Norwich (UK)

Cathedral city and administrative headquarters of Norfolk, eastern England, on the River Wensum, 160 km/100 mi northeast of London; population

(2001 est) 121,700. Industries include financial and insurance services, tourism, television and radio broadcasting, engineering, printing, high-technology and biotechnology industries, and the manufacture of shoes, mustard, clothing, chemicals, and confectionery. It is the largest medieval walled city in England.

History
First fortified by the Saxons in the 9th century, Norwich was settled in medieval times by Flemish weavers and it became the centre of the worsted

trade in the

14th century. As northern manufacturing towns expanded during the Industrial Revolution, Norwich lost some of its importance. Despite this, the city expanded considerably in the 19th century, more than doubling its population to around 80,000. During World War II Norwich was heavily damaged

Features
Norwich has a Norman castle, a cathedral founded in 1096, a 15th-century guildhall, over 30 medieval churches, Tudor houses, and a Georgian Assembly House that was restored in 1950 as an arts centre. The Norwich Provision Market dates from the 11th century, and is the largest open-air market in England, with over 200 stalls. The City Hall (1938) has a clock tower which is 56 m/184 ft high. The University of East Anglia (1963) includes the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (1978), designed by Norman Foster, and the Sainsbury Laboratory for Molecular Research (1987) – in association with the John Innes Institute – designed by Denys Lasdun. The nearby Norwich Research Park at Colney is a major centre for biotechnology. It is Europe's largest single-site concentration of research activity into food, diet, health, and the environment. The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital opened in 2001 on the same site.

The Bridewell Museum is devoted to local trades and industries, including exhibitions on the history of Norwich's food industries. A library, the Forum (2001), was built with funds from the city council, the Millennium Commission Lottery Project, and local businesses.