7 facts you may not know about the city of Norwich

Norwich has a rich history and over the years has been at the centre of several pivotal moments in the nation's past.

Here are seven facts that you may not know about Norwich.

Venta Icenorum in modern-day Caister St Edmund, where the earliest example of written English was found (Image: Archant)

1. The oldest example of written English was discovered near Norwich 

The oldest piece of written English ever discovered was found in the village of Caistor St Edmund which lies just over three miles south of Norwich city centre. 

It consists of a runic inscription on a piece of deer bone dated to the early 400s AD, consisting of one single word - “raihan” or roe deer. 

It is thought the English language started to develop a unique identity of its own after west Germanic speakers travelled across the North Sea and settled in East Anglia, developing distinct regional dialects that would later become separate languages. 

With the earliest written example found nearby, it is likely people living in the Norwich area had an important part to play in shaping the words we use today. 

City Hall has one of the longest balconies in Europe (Image: Norwich City Council)

2. It is home to one of the longest balconies in Europe 

City Hall is one of the most prominent buildings in Norwich, known for its Art Deco characteristics and tower. 

But it is the 70m long balcony which makes the Grade II structure particularly unique, as it is one of the longest balconies in Europe. 

As well as topping the charts balcony-wise, Hitler reportedly forbid the bombing of City Hall, as he admired its architecture. 

The fossilised keyboard at the corner of Elm Hill and Princes Street (Image: Archant)

3. There is a fossilised keyboard in one of the city’s streets 

Many a passer-by wandering along Elm Hill and Princes Street will have noticed an imprint of a keyboard in the street. 

The ‘prehistoric’ remains of a forgotten technological age was created in 1999 as part of an art project by Molly Sole, who was a student at the Norwich School of Art and Design. 

Chapelfield Gardens in Norwich (Image: Archant)

4. A morbid past lurks underneath a city park 

Chapelfield Gardens may be a pleasant destination for a stroll or a picnic but underneath the grass, there is a morbid secret to be found. 

Chapelfield was used as a mass burial site for victims of the Great Plague in 1666 and it is thought that thousands of remains could have been buried there. 

The construction of the nearby shopping centre, now called Chantry Place, unveiled another dark moment in the city’s history. 

In 2004, the remains of at least 17 people were discovered during archaeological digs. 

It was first thought these could be the remains of plague victims but it was later found to be the bodies of Jewish victims thought to be killed during an antisemitic massacre in 1190 AD. 

London Street in Norwich was the first street to be pedestrianised in the country (Image: Archant)

5. It is home to the first pedestrianised street in the country 

In 1967, London Street became the first shopping street in the UK to be designated for pedestrians. 

Many other cities have since followed suit and further pedestrianisation of Norwich’s streets has continued, more recently with St Benedicts Street and Exchange Street. 

Julian of Norwich wrote the first book to be written by a woman in English (Image: Archant)

6. The first book written by a woman in English was penned in Norwich 

Julian of Norwich was a medieval mystic who lived much of her life excluded from society in her cell at St Julian’s Church off King Street. 

It was here that she wrote Revelations of Divine Love in the 14th century, documenting her visions and revelations in what is the oldest evidence of a book written by a woman in English. 

Norwich and its people was excommunicated by the Pope after an outbreak of violence at the cathedral's gates (Image: Newsquest Archives)

7. The city was shunned by the Pope 

Despite it having the largest concentration of medieval churches north of the Alps, the city hasn’t always been on the church’s good side. 

In 1272, angry monks confronted a group of revellers in Tombland after becoming upset by the noise.  

This soon turned into a brawl in which townsfolk were killed. People then took up arms and demolished the entrance gate to the cathedral, with the prior’s men resorting to defending the cathedral with crossbows. 

In the aftermath, the Pope excommunicated the people of Norwich, stripping them of being able to participate in church events. 

Norwich remains the only city In history to have been singled out for ex-communication by the Pope.