Norwich Historic Churches Trust

The History of Norwich and its Churches

Norwich is situated along the lower banks of the river Wensum. As can be seen from the contour lines, Norwich lies in that part of the valley where the gravel deposits form terraces along the river banks. Upstream and downstream there was marshy ground on both sides of the river. It is probably the lowest fording point on the Yare-Wensum river system. The river is tidal and navigable.

North to south and east to west Roman roads ran through the site of the present city. There is little evidence for occupation in what is now the central area of Norwich before the eighth century.

There may have been a few scattered hamlets. The earliest signs of significant urban settlement suggest it occurred in the area north of Fye Bridge. Here the gravel lies on both sides of the river, though the northern area is comparatively low lying and level.

Urban settlement was probably promoted by Danes, who consolidated their occupation of the Danelaw after their treaty with Alfred at Wedmore in 878. It is at this time that Norwich's importance as a trading and industrial centre seems to have developed. There was probably a defended area by the early 10th century on the northern bank of the river. A handful of our churches may have been founded in this period; almost certainly all were timber built.

Norwich seems to have developed rapidly in the tenth century, a period of continuing Scandinavian influence. Place-name evidence, and some artefacts, confirm an Anglo-Scandinavian culture. Some of the early church dedications also belong to this period. Although the attack of 1004 reportedly devastated the town, Norwich seems to have recovered quickly, and if anything, its growth quickened.

By the eleventh century Norwich was a large borough, with defensive ditches. Domesday Book records 1320 burgesses before the conquest. This is thought to represent a population of over 5000, and maybe as many as 10,000, making it one of England's largest towns. The centre of the late Saxon town was south of the river in the area now known as Tombland, where the market place was situated.
 
Domesday Book also notes the existence before the conquest of at least twenty-five churches or chapels; it names only eight of them, which may or may not be included among the twenty-five.

The nature of Domesday as a taxation record means that this list is probably not a complete record of all the churches in Norwich at the time. It is likely that some churches, such as St Martin-at-Palace, had been rebuilt in stone by this time. Continual rebuilding of churches occurred throughout the medieval period: excavations at St Benedict’s church revealed that it was rebuilt eight times.

The Norman Conquest brought major changes to the City. The building of the royal castle caused much destruction of the existing city, as the construction of its massive earthworks and the associated baileys entailed the demolition of at least ninety-eight houses, and at least one church was lost under the works. However, it is clear that the City remained prosperous, and growth continued. Domesday records that in 1086 there were about fifty churches in the City. In 1094 the bishop's seat was moved to Norwich, with the resulting annexation of a large area of the city for the cathedral and priory buildings, and the loss of at least two churches within the precinct. The developing city was forced to expand west, north and south.

The establishment of the French Borough and new market place (where it still remains) expanded the developed area, and saw three new churches established to serve it.

By the twelfth century Norwich was undoubtedly the most important city in East Anglia; economic activity was growing. More churches may have been founded to serve a growing population; altogether, the sites of sixty-one have been identified.

Norwich gained a degree of self-government in 1194, when Richard I granted it a charter.
 

The building of four friaries in Norwich in the period after 1226 resulted in large areas within the walls changing use and ownership, and this affected some of the churches. The Dominicans (or Blackfriars) first arrived in 1226 and were given the old parish church of St John Baptist over-the-Water. In 1368 the Austin Friars, who had settled in Norwich around 1250, obtained the grant of the church of St Michael Conesford from Sir Edmund de Thorp, Kt.

The construction of the City wall (1297–1335) fixed the boundaries of the City, which remained unaltered (with small exceptions) until the nineteenth century. There was a mediaeval suburb in Heigham with its church, and the parishes of St Stephen, St James, St. Benedict, St Clement-at-Fyebridge, and St Paul extended outside the walls.

The Black Death came to Norwich in 1349. As much as two-fifths of the population may have perished. A large proportion of the clergy died, and some parish churches fell into disuse from a lack of priests and parishioners.

Despite problem times, such as the Peasants’ Revolt and the Wars of the Roses, Norwich recovered and its merchants continued to grow in prosperity throughout the rest of the medieval period. There were frequent bouts of church rebuilding, and many of the churches were enlarged. As a result, stylistically most of the churches appear to date from this period, although many incorporate earlier fabric, with ‘updated’ windows and doors.

The Reformation brought about an end to major church building within the Established Church, although the 1689 Act of Toleration permitted the building of meeting-houses and chapels by the Dissenting churches.

As in most cities, the Norwich mediaeval churches suffered a good deal during the various purges of anything considered popish or superstitious. There were also some amalgamations of parishes, and several churches were demolished.

The resulting parish boundaries continued until amalgamation in the 1960s. An interesting aspect is that, as some parishes were not amalgamated with a neighbouring one, but  one some distance away, some parishes are split, and this continued into the twentieth century. For example, St Martin-at-Bale was united with St Michael-at-Thorn, and not with its neighbour St John Timberhill.

In 1565 the City authorities arranged for thirty households of religious refugees from the Netherlands to settle in Norwich. Called 'Strangers', they were weavers who knew how to make specialist cloth, which became the trade Norwich excelled in.

The church of St. Mary-the-Less was given to them as a cloth hall. Some of the later Strangers were French-speaking Walloons, and they took over St Mary-the-Less in 1637 for their services in French, which continued until 1832, by which time the Walloons were integrated with the local community.

The Dutch group of immigrants held their own services in Blackfriars' Hall for many years. Blackfriars’ Hall is the chancel of the Blackfriars’ church. The church was purchased by the city in 1540. The nave has been a public hall ever since. The chancel, initially the municipal chapel, was used by the Dutch church from about 1596, and given to them in 1625. As with the Walloons, the community was integrated by the early nineteenth century, and regular services ceased.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the growth of Norwich slowed down, and suburban development was very late.

Most of Norwich's churches were subject to the Victorian zeal for restoration. The churches were returned to the appearance it was thought they had had in the Middle Ages (even if they hadn't). It is clear that many had been very neglected and were falling into ruin. The chancel of St Giles had been taken down in 1581; towers were truncated, as at St Peter Hungate and St Michael-at-Plea, or, as in the case of St. Swithin, completely demolished. At St John Timberhill, in 1872 the fabric was in so bad a way that services had to be held under the west gallery for safety. New incumbents brought about rebuilding and restoration: St Giles’ chancel was rebuilt in 1866; and by 1900 all except St Helen had lost their box-pews. Several of the churches in use had vestries added during this period.

Only two churches were closed during the nineteenth century. St. Peter Southgate was ruinous, and was demolished in 1884 (although the green plaque says 1384!) Saint Simon and Saint Jude became redundant in 1894. Initially used as a Sunday School by St George Tombland,  it was converted for use by the Scout movement in 1952.

 

At the start of the nineteenth century the majority of the population still lived within the medieval city walls, and its population increased from about 36,000 to over 65,000 by 1850, and exceeded 110,000 at the turn of the century. Development outside the walls started as early as the 1820s, when the Town Close Estate was built up. Other areas were developed, and had their own churches buolt to serve them. These were St Clement’s extra-mural parish (Christ Church, New Catton, 1841); Peafield (St Mark, New Lakenham, 1844); Thorpe Hamlet (St Matthew, 1851), and South Heigham (Holy Trinity, Essex Street, 1861). There was more extensive house-building outside the city walls from 1880 onwards, whilst large areas within the walls were gradually redeveloped for factories and other commercial uses.

Norwich city centre steadily lost population for most of the 20th century. Slum clearance started early in Norwich. In 1918 the first Council Estates were started and the Norwich Yards demolished. The central area became more and more commercial, and less and less residential. New churches were built in the suburbs to serve people closer to where they were living, although the mediaeval churches continued in use as well. Many of the Anglo-Catholic ones were supported by people from the suburbs, as the suburban churches were mostly Low Church.
 

Enemy action in the Second World War destroyed substantial areas of the city centre, and many homes suffered extensive damage. Four churches, St Benedict, St Julian, St Michael-at-Thorn, and St Paul, were badly damaged. St Julian was rebuilt in 1958, but the sites of the other three were cleared, apart from St. Benedict's tower. The 1960s saw further clearance of old terraced streets in Norwich, replaced in some cases by a much lower-density housing.

All this, together with a much smaller proportion of the population attending church, resulted in there being no need for the majority of the city-centre medieval churches. Many of those that continue in use do so, at least in part, by offering specialised ministries, such as the strong Anglo-Catholic element.

Norwich Churches - Foundation and Redundancy
There are thirty-one surviving medieval churches within Norwich City walls. In addition, a further twenty-one were lost during or just after the Middle Ages; one was demolished in 1884; and three were destroyed by bombs in 1942. The sites of a total of sixty-one churches are known, to serve an area of a square mile-and­a-half.

Quite why this apparent over-provision was made is unknown, but other towns that developed around the same time as Norwich have a similar situation. London, only a mile square, had over a hundred churches. Lincoln and Winchester also had a very high number.

The exact foundation dates of the various churches in Norwich are unknown, but we can be confident in saying that most of them were of pre-1066 foundation. We do know that the three churches of Mancroft Ward - St Giles-on-the-Hill, St Peter Mancroft, and St Stephen - were founded to serve the French borough, itself established after the Conquest. It is notable that in comparison with others, their parishes are very large. The two St Georges (Colegate and Tombland) are probably late foundations too, as it was not a popular dedication until after the first Crusade (1096). Also, St George Tombland intrudes into the street plan and causes it to bend out of alignment.

Some churches were lost very early on. Holy Trinity was demolished to make way for the Cathedral around 1094 and St Michael Tombland went around the same time. The Black Death depopulated the parishes of St John Colegate, St Margaret Newbridge, and St Mathew-at-Palace, and these churches were closed. St Helen was closed and moved across the road into St Giles’ Hospital. The 1530s saw a good deal of rationalization, with amalgamation of parishes and demolition of many of the redundant churches, while others, such as St Mary-in-the­Marsh, St Crowches, and St Clement-at-the-Well, were converted to secular uses. The majority of St Helen’s church was converted to provide accommodation for the Great Hospital (the successor of St Giles’ Hospital), the parish church remaining in just part of the building.

Unlike the City of London, where a significant number of the churches were demolished in the nineteenth century (largely for the sake of the value of their sites), in Norwich only one was lost at this time: St Peter Southgate. In 1939 the remains of the long redundant St Bartholomew were demolished apart from a stump of its tower. The 1942 bombing caused the destruction of St Benedict, St Michael-at-Thorn, and St Paul. St Julian was also hit, but on account of its importance, was rebuilt in 1958.

In the 1960s there was a major review of the needs of the Church of England for churches. With dwindling population in the City centre and declining churchgoing, there was no need for so many churches. So in the early 1970's schemes of redundancy were drawn up, and many of the churches closed for worship. A further round of closures followed, leaving only twelve churches open for worship: St Andrew, St Augustine, St George Colegate, St George Tombland, St Giles, St Helen, St John Maddermarket, St John de Sepulchre, St John Timberhill, St Julian, St Peter Mancroft, and St Peter Parmentergate. Of these, St Augustine, St John Maddermarket, St Peter Parmentergate and St John de Sepulchre have since also been made redundant.

Of the redundant churches, eighteen are under the care of Norwich Historic Churches Trust, three that of Churches Conservation Trust, and one is in private hands.

Norwich Churches - Why so many?
Just why so many churches were established in Norwich is unknown. The same happened in London with over 100 churches in its square mile. Nearby Thetford, an important Saxon town, had 22 churches. Ipswich, however, only had twelve, probably because the early churches were royal foundations and land ownership was different from Norwich. It is interesting to note that the later towns of Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn both had just a single parish church each.

It is probable that some of the churches were established by private individuals, and remained the private property of their founders. Where there were many landowners in a town we seem to have many churches built. If we assume a population of 250 to support a church, then with 50 churches Norwich must have had a population of 10,000 or more. The buildings would have been wooden, and smaller than their successor churches.

Apart from an expression of religious piety, why else would a landowner have established a church? We can only guess, but it could have been as a status symbol, or even, as tithes were paid to the church, a tax efficient measure. Alternatively a church could have been seen as a financial investment, conveying rights and a share of the tithe income. It is possible that churches were also used for commercial uses as well as religious. There may indeed be a whole range of reasons. We are unlikely to ever know.

There is evidence from the boundaries of some of the earlier churches’ parishes that there must have been agreements to establish new parishes and build another church. In some cases, the older church's parish became divided into two by the later church. Again we can only speculate as to why this was done, however it must surely be related to land ownership or potential tithe income.

At the end of the eleventh Century church reforms sought to bring parish churches under control of the Church, and measures were introduced to stop the proliferation of churches. During the twelfth century the Lateran Councils ensured control for the bishops so that tithes were church property not to be taken by lay people, and that lay people should not be in possession of churches, although we know that St Saviour remained in the hands of a secular family until the fifteenth century. However, it was not until the Reformation that there was any real rationalisation of churches in Norwich and a significant reduction in numbers. Even this may have occurred more as a result of the valuable location that the churches stood on, or their poor state of repair.

For additional information on Norwich Churches please refer to our Bibilography page