The wonkiest building is aptly named "The Crooked House", which is situated opposite the entrance to the Cathedral Close. Looking quirky with its crookedness and its beautiful timber frame makes it a highly photographed building amongst tourists.
The house is a typical Tudor merchants townhouse
The house was built for Augustine Steward in 1530, who was three times elected Mayor for Norwich as well as being a city MP.
The house was famously used by the royal troops who were sent to stop the Kett Rebellion in 1549. The rebellion was over the wealthy people having all the land and leaving the peasants with nowhere for their animals to graze.
Augustine Steward acted as a negotiator between the rebels and the King's army.
Not far from"The Crooked House", close to the cobbled Elm Hill is what used to be a coaching inn known as "The Maid's Head Hotel". Claiming to be the oldest hotel in the UK it started being hospitable in 1090.
It's had plenty of royal visitors dating back to Edward the Black Prince and Henry V111's first wife Catherine of Aragon.
Across the road from The Maid's Head Hotel is Norwich Cathedral, one of the great medieval churches of England. The cathedral started to be built in 1096 and by 1145 it was completed. The two gates leading into the cathedral are both based on Tombland.
The name Tombland is a Norse word which means open space or empty ground and not burial site as many people think.
It used to be a place where markets were held, horse fairs were popular and communities congregated.
The medieval horse fairs were very rowdy and in 1272 it got very rowdy between the monks and the citizens of Norwich. The monks believed that they didn't have to follow the same rules as normal citizens as they answered to God. It got very heated, monks started killing citizens and the citizens revolted which went on for three days. Once everything had calmed down King Henry III came to Norwich and blamed the citizens, then charged them for all the damage the "Religious Rebellion" had caused.
That makes two major rebellions in Tombland!
Walk back to the Maids Head Hotel and opposite is Elm Hill, one of the prettiest medieval streets in Norwich with all its Tudor quirkiness.
Elm Hill is one of England's most unaltered 16th Century streets and it walking along it makes you feel like you've gone back in time.
Just a short walk from Elm Hill is Fye Bridge where you can watch ducks and swans swim along the River Wensum.
Standing at Fye bridge you would never think that it was used for dunking women. When a woman was considered a "strumpet" she would be tied to a ducking stall and then lowered into the River.
The last woman to be ducked was Margaret Grove in 1587.
Tombland did eventually live up to its grim name during the plague years.
The "Black Death" resulted in thousands of people dying. The bodies had to be disposed of quickly and were piled high to be taken to the burial pits. They were buried under Tombland, many at St Georges Church, it was said that the ground had to be raised to squeeze all the bodies in.
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