in King Street, named from the road by the "montem," the hill or mount, that runs ridge-like in its rear; St Peter Hungate, the "hundred gate," or road, reminiscent of the time when Norwich was a hundred of itself, even as it is now by itself a county; and St Peter Southgate. St Michael-at-Thorn has still thorn trees growing in its churchyard; St Michael Coslany, with St Mary's of identical surname, was built in Coast Lane; and St Michael-at-Plea was named from its neighbourhood to an ecclesiastical court. St John Maddermarket is thus distinguished from other St Johns--St John Timberhill and St John-at-Sepulchre. In the neighbourhood of the first-named, madder for the dyers' use was marketed; while at Timberhill was the market in wood. St Martin-at-Palace, by the old Bishop's Palace, and St-Martin-at-Oak take up the tale, which might be continued at great length.

The business life of modern Norwich centres in the Market Place and the streets that immediately lead out of it: the mouldering signs of old commerce peer in peaked gables, clustered chimneys and old red-brick and plastered walls in the lanes and along the wharves of the Wensum.

There trade hustles and elbows to the front, in many-storeyed piles of brick, stone and stucco, with great show of goods in plate-glass windows and bold advertisement of gilt lettering. All those signs of prosperity may be seen, and on a larger scale, in London, but not even in London are the electric tram cars so great a menace to life and limb as in these narrow and winding streets, where they dash along at reckless speed.

The Market Place is not yet wholly spoilt. The huge bulk of St Peter Mancroft and a row of queer old houses beside it still avert that disaster, and form a picture from one point of view; while the flint-faced Guildhall stands at another corner of the great open place and in its Council Chamber, in use five hundred years ago as a Court of Justice, and still so used, proves the continuity of "our rough island story." In a dark and dismal cell of the Guildhall once lay the heroic martyr, Thomas Bilney, who "testified" at the stake in the Lollards' Pit, where many another had already yielded up his life. He wondered, as others before and after him had done and were to do, whether the tortured body could pass steadfast through the fiery ordeal; and on the eve of his martyrdom put that doubt to the test by holding his finger in the flame of a candle. That test sufficed, and he suffered with unshaken constancy when the morrow dawned.

The Guildhall has less tragical memories than this, and was indeed the scene of many old-time municipal revelries in times before Corporations became reformed. But old revels and frolics have been discontinued, and "Snap," the Norwich dragon, a fearsome beast of gilded wickerwork, who was wont to be paraded from the Guildhall at the annual mayoral election, and last frolicked with his attendant beadles and whifflers in 1835, now reposes in the Castle Museum.

The Market Place on Saturday, when the wide open square is close-packed with stalls, is Norwich at its most characteristic time and in its most characteristic spot. In it the story of the Norwich Road may fitly end. The city itself, glanced at in the immediately foregoing pages, could not yield its story in less space than that occupied by that of the road itself.

INDEX

Aldgate, 1, 8, 11, 13, 51

---- Pump, 11

"Bacon End," 180

Boreham, 127-129

Bow, 6, 8, 75-80

---- Bridge, 77-79

Brentwood, 23, 94-99, 132, 200

Brockford, 257

Brome, 261

Brook Street, 94

---- Hill, 94, 132

Caistor St Edmunds, 4, 298, 301-303

Capel St Mary, 236

Chadwell Heath, 51, 83, 85, 86

---- Street, 86

Chelmsford, 5, 40, 51, 52, 54, 57, 80, 114-121, 127, 167, 200

Chipping Hill, 133-139, 302

Claydon, 252

---- Hall, 252

Coaches:--
"Confatharrat," 34
"Duke of Beaufort's Retaliator," 46, 140
"Expedition," 39, 306
"Gurney's Original Day Coach," 39, 267, 306
"Ipswich Blues," 23, 39, 132
"---- and Yarmouth Mail," 41, 45
"---- Post Coaches," 36
"---- Shannon," 39
"---- Umpire," 81
"Magnet," 39, 306
"New Colchester," 81
"Norwich Machine," 34-36, 306
"---- Mail," 39, 40, 43
"---- Post Coach," 39
"---- Times," 28, 39, 267
"Parcel Mail," 54-57, 111
"Phænomenon," 39, 306
"Telegraph," 306

Coaching, 30-51, 54-57, 81, 82, 97, 132, 142-151, 267

Coaching Notabilities:--
Alexander, Israel, 46, 140
Nelson, Mrs Ann, 19-25, 27, 81, 132
----, George, 19
----, John, 19, 25-27
----, Robert, 19
Suggate (Norwich carrier), 34
Thorogood, John, 28, 267

Colchester, 5, 6, 43, 54, 56, 94, 156, 163, 165, 167, 177, 179-212,
217

Constable, John, R.A., 149, 154, 217-219, 232, 238

Copdock, 236

Copford, 175, 176

_Copperfield, David_, 28, 44, 45, 150, 226, 274

Creeting, All Saints, 253

Creetings, The, 255

Dedham, 217-221

Deodand, Law of, 50

Dickleburgh, 6, 277-279

Dilbridge, 217

Dunston, 298

Feering, 152, 153, 158

Forest Gate, 81

Goodmayes, 83

Gore Pit, 152, 176

Great Eastern Railway, 25, 46, 51-54, 83, 152, 158, 175

Hare Street, 94

Hartford Bridge, 304

Hatfield Peverel, 129, 131

Highwaymen, 29, 30, 41, 58-62, 85, 86, 87, 88, 99, 142, 143, 214

Highwaymen:--
Cratfield, Rev. Wm., 30
King, Matthew, 58
----, Robert, 58
----, Tom, 58, 61
Tapyrtone, Thomas, 30
Turpin, Richard, 57-62

Ilford, 6, 29, 80, 82, 83, 167

Ingatestone, 6, 56, 99, 105-110

Inns (mentioned at length):--
"Angel," Colchester, 196, 197
----, Kelvedon, 140, 141, 147, 148, 162
----, Norwich, 34, 306
"Belle Sauvage," Ludgate Hill, 19
"Black Boy," Chelmsford, 121
"Blossoms," Laurence Lane, 34
"Blue Boar," Whitechapel, 28
"---- Posts," Witham, 132
"Bull," Bishopsgate Street, 15, 37
----, Leadenhall Street, 12, 15
----, Whitechapel, 15, 19-28
"Bull and Mouth," St Martin's-le-Grand, 15
"Cauliflower," Ilford, 83
"Coach and Horses," Upton, 81
"Cock," Thwaite, 260
"Cross Keys," Gresham Street, 15
"Duke's Head," Wacton, 288
"Fleece," Brook Street, 94
"Flower Pot," Bishopsgate Street, 15
"Four Swans," 34
"Golden Cross," Charing Cross, 15
"Good Woman," Widford, 111-114
"Grave Maurice," Whitechapel, 69
"Great White Horse," Ipswich, 36, 37, 228, 247-252, 306
"Gun," Dedham, 221, 228
"Half Moon," Ipswich, 243
"Horse and Leaping Bar," Whitechapel, 29
"King's Head," Dickleburgh, 278
"Lion and Lamb," Ipswich, 243, 244
"Magpie," Little Stonham, 256
"Maid's Head," Newton Flotman, 297
---- ----, Norwich, 34, 35, 306, 307
"Music House," Norwich, 307
"Norfolk Hotel," Norwich, 306
"Old Red Lion," Whitechapel, 57
"Popinjay," Norwich, 34
"Queen's Head," Thwaite, 259, 260
"Rampant Horse," Norwich, 306
"Red Lion," Colchester, 196
---- ----, Kelvedon, 140
---- ----, Whitechapel, 57
"Rising Sun," Manor Park, 81
"Saracen's Head," Aldgate, 14, 16, 17, 18
---- ----, Chelmsford, 117-120
"Spread Eagle," Gracechurch Street, 15-19
"Sun," Kelvedon, 152
"Swan," Washbrook, 237
"Swan-with-Two-Necks," Gresham Street, 15, 43
"Three Cups," Colchester, 37, 167, 196
---- ----, Springfield, 122
"Three Nuns," Aldgate, 29
"Vine," Mile End, 73
"Wheatsheaf," Kelvedon, 152
"White Elm," Copdock, 237
"---- Hart," Brentwood, 37, 97, 98, 119
---- ----, Colchester, 196
---- ----, Scole, 262-271
---- ----, Witham, 132
"White Horse," Fetter Lane, 15
---- Horse, Widford, 112, 114

Ipswich, 54, 56, 132, 212, 237-252

Kelvedon, 5, 139-153, 162, 176

Langham, 218

Lexden, 52, 147, 177-181, 302

---- Heath, 177-179, 187, 190, 201

Little Stonham, 6, 256

"London Stone," 4, 13

Long Stratton, 6, 292-295

Manor Park, 81

Margaretting, 57, 110, 111

Mark's Tey, 158, 175, 176

Martyr's Tree, 95, 96

Mile End, 70-74, 163

"Mockbeggar Hall," 252

Moulsham, 114

Mountnessing, 101-105

Needham Market, 255

New Hall, 123-127

Newton Flotman, 296-299

Norwich, 51, 52, 161, 301, 302-320

Old Ford, 6, 8, 76

Old-time travellers:--
Caroline of Brunswick, Princess, Queen of George IV., 165-168
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess, Queen of George III.,
162, 163
Kemp, Will, 79, 82, 161
Johnson, Samuel, 164, 165
Queen Elizabeth, 304, 307
William III., 140, 141, 161

Old-time travelling, 142-150, 159-168, 178, 225-237

Parcel Mail, 54-57, 111

Pulham St Mary Magdalene, 286, 287

---- St Mary the Virgin, 286, 287

Puttels Bridge, 93, 94

Rivenhall End, 139

Romford, 5, 23, 29, 51, 82, 85, 88-93, 167

Scole, 6, 40, 262-272

Seven Kings, 51, 83-85

Shenfield, 99, 100

Shrubland Park, 253, 255

Springfield, 121-123

Spurgeon, Rev. C. H., 151

Stanway, 6, 174-178

Steam Coaches, 46

Stoke Ash, 257, 260

Stonham Aspall, 256

---- Earls, 256

Stratford (Langthorne), 78, 80, 81

----- -le-Bow, 6, 8, 75-80

---- St Mary, 5, 6, 223-225, 274

Swainsthorpe, 298

Tasburgh, 292, 295, 296, 297, 302

Thwaite, 259

Tivetshall St Margaret, 6, 284, 287

---- St Mary, 6, 287

Toll-gates, 40, 70, 71, 78, 87, 93, 94, 139, 179, 222, 237, 257, 288

Uphall, 5, 302

Upton Park, 81

Wacton, 288, 292

---- Common, 288

Washbrook, 236

West Ham, 77, 81

Whalebone House, 86, 87

Whitechapel, 2, 12, 62-69

Whitton Street, 252

Widford, 111-114, 161

Witham, 23, 131-139, 163

Woodgrange, 81

Writtle, 5

Yaxley, 260

EDINBURGH
COLSTON AND COY, LTD.
PRINTERS

Transcriber's Notes:

Inconsistent hyphenation is retained.

Inconsistent punctuation is retained.

Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.

Bold is shown thus: =strong=.

Small capitals have been capitalised.