C O N T E X T 1 4 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 17 The Medieval Merchants tour with Barbara Miller visiting Strangers Hall (Photo: Cheryl Roberts) the route to the market area and whose back gardens led down to the river. Elm Hill starts near the river and terminates at the site of Blackfriars, to which the friars moved around 1307 because of the river frontage and what was a better trading position than their old site north of the river. The existing houses on Elm Hill are large timberframed courtyard houses of the 16th century, many of them erected over earlier undercrofts which, being of stone, survived the disastrous city fire of 1507. They were not just residences but also workshops, the house being placed along the street with mainly textile workshops to the rear. The Pettus House, for example, was built by a wealthy cloth dealer in 1590 whose family later became mayors of Norwich. Also on this street was the Paston family house, and the guildhall of the Merchant Adventurers which became a ‘stranger’s house’ where Flemish weavers lived when they were brought to Norwich to revitalise the weaving trade. The Grade II* Britons Arms was the only timber-framed building to survive the fire. All three storeys have recently been renovated, including the thatched roof. We passed St Andrews Church, restored in the Victorian period, to the Bridewell. Originally the home of wealthy cloth merchant Geoffrey de Salle, it retains a 15th-century open hall over a large 1325 vaulted undercroft. We were amazed by the series of vaulted rooms here. On the outside the north wall of the hall has a spectacular square-knapped flint wall of incredible craftsmanship, thought to be a unique survivor of this technique. By the 16th century it was no longer a residence and was given to the town to be used as a gaol – hence its name. From here we walked through the Maddermarket area, its name reflecting its former importance in the cloth dye industry, to Strangers Hall, built by the Sutherton family, who were grocers, trading in spices and textiles, and which has been home to numerous mayors. It retains its timber-framed interior with open hall, minstrel’s gallery and panelled rooms over a stone undercroft. The fireplace in one of the upstairs rooms has been investigated for the numerous painted layers of decoration which epitomise its high-status history. Norwich has over 70 medieval undercrofts, in stone or brick. More numerous than anywhere else in England, they were used as secure warehouses and trading places, reflecting the importance of the city for medieval trade. Pausing to look at Gybson’s Conduit of 1578, an elaborate Tudor public fountain which was the first restoration of a scheduled monument undertaken by Norwich Preservation Trust, we proceeded through the Lanes, with their smaller, timber-framed shops and houses, to the Guildhall.This magnificent flint edifice, erected at the side of the marketplace, was originally
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=