NORWICH, city and county town of Norfolk, England,ii4m. N.E. by N. from London. Pop. (1931) 126,207. It is served by the L.N.E., the L.M.S., and the M. and G.N. railways. Caistor-by Norwich, 4 m. S. of Norwich, is on the site of what was probably a Romano-British town. According to tradition Uffa made a fortification here about 570, but its history as a royal borough cannot be traced before the reign of Aethelstan (924-940), when it possessed a mint. After being destroyed by the Danes Nor wich enjoyed a period of prosperity under Danish influence and was one of the largest boroughs in the kingdom at the Conquest. Ralph de Guader, earl of East Anglia under William I., formed the nucleus of a French borough with different cus toms from the English, and after his forfeiture a castle was built and the centre of burghal life gradually transferred to the new community west of it. By 1158, when Henry II. granted the burgesses a charter confirming their previous liberties, the two boroughs seem to have amalgamated. A fuller charter given by Richard I. and confirmed by later sovereigns made Norwich a city enjoying the same liberties as London. The city lies in the valley of the Wensum, which joins the Yare immediately below. The ancient city lay in a deep bend of the Wensum, and the walls (1294-1342), with their many towers and 12 gatehouses, of which fragments only remain, were 4 m. in circuit. These narrow limits, however, were outgrown even by 1671. The castle, stand ing high upon a steep mound, is still partly surrounded by earth works and a ditch spanned by a very early bridge. Only the early Norman square keep remains, with four tiers of arcading without, and an ornate doorway into the great tower. The building was acquired in 1884 by the corporation and in adapted as a museum and art gallery.
The cathedral church of the Holy Trinity lies between the castle and the river. In 1094 the seat of the East Anglian bishopric was removed by Bishop Herbert de Lozinga or Lorraine from Thetford to Norwich, where in 1096 he laid the foundation of the cathedral and dedicated it in i IoI, establishing at the same time a Benedictine monastery. As completed by his suc cessor before the middle of the i 2th century the cathedral was purely Norman; and it still retains its original Norman plan. The Early English lady chapel (demolished about 1580) belonged to the middle of the 13th century; the Perpendicular spire, erected after the collapse of two spires of wood, belongs to the 15th; the west window and porch and the lierne stone vaulting of the nave, with its 328 bosses, to the 15th, and to the i6th the vaulting of the transepts and Bishop Nix's chantry, whilst the fine cloisters, with 45 windows, were begun in 1297 and not com pleted till 1430. The chief entrance on the west is a Perpendicular
archway, above which is a window filled with modern stained glass. The nave is divided by 14 semicircular arches, whose piers are in two instances ornamented with spiral mouldings. The triforium is composed of similar arches. The choir is of unusual length, and terminates in an apse. The oak stalls and misereres are of the 15th century. Of three circular apsidal chapels two remain. Two richly sculptured gateways lead to the cathedral— the Erpingham gate (1420) and the Ethelbert gateway (c. 1300). The bishop's palace and the deanery have undergone many alter ations. The latter has a well-restored chapel. An Early Decorated ruin in the palace garden, known as "Bishop Salmon's gateway," is supposed to have been the porch to the great hall (c. 1319).
The citizens obtained a charter (14o4), making their city a county with a mayor and two sheriffs instead of four bailiffs, and Henry V. added 24 aldermen and 6o common councilmen (1418). The cathedral precinct became parcel of the city at the Dissolution and in 1556 the neighbouring hamlets were incorporated in the county of Norwich. The charter of Charles II. (1683) remained in force till 1835, when one sheriff was re moved and the number of aldermen, common councilmen and wards diminished. Since 1298 Norwich has been represented in parliament by two members. Two annual fairs, existing before 1332, were formally granted to the city in 1482. One was then held in Lent, the other began on the feast of the Commemoration of St. Paul (June 30). These have been succeeded by the Maun day Thursday horse and cattle fair, and the pleasure fairs of Easter and Christmas. The market, which must have existed before the Conquest, was held daily in the 13th century, when citizens enclosed stalls by royal licence. Edward III. made Nor wich a staple town, and the importance of its trade in wool and worsted dates from his reign.