Norwich’s History Through Its Buildings, Norwich, England

Norwich has one of the most complete medieval city centres in Britain. While the Blitz damaged parts of the historic core, enough survives to trace a thousand years of English building – from its Norman fortifications to postwar and modern gems.

What makes Norwich particularly rewarding is its density. It’s a compact, walkable centre, with all of its key sights all close together, meaning you can walk from a 15th-century merchant’s hall to a 1930s Art Deco landmark in less than ten minutes, passing half a dozen architectural periods along the way.

In this blog, I provide a short, self-guided walking tour to discover Norwich’s history through its unique architectural heritage. It starts and ends at the train station.

Norwich plays a pretty small role in Britain’s national consciousness these days. But it was once one of the city’s most prosperous and largest cities – for a while in the Middle Ages, it was surpassed only by London.

The reason for this great prosperity was the city’s wool and cloth trade. Norwich weavers produced worsted fabric that was exported across Europe, and the profits built a city that could afford to show off – and this golden period is visible in the city’s buildings and streets. Medieval Norwich had 56 churches within its walls, more than any other city north of the Alps (31 are left). It had one of the largest cathedral closes in England, a castle that functioned as a royal palace, and guildhalls that rivalled anything outside London. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).