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Simon Knott
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he died on the 19th day of August 1830 on board HMS Lyra returning from a voyage which he had taken for the benefit of his health
he died on the 19th day of August 1830 on board HMS Lyra returning from a voyage which he had taken for the benefit of his health

St Etheldreda,Norwich, Norfolk

The plethora of medieval churches in central Norwich is unusual, but fitting. It seems much more unusual as you leave the centre and stray south into the King Street and Rouen Road area to find that this concentration continues in a part of town that largely consists of warehouses, factory units and expanses of working class housing. No wonder that most of the churches here are now redundant, and several of them have found new uses.

St Etheldreda is a round towered church which was largely Victorianised. The tower is tiny, the octagonal bell stage as big as the rest. In 1883 the church still had a thatched roof, but when the church of St Peter Southgate up the road was abandoned, there was a large scale restoration here that replaced windows, roofs and all internal furnishings. Although there are remains in the lower walls that are obviously Norman, and medieval wall paintings had been discovered in the 1850s, St Etheldreda was to all intents and purposes rebuilt.

The church became redundant as a result of the Brooke Report, and was converted for use by local artists as studio space. You enter through the former priest door in the chancel, and the first sight of the interior is disorientating. A long mezzanine floor splits the length of the narrow church into levels, with a metal spiral staircase in the west end and a metal zigzag staircase in the chancel linking the two. The lower area is larger than the upper, but when I first visited in 2005 it had been partitioned into studios, which made it feel extremely cramped. These have now gone, and the sense of light and openness is pleasing. All the furnishings and features have gone of course, except for a fine early 17th century memorial on the chancel wall to William Johnson and his family, now partly obscured. The medieval font went to St Eanswythe at the time of the 19th Century restoration. Pevsner records a brass, but I could not find it.

The war memorial survives, but has lost its name plaque. One thing you don't see from within unless you look for it is the Norman south doorway, eroded by centuries of coal and wood smoke, but with echoes of the one once up the road at St Michael at Thorn, today within St Julian. All in all, a busy and exciting place.

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Taken on: September 14, 2019
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Sets appears in:   • Norwich St Etheldreda   
Camera: Nikon D5300, f/4.8, 1/60 sec, 40mm (=60mm), ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Nikon D5300
Aperture: f/4.8
Exposure Time: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length: 40mm (35mm equivalent: 60mm)
ISO: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
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Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
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Color Space: sRGB
Software: GIMP 2.10.12
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