Norwich is a cathedral city and the county town of Norfolk located in the east of England, in East Anglia, about 100 miles (160 km) north-east of London. The city is situated on the River Wensum. In pre-industrial times it was one of the most prosperous and largest towns in England, which is reflected in its large medieval cathedral. Today the city has a population of around 144,000.
Sunday, 24th March 2024
Inside Castle Gardens, a park in the centre of Norwich, which contains Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery. The glass-covered building on the left, is Castle Quarter, a shopping centre containing over 60 shops and food outlets, as well as a cinema. Most of the shopping centre is located underground across several levels. Castle Quarter opened in 1993.View across Castle Gardens with a picnic area in front.Wide path leading up to Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery. Norwich Castle can be seen directly ahead situated on top of a grass covered mound. A motte and bailey castle was constructed here on the orders of William the Conqueror some time between 1066 and 1075. The stone keep, which still survives today, dates from between 1094 and 1121. As part of this construction the motte or mound on which the castle stands was made higher and the moat beneath deeper. From 1220 until 1887 the castle was used as a prison. In 1894 Norwich Museum moved to the site and has remained to the present day.
The keep is 21 metres (70 feet) in height and is 29 metres (95 feet) by 27 metres (90 feet) along its sides. It is today protected as a scheduled monument and is also Grade I listed.
Tatiana and Tony stood by a recreated Iceni tribal round hut inside Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery. The Iceni were a Celtic tribe found in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire during the late Iron Age. The hut is part of a gallery about Boudica or Boudicca, the great warrior Queen of the Iceni, and her failed revolt against the Roman conquest of Britain in AD60-61.A marble sculpture of the Babes in the Wood created by John Bell (1811–1895) around 1842. Based on the traditional children’s tale, the sculpture depicts two children lying dead amongst leaves and flowers. It is displayed at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.
Monday, 25th March 2024
Tony and Tatiana stood by a sculpture called Beast Alerted I outside the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. The sculpture was created by Lynn Chadwick (1914–2003) in 1990. It is made from angular stainless-steel sheets and appears to be an abstract depiction of some sort of animal.
The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art opened in 1978 on the campus of the University of East Anglia in Norwich. The centre was first conceived in 1973 after Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury gave their art collection to the University of East Anglia.
Tatiana and Tony alongside another Lynn Chadwick sculpture outside the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. The part of the sculpture in view appears to abstractly depict the back legs and tail of an animal using mostly triangular stainless-steel sheets. The sculpture is stood on grass containing patches of daisies.View across part of the University of East Anglia campus covered with grass and trees from near the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. In the distance distinctive ‘ziggurat’ student accommodation blocks can be seen. These halls of residence were designed by Denys Lasdun (1914–2001) in the 1960s. They are brutalist in style, formed of a series of angular ziggurat-like tiers, made from concrete with large rectangular windows covering much of the front facade.Bronze sculpture of a reclining figure by English artist Henry Moore (1898–1986) outside the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. The figure is on a plinth which is 2.4 metres in length. The figure is abstract: the curves of the body are prominent, but features such as the head and hands are hardly present.Tony stood in front of the Reclining Figure by Henry Moore.Tony and Tatiana now inside the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. They are next to another sculpture by Henry Moore. This one is called Mother and Child and was created in 1932: it depicts a seated mother holding a child in semi-abstract form. It is carved in Hornton stone and is just under a metre in height.A very tall narrow bronze sculpture of a woman by Alberto Giacometti inside the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. It is called Standing Woman and was cast in 1959. Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker.
Monday, 25th March 2024
Inside Norwich Cathedral looking from the South Transept across the Choir into the North Transept.
Construction of Norwich Cathedral began in 1096 at the behest of the first bishop of Norwich, Herbert de Losing. It was consecrated in 1101 but was not completed until 1145. The walls were constructed from flint and mortar and faced with cream-coloured Caen limestone. The cloisters were added between 1297 and 1430. The present spire, dating from 1480, is the second highest in England after Salisbury Cathedral rising to 96 metres (315 feet) in height. In style the cathedral is Norman with some later Gothic additions. The cathedral’s formal name is the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
The choir inside Norwich Cathedral between the North and South Transepts. Rows of wooden choir stalls can be seen. These pews run parallel to the central aisle. This is the location where the church choir and clergy sit during services. This location is directly below the cathedral’s large central tower and spire. The wooden pulpit can vaguely be seen to the right.View along the South Aisle. A stone screen or partition, with an arched entrance way, separates this part of the South Aisle from the South Transept. There are carved wooden pews in the foreground.A bronze pelican lectern inside Norwich Cathedral. The lectern is Flemish and from the 14th century. It survived the 16th-century Reformation, when many religious artefacts were destroyed, by being buried in the Bishop’s garden.Choir stalls inside Norwich Cathedral. The wooden stalls are lit by rows of candles.Tony and Tatiana alongside the headstone of Edith Cavell (1865–1915) in Norwich Cathedral Close. Edith Cavell is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the First World War and for assisting around 200 Allied soldiers in escaping from Belgium to neutral Holland. For helping these Allied soldiers to escape she was court-martialled and subsequently shot by German soldiers on 12th October 1915. The night before her execution, she famously said: “Standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.”View across a square area of grass which is enclosed by the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral. The cloisters are the second largest in England. Their construction began in 1297.Shot along one side of the cloisters: an arcade or covered passageway open on the inner side. They enclose a grassy area, known as the Cloister Garth. In the photo, maintenance work is being carried out, and a line of temporary red barriers runs along one side of the cloister.Gothic-arched windows in the outside wall of the cloister. The leaded windows are decorated with a diamond-shaped pattern.The vaulted ceiling of the cloister at Norwich Cathedral.A life-sized bronze statue of the Duke of Wellington in the Upper Close of Norwich Cathedral. He is in civilian dress, but is holding a sword, with a cannon resting at his feet. The statue was sculpted by C.C. Adams and was unveiled in 1854. It originally stood in Norwich Market until being moved to its current location in 1937. Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) was a leading military and political figure during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.Looking across the western end of the cathedral close. There is grass in the foreground and in view ahead Norwich Cathedral including its 96 metre (315 foot) high spire. The close was once the grounds of a Benedictine monastery that formed part of the cathedral.Tatiana relaxing on a settee at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich. The Maids Head Hotel is an AA4 star Hotel on the Tombland area of Norwich, located close to Norwich Cathedral. Tony and Tatiana had dinner there on Tuesday evening, 26th March. It is a Grade II listed building and dates from the 13th century. The main façade faces on to intersection of three streets, Tombland, Wensum Street and Palace Street. Queen Elizabeth I of England was said to have slept at the hotel in 1587.The reception and foyer of the Maids Head Hotel with a revolving door leading to the road outside.
Wednesday, 27th March 2024
Tony wearing a tricorn hat and Tatiana a blonde curly wig inside the Museum of Norwich at The Bridewell. The museum covers Norwich’s history from the medieval period to the present day.Tony now wearing the blonde curly wig and Tatiana the tricorn hat.Tony wearing a top hat at the Museum of Norwich at The Bridewell. In the background there appears to be a recreation of a Victorian shop front.Tatiana and Tony with the Norwich City Football Club mascot at the Museum of Norwich at The Bridewell. Tony is wearing a bobble hat with yellow and green stripes, these are the traditional colours of Norwich City’s home kit. The mascot is also dressed in yellow and green and is wearing a top hat and holding a walking cane. The mascot appears part human and part canary with a pointy beak-like nose: Norwich City’s nickname is the Canaries due to a history of breeding the birds in the area.
