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Mousehold Heath, Norwich
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| Mousehold Heath is an area of woodland and heath land
measuring approximately 200 acres which lies in north-east
Norwich. Originally, the heath was much larger and
stretched as far as South Walsham. Today it is an
important recreational area for the people of Norwich
containing footpaths, football pitches and Zak's
restaurant. 
Britannia Barracks in
the Snow
Mousehold Heath by John Sell Cotman
In 1144 the body of a boy named William of Norwich was
found on the heath and his death was attributed to
ritual murder carried out by Jews. Eight hundred years
later, this 'blood libel' became the subject of a play
by Arnold Wesker which
was first performed at the Norwich Playhouse in 1996.
Wesker first moved to Norwich in the 1950s when he came
to work as a kitchen porter at the Bell Hotel on
Timberhill.
Today, there are a number of
stones on the northern side of the heath (close to
Mousehold Lane) which mark the location of St. William's
Chapel which was originally consecrated in 1168. The
chapel was supposedly built on the site where the boy's
body was discovered. At one time there was also a rood
screen depicting St. William inside the St. John
Maddermarket Church in Norwich. Mousehold Heath is also famous
for being the location of George Borrow's meeting with
the Romany Jasper Petulengro in Lavengro. The
book, which is an intriguing blend of fact and fiction,
recounts Borrow's early years in Norfolk including his
birth at Dumpling Green
and his subsequent move to Norwich at the age of 13. 'Lavengro'
is actually Romany for 'word-master' and is the title
conferred upon Borrow by Petulengro. Borrow was a
skilled linguist - conversant in many languages
including Welsh - and also a competent boxer. Here is
one of the famous speeches made by Petulengro while on
Mousehold Heath:
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| "When a man dies,
he is cast into the earth, and his wife and child sorrow
over him. If he has neither wife nor child, then his
father and mother, I suppose; and if he is quite alone
in the world, why, then, he is cast into the earth, and
there is an end of the matter." |
Petulengro then goes on to utter the famous words:
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"There's night and day, brother, both sweet things; sun,
moon, and stars, all sweet things; there's likewise a
wind on the heath. Life is very sweet, brother; who
would wish to die?" |
The heath also has an association with the novelist
R.H. Mottram and is
the location for his memorial which was made by the
Norwich-based sculptor David Holgate. The work stands at
the top of St. James' Hill and commands a spectacular
view of the City.
Mottram, who was also a Lord Mayor of Norwich,
is probably best known for his Spanish Farm Trilogy
- which was based on his experiences in World War 1.
Mottram was also a keen conservator of Mousehold Heath
and once touchingly declared it: 'the property of those
who have the privilege of Norwich birth'.
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Links:
More photographs of Mousehold Heath
Mousehold Heath Defenders
Arnold Wesker |
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Supported
by Norfolk Tourism