Our Tour
Day One -
Medieval Norwich
Our tour will concentrate on medieval Norwich and Norfolk.
It will include Norwich Cathedral and Close which we shall visit on a walking tour, the first afternoon of your visit.
It is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Europe and houses many wonderful treasures, including medieval sculpture, stone roof bosses and the rare Despencer altarpiece.
The monastic cloister is the largest in England, and the spire of the cathedral is the second tallest, soaring to 315 ft or 96m.
We will then make our way to Elm Hill, which is the best surviving example of the 16th century city of wealthy Tudor merchants, the houses being rebuilt after a great fire in 1507 which destroyed 40% of Norwich’s timber-framed buildings. Today Elm Hill has many interesting shops, selling crafts, furniture and works of art.
From there we will visit St. Andrew’s and Blackfriars’ Halls which were, before the Dissolution of the monasteries, the church of a Dominican Friary, now the best-surviving friary in the country.
Our next focus of interest will be the Guildhall. This wonderful survivor of medieval Norwich, the largest guildhall outside London, is right in the centre of the city, to one side of Norwich’s famous market square, which is full of market traders in their distinctive colourful striped stalls.
On the south side of the Market Place is St. Peter Mancroft, largely rebuilt between 1430 and 1455 in the Perpendicular style. It is said to have few rivals among parish churches of England for its beauty and unique position in city life.
It retains much medieval painted glass of the 15th century Norwich School of Glass Painters.
Over the centuries many prominent figures in the city have been parishioners of Mancroft, including the 17th century physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne.
We shall complete the afternoon tour with a visit to the Castle Museum. It has a fine collection of paintings from the early medieval period right up to the 21st century.
Special interest may be given to the famous Norwich School of Painters.
There is a fascinating archaeological collection with modern displays of Iron Age, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age objects as well as the great Norman keep or donjon, rightly considered ‘the finest secular building of its generation’.