Roman villa had been found in the northern side of the camp at Caister.
Mr. Woodward said the Map of Norfolk still showed traces of Roman roads
radiating from Norwich. The principal roads were—one entering the
stronghold in the western side, now St. Stephen’s Street; another
entering it on the east, now known as King Street. This last crossed the
river by a ford at Fyebridge, and was the origin of Magdalen Street and
St. Augustine’s Street; another road left the fortress on the western
side, near the river, and was called St. Benedict’s Street; and the last
crossed the river at Bishopbridge by another ford, and sent off branches
to the north-east and east of Norfolk. He believed that nearly all the
main lines of road originated with the Romans, but this is at least
doubtful. Norwich must then have been a very large town to have required
so many main lines of roads; but its very existence as a town is
uncertain during the Roman period.
Mr. Woodward’s second map exhibited the entrenchments round the fortress
as already described, at the time of the Conquest. Map the third
exhibited the condition of the city in the time of the Domesday Survey,
or about A.D. 1100, when 54 churches and chapels existed. Map the fourth
showed the state of the city A.D. 1400, when Norwich was described as at
the acme of its splendour and importance, and second only to Bristol,
after London. This arose from its being the capital of East Anglia, and
the residence of so many of the clergy and gentry. Mr. Woodward pointed
out the sites of some of the old monasteries in this period. The
Bishop’s palace was then within the precincts of the close. Besides the
monastery there, and that of St. Leonard’s, there were then several
others in Norwich. In King Street, to the south of St. Faith’s Lane,
were the Austin Friars, and to the north of Rose Lane the Grey Friars.
Both these monastic communities were said to have encroached on the
adjacent streets, churchyards, &c., by extending their precincts; which
accounted for the changes around them. The Carmelites occupied the whole
angle of the city between the river, the walls, and Bargate Street. But
few traces of these establishments now remain. The case of the Black
Friars was very different. Their magnificent church is still almost
entire; much of the convent is still standing in St. Andrew’s Hall, and
the Dutch or Walloon Church, and the oldest parts of the former
Workhouse. In addition to these, there had been several smaller monastic
orders which were merged in the others before the 15th century. In this
period, most of the streets on the north side of the town were in
existence, and some on the south side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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