When seen from the river valley or from a stroll around Whitlingham Broad, the Thorpe Ridge gives an impression of almost unbroken dense woodland. Planning policy is designed to maintain this somewhat misleading but attractive vista, and so far is quite successful. However hidden behind the trees are one or two open areas, from where good views can be had looking back across the valley to South Norfolk. This walk takes us to two of them.
We start by a short visit to the Tree Plantation, a small area reclaimed from a former pit, the entrance to which is opposite the car park for the recreation ground on Laundry Lane. There is one old and fine oak here, two horse chestnuts (one white and one pink - compare and contrast in late summer when the depredations of the leaf miner moth have devastated the former but not the latter), a tulip tree (named for the shape of its leaves, not its flowers) and several assorted native and imported species. Some of the trees are a little overcrowded and drawn, but the overall effect is pleasant. There is a lovely fragrant rose on the entrance arch. The gate is open dawn to dusk.
Crossing back to the recreation ground itself, we find ourselves on a high point from which even the unlovely Cantley sugar beet works can be seen in winter when there are no leaves on the trees. There were Bronze Age barrows here, long since ploughed out but shown on Bryant's 1826 map of Norfolk - a line of them stretched right through into what is now Dussindale. They would probably have been visible from the river and/or the ancient road to Yarmouth, the Yarmouth Way. This road led from the Bishop's Bridge area of the city up through the woods, along what is now White Farm Lane, across the Pine Banks site and intersected with Thunder Lane more or less where North Lodge now stands at the brow of the hill. If you take a stroll along Hilly Plantation (on your right as you crest the hill) and look in the big gardens to your right, you can still clearly see the hollow way of the old road. This road was superseded by the lower road next to the river from the 16th century onwards, but was not finally extinguished as a route until the enclosure of 1801.
From Hilly Plantation the road ran past the site of the original settlement and church of Thorpe - of which more later - and then gradually descended to the area of the current railway bridge across the modern Yarmouth Road.
In the south eastern corner of the recreation field is the Beacon, last lit for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
From here we head for the woods below the recreation ground, Gargle Hill Plantation. This area is shown on old maps as Gargate Hills and other variations of this spelling, and the name probably originated in the name Gar Gate - the Gar is an alternative name for the Yare. The woods are a valuable wildlife refuge so close to the thundering St William's Way and provide a home for owls and sparrowhawks. There are paths through the woods which will bring you to the footbridge over the road. When a warden is with you, you can access the top of the allotment site from the path which continues on from the bridge towards the northern end of the school playing field, but normally the gate is locked.
Once in the allotments, we come to the small nature reserve which was created on the site of an important archaeological discovery. It has been excavated twice and there is a board to tell you what they found. The main feature of interest was the original church of Thorpe, which would have served the hilltop settlement which had existed there since Saxon times. The Saxons liked living on the tops of hills, and the remains of dwellings and loom weights and other domestic refuse have been found here. The Church may well have been built or enlarged by Bishop Herbert, who is known to have ordered the construction of a string of churches along the edge of Thorpe Wood/ Mousehold Heath (eg Magdalen Chapel - now the Lazar House library, St Michael's Chapel and St Leonard's Priory). The site of the manor house is not known for certain but it has been argued that an area near the junction of Yarmouth Way and Thunder Lane is the most likely spot. Thunder Lane itself is thought by some to be a Roman road in origin, connecting with the Roman pottery producing centre at Brampton.
At some point in the middle of the 16th century the entire settlement - church, manor, people and all - relocated in some planned fashion down to the river. The oldest houses in Thorpe all date from this period or shortly after, and the old church in front of the Victorian one on Yarmouth Road was almost certainly built at least partially with reclaimed materials from the allotment site. (When you are next at the riverside church, look at the entrance porch. It looks distinctly more like the sort of thing Tudor nobles built on their domestic houses than it does an ecclesiastical building).
The reasons for the relocation are lost in the mists of time but would certainly have been economic. This period was one of enormous boom times for trade, and particularly for river trade. Extraction of gravels, flints, marls, chalk etc was increasingly lucrative and all are accessible from the river terrace. Finally, there was a shift in land use from arable to pasture in the parish in the 15th and 16th centuries. Old maps show the lane leading up this field as a sheep track and many areas are simply marked 'sheepwalk'. Whatever the reasons, the shift in the heart of the settlement was a significant milestone in the history of Thorpe and its people.
This site at the top of the allotments gives lovely views across the valley, possibly the clearest one you can get from Thorpe. There are beehives here now, and a small community orchard planted in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
There is also an uncommonly large den of foxes, the mother-lode of the Thorpe fox population! They live mainly in the partly-excavated but never finished 'pond', which gave them a ready made sandy bank to dig into.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
A short history of woodland in Thorpe
The first recorded lord of the Manor of Thorpe was Stigand, Bishop of East Anglia from 1042 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1052 until 1070. He had it from Edward the Confessor and there was a manor house used by the Bishops at least from the early 1200s. Stigand's successor Bishop Herbert de Losinga built a succession of churches along the edges of Thorpe Wood and Mousehold, and was most probably the founder of the first Church in Thorpe, at the site of what is now the top of the allotments. (Stigand was unusual in that he was a Saxon who survived well into the Norman era)
Thorpe Wood is mentioned in the Doomesday Book and at that time would have stretched virtually unbroken from the river in the west almost to Postwick, with Mousehold Heath to the north. Some think it likely that at one time Mousehold was also woodland, but that it became progressively overgrazed.
If Thorpe Wood was the hunting ground of the Bishops of Norwich, and before them the King – as some suggest Thorpe was an early Royal Manor – then the woods would have been jealously protected and no commoners’ animals would have been allowed to graze it. This is quite possibly why parts of ‘Ancient Woodland’ has survived while Mousehold became a heathland environment . The wood is likely to have been managed through coppicing for firewood and building materials, and hunting for deer and boar.
The main remnants of the Wood from the Domesday book, which lists ‘woodland for 1200 pigs’ are now Lion Wood and Weston Wood. That number of pigs would have made it the largest wood in Norfolk – and the only village in the Mousehold area listed as having significant woodland. None of them had woodland for more than 15 pigs. This would tend to confirm the idea that the Thorpe woodland was specially protected, and possibly a Royal Manor. This may have been true even before the Normal Conquest.
The part of the wood to the east of Harvey Lane was probably cleared for cultivation in the 13th or 14th centuries. An agreement of 1239 divided that part of Thorpe Wood covered with Oaks between the Bishop of Norwich and the Cathedral Priory and a later document of the 14th century measured the main part of the woodland at more than 155 acres.
What’s left today are fragments, but they are very useful fragments as they have helped woodland to colonise other areas, including the gardens for which Thorpe was once famous.
The role and place in this story that is held by the large block of woodland in the North - the Belmore, Brown's and Racecourse plantations - is yet to be determined. However, the eastern part of Racecourse has recently been classified as semi-natural Ancient Woodland and contains many species of ground flora usually associated with the land use known as 'wood pasture'. This area that is now woodland has for many years been something of a moveable feast between woodland, heath and wood pasture, with some arable cropping too. The balance between these different types of cover was in former times largely determined by the intensity of grazing.
(With thanks to Trevor Nuthall's excellent Thorpe St Andrew - A History)
Belmore Wood
A pleasant walk may be had in Belmore Wood, the most
southerly of three adjoining areas of woodland. The other two are Racecourse
Plantation to the north on the other side of the Plumstead Road and Brown’s
Plantation to the east, between Pound Lane and Dussindale.
The woodland as a whole covers 205 acres, an area which is
larger than the entire Heartsease Estate. It’s owned by Thorpe and Felthorpe
Trust, a private trust of the Gurney family.
The entire wooded area has been designated a County Wildlife Site. It is also recognized
in various planning documents as an Area
of Green Infrastructure, an Area of
High Landscape Value and an Area of
Core Biodiversity.
Belmore wood is made up of various sections reflecting its
management over the years, and the species of trees to be seen varies from
section to section. You can get a better idea of this by looking at the wood on
Google Earth, which allows you to
look at different images for different years. If you adjust the ‘clock’ icon at
the top of the page back to 1999 there is a wonderfully detailed image which
shows the various species of trees in the wood very clearly.
While you are on the web, take a look also at Norfolk County Council’s emap explorer http://www.historic-maps.norfolk.gov.uk/Emap/EmapExplorer.asp
This allows you to type in the name of the Parish and see maps and aerial
photographs side by side, including the first Ordinance Survey of the area, postwar 1940s b&w aerial photography, enclosure
maps and tithe maps where they are available.
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html
is also useful and allows you to track an area through each major revision to
the OS.
It is not known how long Belmore has been woodland but it
was certainly well established by Victorian times as it is shown virtually in
its current boundaries on the first Ordinance Survey map of 1882. However Bryant’s
map of 1826 shows an area marked ‘plantation’ which fits almost exactly with
the current wood, but is missing the right hand margin with Pound Lane.
If this map is accurate, it would suggest the central part of the wood is the oldest. Faden’s late 18th century map of Norfolk shows it simply as part of the vast Mousehold Heath, a term which covered both heathland and woodland. The balance between the two depended very much on the intensity of livestock grazing. The heath was enclosed in 1801, when Pound lane was built.
If this map is accurate, it would suggest the central part of the wood is the oldest. Faden’s late 18th century map of Norfolk shows it simply as part of the vast Mousehold Heath, a term which covered both heathland and woodland. The balance between the two depended very much on the intensity of livestock grazing. The heath was enclosed in 1801, when Pound lane was built.
It seems probable that the ponds and some of the specimen
planting near them – such as the beeches, the giant redwood and the rhododendrons –
were part of gardens laid out to complement the house known as Woodlands, which
is now the Oasis Club. Old maps show a network of paths leading off from the
house and around the lakes on both sides of Pound Lane, as well as statuary on
the eastern part of the site.
Old photographs exist showing Victorian ladies boating on the ponds, several of which had large islands.
Old photographs exist showing Victorian ladies boating on the ponds, several of which had large islands.
In the woodlands as a whole many rare and scarce species
occur, including: Chaffweed (only recorded site in Norfolk); Allseed flax (one
of only two records in Norfolk); heath milkwort; heath-grass; tasteless water
pepper; fairy flax; bulbous rush; bristle club-rush; great woodrush (all scarce
or rare in Norfolk); white admiral butterfly (UK BAP priority species &
scarce in Norfolk); adder, grass snake; common lizard; slow worm; nightingale;
hobby; bullfinch, and a very long list of other flora & fauna. Many of the rare species are present in
Racecourse Plantation rather than Belmore as it has more unique habitats. However the White Admiral may frequently be seen feeding on bramble flowers in Belmore.
Woodland types
There are extensive areas of hazel, some of which are in
need of coppicing and some of which have been fairly recently coppiced and the
standards thinned. Hazel was traditionally coppiced on a 5 to 7 year rotation,
depending on what products were wanted.
The standard trees include oak, ash and sweet chestnut,
which is common here but does not appear to be coppiced in the more southern
parts of the site although it is in the NE corner. There is a problem with
sycamore invasion, particularly in the areas nearest to Booty Road. In coppiced
areas they can outstrip many other species in the few years before the canopy
begins to close again.
As well as the hazel, the understory includes a lot of holly
as well as rowan, rhododendron, honeysuckle and a little hawthorn. There are
some fine specimen beech towards the centre of the wood. The other largest and
oldest trees on the site are generally oak and chestnut. There is also a very
large redwood just north of the garden of the second cottage on Pound Lane.
In old woodland where the standards were cut on
rotation for timber and only the more gnarled specimens marking the border of
the wood were spared the axe, the oldest trees are generally on its borders. In
Belmore the older trees are more widely distributed, but there are some fine
oaks and chestnuts backing on to South Hill Road and Plumstead Road.
In the northern centre of the site there is a large block of
conifers grown as a commercial crop, now mature. Not to everyone’s taste but I
think these are rather lovely, and the paths through them are pleasant. The larch was apparently planted in the 1930s
for boat building.
To the north of the former ponds near Pound Lane there is an
area of chestnut coppice mixed with a lot of birch, hazel and softwoods.
However the soils here are very shallow and gravelly, and some have keeled
over. The chestnuts are particularly prone to bark stripping by grey squirrels.
There are a lot of them in the woods and although they are great to watch they
do a tremendous amount of damage to both trees and wildlife. Unfortunately the
nuts are often infested by larvae of the chestnut weevil (Curculio elephas) which
renders them inedible.
For more information on coppicing and woodland products, see
http://www.coppice.co.uk and for a historical angle look at
some of the videos on http://www.woodlands.co.uk/tv
The Wikipedia entry is also a good start http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing
A suggested route (to be followed together with the map below)
A suggested route (to be followed together with the map below)
1)
Regenerated
hazel coppice by the entrance. Coppicing is an ancient means of woodland
management, which took advantage of the ability of many native species to quickly
regenerate in order to provide essential products in the pre-industrial age.
Coppicing has shaped our woodlands for centuries and possibly millennia, and
many only survived because of the value of their crops. Fortunately, the
alternating cycles of open and closed canopy encourage great diversity in
plants and wildlife.
In most British woodlands coppice is grown
with scattered large trees, known as standards.
2)
Recently
coppiced and thinned area to immediate left of main path. Hazel coppice
with mainly sweet chestnut standards. Note rather drawn, thin standards
produced by dense shading and overcrowding. The understory also includes rowan
saplings, sycamore saplings, holly etc. With regular coppicing the flora and
fauna of the wood could be greatly improved. Some of the regrowth here has been
grazed by deer. This work was carried out by students from Easton College.
(diversion to the right )
3) 'Secret Army' site dating from WW2. The Home
Guard used the woods for training and there have long been rumours, since confirmed, of a ‘Secret Army’
hideout here. Strangely enough, the 1980 Russian map on the http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html
site actually shows two structures in the wood here, the only map to do so! If we were invaded, the idea was that small units would literally go underground to continue operations.
from English Heritage
National Monuments Record:
The site of a former
Second World War Auxiliary Units underground hide is situated at Belmore
Plantation off Plumstead Road East at the eastern outskirts of Thorpe St.
Andrew. According to an oral source the hide featured two entrances, three
rooms with long connecting tunnels and a ventilation system through hollow tree
stumps. In 2006 the condition of the underground hide is uncertain.
Information and pictures can be seen here: http://www.coleshillhouse.com/thorpe-st-andrew-auxiliary-unit-and-operational-base.php
The
Auxiliary Units were specially trained highly secret units created with
the aim of
resisting the expected invasion of the British Isles by Nazi Germany
during World War II. Having had the advantage
of seeing the fall of several Continental nations, Britain was the only
country during the war that was able to
create such a resistance movement in advance of an invasion. - See more
at:
http://www.coleshillhouse.com/the-auxiliary-units-history.php#sthash.uMZ3vz0n.dpuf
The
Auxiliary Units were specially trained highly secret units created with
the aim of
resisting the expected invasion of the British Isles by Nazi Germany
during World War II. Having had the advantage
of seeing the fall of several Continental nations, Britain was the only
country during the war that was able to
create such a resistance movement in advance of an invasion. - See more
at:
http://www.coleshillhouse.com/the-auxiliary-units-history.php#sthash.uMZ3vz0n.dpuf
For information on an important new (July 2012) find regarding another Auxiliary Unit in Thorpe St Andrew, see http://www.coleshillhouse.com/norwich-special-duties-zero-station.php The entrance to a well-preserved 'Zero Station' - call sign 'Bowling Zero' - has been located under the car park at the Pinebanks site.
(Rejoin the main path)
4)
Another
coppiced area of hazel further along the main path, cut a little
while ago and with oak standards. No
sign of recent browsing, denser undergrowth of brambles.
5)
Large
beech trees are reached by turning left on to the main N-S path just after a dead beech. Two of the trees
here are showing the fruit of the bracket fungus Ganoderma adspersum. This is a common fungus on beech.
(carry on through the small beech grove,
noting derelict ponds to left)
6)
A large
stool of coppiced lime is on the left hand side. This appears to be the
only lime in the wood. This brings us to:
7)
The
remains of a once extensive system of ponds linked by a watercourse. Sadly
they have all run dry in recent years. The only standing water is in the large
lake on the other side of Pound Lane, which was also linked to these ponds by a
culvert under the roads, now dry. 10 years ago there were water voles in these
banks. What a wonderful addition to the life of the wood it would be if we
could see water running through them again!
Going through the gap in the ponds and
turning right up the side of the garden of the empty cottage brings us to:
8)
Very
large specimen tree. This is a Sequoiadendron
giganteum, the Giant Redwood or Wellingtonia
and is possibly the grandest tree in Belmore. Giant Sequoias are the world's largest
trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 50–85 metres
(160–279 ft) and 6–8 metres (20–26 ft) in diameter. The oldest known Giant
Sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old. Sequoia bark is fibrous,
furrowed, and may be 90 centimetres (3.0 ft) thick at the base of the
trunk. (General Sherman in the US is 275 ft tall). General Belmore has a way to
go to catch him!
Returning back to the path where it crosses
the ponds, as we head NW there is:
9)
Sweet
chestnut coppice on the gravelly slopes to our right. They seem to have a
hard time staying upright here. Thorpe residents may have noticed that when the
chestnuts fall on the road in autumn and get squashed by the cars, they release
soap-like substances (saponins). If it
rains this can make the streets and drains foam.
10)
By heading to the north again we cross a very mixed area of chestnut, conifers, some oaks and a good deal of birch. The
birch are said to be natural colonists after the great gale of 1987. As we near
the Plumstead Road there are wild raspberries, some large beech and oak and
also some huge, tumbled sweet chestnut coppice stools. We emerge underneath the
mast at the top of the main N-S path through the wood. This is the nearest Belmore
gets to a ride and a glade now, but at one time the wood had a network of
tracks, as can be seen on the old maps. It would be good to open some of them
up again as they attract insects and birds as well a greater variety of plants.
11)
Heading south and then west along the main path
though the conifer plantation we can
see the cleared and replanted area to the north. The birch has taken hold again
here; there are also mosses and rushes. Juncus effusus, the soft rush, is
flowering now (July), halfway up its stem. This species was at one time
stripped for its pith, which was soaked in grease and used as ‘rush lighting’
for those too poor to afford candles.
12)
Our path leads off to the left and eventually
brings us out behind the area of oaks with coppiced hazel we noted earlier. If
we stay on it, we will reach the first area of coppice and be able to rejoin
the main path on which we entered the wood.
Useful links
Some useful websites for finding out
more on your local area
Lists
recorded ancient monuments, archaeological finds, crop marks, routes of old
roads etc.
Go to
‘digital maps’ at centre left and use a postcode search, or go to ‘click here to explore more’ to look
for summaries of specific parishes.
http://www.pastscape.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx
An even better site for archaeology, again use a postcode search.
http://www.pastscape.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx
An even better site for archaeology, again use a postcode search.
Allows you
to search by Parish for old OS maps, old aerial photos, tithe and enclosure
maps where available.
Use ‘Select
area’ tab to input name of parish, then
clicking ‘view advanced’ will bring up two windows side by side for
comparison. Unfortunately neither tithe nor enclosure maps are loaded for Thorpe, although they do exist.
You can
enlarge and crop sections of the maps and images.
The Norwich School of painters
The Norwich School of painters, founded in 1803 in Norwich, was the first provincial art movement in Britain. Artists of this school were inspired by the natural beauty of the Norfolk landscape and owed some influence to the work of landscape painters of the Dutch Golden Age.
The Norwich School's great achievement was that a small group of self-taught working class artists were able to paint with vitality the hinterland surrounding Norwich, assisted by meagre local patronage. Far from creating pastiches of Dutch seventeenth century work, Crome and Cotman, along with Joseph Stannard, established a school of landscape painting which deserves far greater fame; the broad washes of Cotman's water-colours anticipate French impressionism.
Principal artists of the Norwich School include the self-taught John Crome, John Sell Cotman and Joseph Stannard.
Norwich School Painters were particularly fond of Thorpe and there are many of their works featuring the river as it runs through what was then a very picturesque village. Some of them drew and painted Postwick Grove dozens of times.
The reason the Norwich School are not as well known as other painters of the period, notably Constable and Turner, is primarily because the majority of their canvases were collected by the industrialist J. J. Colman (of Colman's mustard fame), and thereafter have been on permanent display in Norwich Castle Museum since the 1880's. This lack of exposure was remedied in 2001, when many of the major works by the Norwich School were exhibited for the first time outside of Norwich at the Tate Gallery, London.
The Norwich School's great achievement was that a small group of self-taught working class artists were able to paint with vitality the hinterland surrounding Norwich, assisted by meagre local patronage. Far from creating pastiches of Dutch seventeenth century work, Crome and Cotman, along with Joseph Stannard, established a school of landscape painting which deserves far greater fame; the broad washes of Cotman's water-colours anticipate French impressionism.
Principal artists of the Norwich School include the self-taught John Crome, John Sell Cotman and Joseph Stannard.
Norwich School Painters were particularly fond of Thorpe and there are many of their works featuring the river as it runs through what was then a very picturesque village. Some of them drew and painted Postwick Grove dozens of times.
The reason the Norwich School are not as well known as other painters of the period, notably Constable and Turner, is primarily because the majority of their canvases were collected by the industrialist J. J. Colman (of Colman's mustard fame), and thereafter have been on permanent display in Norwich Castle Museum since the 1880's. This lack of exposure was remedied in 2001, when many of the major works by the Norwich School were exhibited for the first time outside of Norwich at the Tate Gallery, London.
Postwick Grove
Beginning from the Griffin public house, set off down Griffin Lane. The old common lowland pasture of the parish is in front of you. Bungalow Lane follows what was the western boundary of the common from at least the early 18th century until enclosure in 1863. The common extended eastwards to Boundary Lane.
In 1803
there were 89 agreements or rights to graze a beast on the common. There were
two ways into the common, one along Common lane and one next to what is now the
northern end of Griffin Lane.
In 1834 the
Norwich to Yarmouth railway was built across the common. By 1841 the area was
divided into four pieces. At formal enclosure in 1863 what is now Griffin Lane
was extended eastwards to give access to the new enclosures. Another new road,
Bungalow Lane, was built along the former western boundary.
At the time
of the 1871 census, there were families living in 5 tents on the former
common. There was a travelling musician,
a brazier, a hawker, horse dealer and a cane chair maker.
Where there
used to be a gap in the hedge, now closed off with a notice about the horses in
the field, there is a short path into the common which generally rewards
exploration in the summer with several stands of marsh orchids. The land here
is apparently owned by a gravel extraction company, but the license has
expired.
Thorpe Asylum
The Asylum
was built in 1811 to 1814 to a design by Francis Stone and was remodelled on
several occasions in the 19th century. The North annex was built several decades later.
The asylum
was considered a model institution in its day, although the conditions would
probably horrify anyone involved in care of the mentally ill now.
The grounds
contain two horse chestnuts visible from Griffin Lane. One is very sick, the
other very healthy. The sick one has been attacked by the the Horse
Chestnut Leaf Miner Cameraria ohridella and has progressively lost its
foliage; the other one is the red flowered sport, which appears to be immune to
the depredations of the insect. No-one is quite sure why. (UPDATE: the sick one appears to have succumbed and died).
The red
variety can only be reproduced by vegetative propagation, ie all existing
examples are ‘clones’ of each other.
The leaf
miner was first observed in Macedonia in northern Greece in the
late 1970s, and was described as a new species. It arrived in Wimbledon in
London as recently as 2002.
Under the
railway bridge can be seen a tank trap from WW2. There were extensive wartime
defences in this area, including deep trenching between the asylum and the
river, which appears to have been filled.
After emerging
from the bridge, the route turns left past the boatsheds, through
the gate and under the flyover of the Southern Bypass. The big furry plants
here are a variety of mullein, this looks like a type from Greece, Verbascum olympicum as it is multi headed. The native mullein has
a single spike. Country names include Poor man’s Blanket, Feltwort and Flannel.
Rabbits are
our constant companions here. Self-heal is abundant along the walk, the name
tells us it was a herbalist’s favourite; it was used to ease sore throats.
Postwick Grove
As
Victorian Norwich became progressively more overcrowded and unpleasant, it was
common for the city folk to use what little leisure time they had to make boat
trips out to beauty spots. When the wherries were plying the river, all trees
and bushes were cut back to allow the wind to fill the sails and the landscape
was much more open than it is now.
The few
stands of trees near the river therefore became precious shade spots for
picnicking. Steamers regularly plied trippers to and forth, with Postwick Grove
and Bramerton woods being favourite stops. The riverside pubs did a roaring
trade – the Wood’s End even had a menagerie, which included such exotics as
monkeys and wolves in cages in the 7 acre gardens.
It was
therefore natural that when the Norwich School of artists was established, this
landscape was painted over and over again. There are literally dozens of
examples in line drawings, watercolours and oils. Crome, Stannard and Cotman
are just some of the well know names who produced various views of the Grove.
Some of them are still easily recognisable today.
Quotes from:
Pictures in colour of the Norfolk Broads,
with descriptive notes (c1900)
POSTWICK REACH:
Lovers of
landscape beauty, when sailing down this long straight reach near Whitlingham,
will be well repaid the trouble of landing to obtain a view from the top of the
eminence known as Postwick Grove, for the exertion will be richly rewarded. The
glistening river, animated with all
descriptions of river craft, wending its silent course through sweet
meadowland, is seen below; the ruins of old Whitlingham Church stand out prominently
on the brow of the opposite hill ; while the parklands of Whitlingham, and the
wood- lands of Bramerton, present a beautiful prospect to the lover of Nature's
bounty.
THORPE ST. ANDREW, NORWICH. Our view here depicts the most charming
and pleasant suburb of Norwich. Its waters are picturesque in the
extreme, while its green marshes, bounded by the wooded slopes, makes it
one of the prettiest spots in England. The village church, dedicated to
St. Andrew, is a handsome and imposing structure, with elegant spire
and silvery bells. Thorpe and its environs are favourite promenades of
the citizens, its pleasure gardens being a popular resort during the
summer months. Good rowing may be enjoyed. A long straight reach brings
the tourist to Whitlingham, and
thence on to the eminence known as Postwick Grove, a view worth the visit.
The view from Postwick Grove is worth seeing. The curving reaches of the river, animated with yachts, and every conceivable kind of river craft, lays beneath, the green marshes being bounded by the woods of Thorpe, Whitlingham. and Bramerton, while on the opposite hill stands out boldly the ruined church of Whitlingham. ''
thence on to the eminence known as Postwick Grove, a view worth the visit.
The view from Postwick Grove is worth seeing. The curving reaches of the river, animated with yachts, and every conceivable kind of river craft, lays beneath, the green marshes being bounded by the woods of Thorpe, Whitlingham. and Bramerton, while on the opposite hill stands out boldly the ruined church of Whitlingham. ''
Most of the
old oaks are situated on the high bank; there would have been more but they may
have been over-mature when Crome was painting. Most of the trees in the
southern section are sycamores. There are large blackthorn thickets, old
hawthorns, and one or two apple trees – no doubt the product of discarded
picnic apples. The bracken is invasive here, it’s occasionally cut back. Historically,
bracken was harvested to provide bedding for livestock, thatching material,
tannins for leather and potash for soap and glass manufacture. These days it’s
just a bit of a nuisance.
Note the
dog’s mercury on the right of the path under the shade of the sycamore.
The river at the Grove was dredged to allow cargo boats to come up to
Norwich, and it is deep here. The wooden structure on the other bank was first
built as a landing stage for the boats bringing rubbish out of the city of
Norwich, the site on the other side was at one time a tip.
We emerge
through the gate into the lovely meadow.
The path continues as far as the opposite bank to the Woods’ End pub;
there was once a busy ferry here. Unfortunately it is not currently a through
route beyond the pub.
As well as
butterflies and dragonflies, watch out for the barn owls which can be seen here
even in daylight. They live in the nest box placed in the last of the three
oaks on the left. These trees seem to be the remains of a field boundary,
according to old maps. Barn owls are great scoffers of voles, and the largest
concentration of them is found in rough grassland with plenty of ‘thatch’. This
field is pretty much ideal.
Agrimony
grows near the river – the leaves are aromatic and were formerly used in herb
teas to protect the voices of actors and singers.
If you walk
almost as far as the gate where you come to the sheds, veering right off the
path towards the river you can find some grassy, hidden bankside spots ideal
for picnicking and birdwatching. There is a concrete drain outlet at one spot
where you can regularly see the bright blue Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly
basking in the sun.
Postwick
Hall is on the site of a 16th century house, remodelled in the 17th
century and again in the 19th after being acquired by Lord Roseberry.
A dairy is recorded on the site prior to the 16th century . In the
field to the east of the main part of the Grove, a substantial hoard of Roman
coins was found some years ago.
 |
| One of Crome's Views of the Grove |
BUT, two decisions were taken which greatly affected the Grove and people's enjoyment of it, decisions which would probably appal countries and cities which take their artistic heritage more seriously.
Firstly, the Whitlingham Sewage Works were built on the opposite bank in the 1950s to deal with the growing city's waste. Not only does this add some awful smells to the background aroma but the quality of the river is poorer after its outfall, as may be imagined.
Secondly the Southern Bypass smashes straight through the approach to the Grove and you need to walk well into the treed area, and have the wind blowing in the right direction, to get away from the noise.
However, the last stretch of the path is glorious and it emerges into one of the most lovely and tranquil meadows left near Norwich.
Cary's Meadow
The meadow was originally grazing meadow associated with a farmer of the same name. In the 1960s it was first suggested that the city ring road should be completed by continuing from the bottom of Harvey Lane towards the County hall junction, and although that idea was eventually dropped the site was once again earmarked for the Sainsbury's superstore that was eventually built on Pound Lane.
In preparation for various phases of building work which never materialised, very large quantities of rubble and brick were dumped on the site, turning it, temporarily, into a wasteland.
When the proposal for a superstore surfaced local people fought hard to have the site's importance recognised and protected. Eventually the meadow was rented to Broadland Council by Sainsburys for a peppercorn rent and the Norwich Fringe project was finally invited to manage it. After doing so for many years the management of the meadow is now back 'in-house'.
By now the rows of old Norwich terraces smashed up and piled on to the site had grassed over and turned it into a nutrient poor, wildflower-species rich meadow.
There are several unusual species on the meadow of which the most showy are the orchids. They are not always easy to locate or particularly obliging for us walkers in their flowering habits, but as well as the Common Spotted, Bee Orchid and Southern Marsh Orchid that I have seen, the Pyramidal orchid is also recorded.
The walk we carry out in the summer looks at the following points of interest, starting from the car park at Broadland Council offices on the Yarmouth Road.
Thorpe Lodge
Dates from around 1800, but there has been a house here since at least 1600. It was built by John Harvey, a Norwich banker, textile manufacturer, and former mayor.
He introduced the manufacture of shawls to Norwich, for which it was once famous. He was also a property developer who was involved in the replanning of Thorpe Hamlet after Carrow and Foundry Bridges were built in 1810. He had the estate from his father in law, Sir Roger Kerrison.
Harvey Lane was originally Rose’s Lane, it was diverted westwards to give the Lodge a bigger garden and at this time the crinkle-crankle wall was built. The house has since lost one wing and part of a storey.
The octagonal summerhouse was built by Harvey, later adapted as a camera osbcura. Light was admitted into the darkened chamber through a double convex lens, forming an image of external objects on paper or glass.
A few yards east of the summerhouse there is a tunnel under the road, built as a gardeners’ passage between Thorpe Lodge and Thorpe Hall, faced with flint and brick. In the past it has been lit with coloured lamps to provide a feature for visitors to events in the gardens. It is now sealed and is home to a colony of bats. The entrance to the bat tunnel is visible in the far corner of the small piece of woodland which lies to the NE of Cary's Meadow.
Crossing the road to the small car park at the entrance to the meadow, visitors can decide if they want to walk clockwise or anti-clockwise, cut across the middle or just meander! The best of the orchids are, as you stand at the entrance to the site, on your left and in front of you.
To your far left lies:
Thorpe Hall
Thorpe Hall was probably a 14th century courtyard house. It may have been built as the centre of a new agricultural area formed by the clearance of woodland to the east of Harvey lane.
It was primarily a farm run by the bishop’s bailiff to provide income and produce for the bishop and his household. It was also the manor house of Thorpe by that time, although the original Saxon manor was quite probably near the top of Thunder lane. Various Bishops stayed here but by the early 16 century the hall and parts of the manor estate were let to tenants. It was remodelled and rebuilt by the Pastons in the late 16th century. Harvey introduced some Tudor and Jacobean doorways taken from other properties he owned, and gave it to his sixth daughter Harriot.
In the 20th century it was owned by a boat builder who demolished the fine chapel to make way for an engine repair shop in 1936. It was badly vandalised in the 1970s and restored in the 1980s after a public campaign to save it. Housing now fills much of its former grounds.
The western boundary of the Hall, the dyke and flint wall, still remain. The dyke forms the eastern boundary of the meadow.
If you have chosen to walk to your left and have passed the housing which has been built in the grounds of the hall, the path begins to turn to your right again as you near the river. There is a stile here off to the left which leads to a short path down to the river bank. This area has recently been (almost) cleared of that noxious weed, Japanese Knotweed, which is a pest in the parish and infests several areas close to the river. There is a new short boardwalk and a simple bench overlooking the water.
Harvey instigated the Thorpe Water Frolic in 1821 as a sporting and social event, mainly for the gentry. 10,000 weavers attended in 1823 because they were given a holiday! The gentry amused themselves on the north bank and the working population on the south. A famous painting by Joseph Stannard was commissioned by Harvey to immortalise the event - it takes some liberties with the actual position of the patron's grand house. Harvey is said to have got the idea from witnessing water-borne processions and races etc in Venice while on the Grand Tour.
Some more details about the Frolics and the painting can be found here
http://aquariumofvulcan.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/thorpe-water-frolic.html
The path at the southern edge of the meadow features at various times some now uncommon plant species, including Bee Orchid, Hoary Mullein and Field Scabious.
Elsewhere you can see Wild Carrot, masses of Birdsfoot Trefoil, Horseradish, Burdock and the Ragwort so beloved of the stripey caterpillars of the cinnabar moth. For more detail on the vital role played by ragwort in the insect food chain, and some of the ill-founded hysteria about the plant, see http://www.buglife.org.uk/conservation/currentprojects/Habitats+Action/Ragwort/ragwortfactfile
In fact the number of plant species reported here is truly staggering and worth a study of its own.
http://www.norwichfringeproject.co.uk/carys.html
In preparation for various phases of building work which never materialised, very large quantities of rubble and brick were dumped on the site, turning it, temporarily, into a wasteland.
When the proposal for a superstore surfaced local people fought hard to have the site's importance recognised and protected. Eventually the meadow was rented to Broadland Council by Sainsburys for a peppercorn rent and the Norwich Fringe project was finally invited to manage it. After doing so for many years the management of the meadow is now back 'in-house'.
By now the rows of old Norwich terraces smashed up and piled on to the site had grassed over and turned it into a nutrient poor, wildflower-species rich meadow.
There are several unusual species on the meadow of which the most showy are the orchids. They are not always easy to locate or particularly obliging for us walkers in their flowering habits, but as well as the Common Spotted, Bee Orchid and Southern Marsh Orchid that I have seen, the Pyramidal orchid is also recorded.
The walk we carry out in the summer looks at the following points of interest, starting from the car park at Broadland Council offices on the Yarmouth Road.
Thorpe Lodge
Dates from around 1800, but there has been a house here since at least 1600. It was built by John Harvey, a Norwich banker, textile manufacturer, and former mayor.
He introduced the manufacture of shawls to Norwich, for which it was once famous. He was also a property developer who was involved in the replanning of Thorpe Hamlet after Carrow and Foundry Bridges were built in 1810. He had the estate from his father in law, Sir Roger Kerrison.
Harvey Lane was originally Rose’s Lane, it was diverted westwards to give the Lodge a bigger garden and at this time the crinkle-crankle wall was built. The house has since lost one wing and part of a storey.
The octagonal summerhouse was built by Harvey, later adapted as a camera osbcura. Light was admitted into the darkened chamber through a double convex lens, forming an image of external objects on paper or glass.
A few yards east of the summerhouse there is a tunnel under the road, built as a gardeners’ passage between Thorpe Lodge and Thorpe Hall, faced with flint and brick. In the past it has been lit with coloured lamps to provide a feature for visitors to events in the gardens. It is now sealed and is home to a colony of bats. The entrance to the bat tunnel is visible in the far corner of the small piece of woodland which lies to the NE of Cary's Meadow.
Crossing the road to the small car park at the entrance to the meadow, visitors can decide if they want to walk clockwise or anti-clockwise, cut across the middle or just meander! The best of the orchids are, as you stand at the entrance to the site, on your left and in front of you.
To your far left lies:
Thorpe Hall
Thorpe Hall was probably a 14th century courtyard house. It may have been built as the centre of a new agricultural area formed by the clearance of woodland to the east of Harvey lane.
It was primarily a farm run by the bishop’s bailiff to provide income and produce for the bishop and his household. It was also the manor house of Thorpe by that time, although the original Saxon manor was quite probably near the top of Thunder lane. Various Bishops stayed here but by the early 16 century the hall and parts of the manor estate were let to tenants. It was remodelled and rebuilt by the Pastons in the late 16th century. Harvey introduced some Tudor and Jacobean doorways taken from other properties he owned, and gave it to his sixth daughter Harriot.
In the 20th century it was owned by a boat builder who demolished the fine chapel to make way for an engine repair shop in 1936. It was badly vandalised in the 1970s and restored in the 1980s after a public campaign to save it. Housing now fills much of its former grounds.
The western boundary of the Hall, the dyke and flint wall, still remain. The dyke forms the eastern boundary of the meadow.
If you have chosen to walk to your left and have passed the housing which has been built in the grounds of the hall, the path begins to turn to your right again as you near the river. There is a stile here off to the left which leads to a short path down to the river bank. This area has recently been (almost) cleared of that noxious weed, Japanese Knotweed, which is a pest in the parish and infests several areas close to the river. There is a new short boardwalk and a simple bench overlooking the water.
Harvey instigated the Thorpe Water Frolic in 1821 as a sporting and social event, mainly for the gentry. 10,000 weavers attended in 1823 because they were given a holiday! The gentry amused themselves on the north bank and the working population on the south. A famous painting by Joseph Stannard was commissioned by Harvey to immortalise the event - it takes some liberties with the actual position of the patron's grand house. Harvey is said to have got the idea from witnessing water-borne processions and races etc in Venice while on the Grand Tour.
Some more details about the Frolics and the painting can be found here
http://aquariumofvulcan.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/thorpe-water-frolic.html
The path at the southern edge of the meadow features at various times some now uncommon plant species, including Bee Orchid, Hoary Mullein and Field Scabious.
Elsewhere you can see Wild Carrot, masses of Birdsfoot Trefoil, Horseradish, Burdock and the Ragwort so beloved of the stripey caterpillars of the cinnabar moth. For more detail on the vital role played by ragwort in the insect food chain, and some of the ill-founded hysteria about the plant, see http://www.buglife.org.uk/conservation/currentprojects/Habitats+Action/Ragwort/ragwortfactfile
In fact the number of plant species reported here is truly staggering and worth a study of its own.
http://www.norwichfringeproject.co.uk/carys.html
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