Norwich Hippodrome Also known as the Grand Opera House, the Hippodrome opened in 1903 and hosted a multitude of famous acts including Laurel & Hardy and the young Archie Leach before he went on to become the more famous Cary Grant

St Giles Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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First Provincial Newspaper The Norwich Post, England's first provincial newspaper, was first printed on this site in 1701 by Francis Burges. The City also claims the record for the longest continuously printed local newspaper, the Norwich Mercury, founded in 1714.

Castle Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Fishergate This area may have been the first settlement that can be thought of as 'Norwich', in its original forms NORTHWIC and NORVIC. Archaeological finds in Fishergate go back to the 8th century AD, and a coin of King Athelstan (reigned 924-939), which refers to NORVIC, is likely to have been minted in a defended area on the north bank of the River Wensum. In the 19th century a property here was known as 'Mint Yard' and may have commemorated the ancient mint.

21-15 Fishergate, Norwich, United Kingdom

Sarah Glover 1786-1867 The Norwich sol-fa is a music reading system devised by Sarah Glover in the 19th century. This technique utilized the ancient set of syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, which allowed people to sight-read music more easily. Her methods became well known across the county and were later used by the Rev. John Curwen as the basis of his Tonic Sol-fa system. There is a memorial to her in the church.

St Benedicts Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Pablo Fanque 1810-1871 Pablo Fanque, real name William Darby, the first black British circus proprietor, was born in Norwich and lived near to this site. He is immortalised in the Beatles song Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite, with the line: 'The Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo Fanque's fair, what a scene!'

John Lewis department store, All Saints Green, Norwich, United Kingdom

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The Orford Cellar In the 1960s the Orford Cellar hosted performances from rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Ginger Baker, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Geno Washington, courtesy of local impresario Howard Platt.The place to try out a new line-up before touring, the Orford also featured long lived and popular local acts including Lucas and The Emperors and The Continentals

Red Lion Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Sir John Mills (1908-2005) Oscar winner and star of over 100 feature films Sir John Mills went to school here when it was the Norwich High School for Boys. Apparently he hated it and claimed, as one of his achievements, that he broke the school bully's nose

Upper St Giles Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Romani DNA A skeleton discovered during excavations of an 11th century graveyard near this spot has been found to have a mitochondrial DNA marker unique to the Romani people. This is the earliest evidence for a person of Romani descent in the British Isles, and is 400 years earlier than any documentary reference to their presence.

Golden Ball Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Baptist Particular Chapel This 18th century building, which was originally a warehouse, was bought by the Particular Baptists in 1832 for £1150 and converted into a chapel which was used by them from 1833 to 1975. At the time there were eight Baptist chapels in central Norwich.

Timberhill, Norwich, United Kingdom

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John Greene Crosse M.D., F.R.C.S., F.R.S The celebrated surgeon of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital lived here. He published works on physiognomy, early uses of vaccination in Norfolk and the treatment of bladder stones.

Norwich, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Sir Arthur Michael Samuel 1872-1942 The first Jewish Lord Mayor of Norwich was born in Timberhill. He was a generous benefactor to the city, especially in the wake of the disastrous floods in 1912. Later Conservative MP for Farnham, Secretary for Overseas Trade (1924-1927) and Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1927-1929), he was created 1st Baron Mancroft in 1932, choosing the title in recognition of his strong links to the City.

Red Lion Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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George Rossi Italian gold and silversmith George Rossi, who had fought under Marshal Soult, Napoleon's Chief of Staff at Waterloo, came to Norwich and established a business on this site. Rossi's survived for 4 generations, until its eventual closure in March 1936, when Mr Theodore Rossi, who had been associated with the business for 54 years, decided to retire.

9 Guildhall Hill, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library From 1837-1976, this building housed a private Subscription Library, founded in 1784 and originally located in St Andrew's Hall. The Hall was also the site for Norwich City Library. Founded in 1608, it was the first library to be established by a corporation in a corporately owned building outside London. Norwich was also the first city in Britain to adopt the Public Libraries Act of 1850.

Guildhall Hill, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Pettus House This building is the surviving part of a larger house which extended up to the churchyard, occupied in the 16th century by the Pettus Family. The family, members of which are buried in the church of St Simon & St Jude, were Mayors and Sheriffs of Norwich and prosperous cloth merchants. In the 17th century, several members of the family were early settlers in Virginia, USA.

41-43 Elm Hill, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Aeronautical Firsts In 1797 William Moore founded a company close to this site which was eventually to become Boulton & Paul Ltd. This company developed the first all metal framed aeroplane with the first ever major use of plastic in an aircraft in the world, exhibited at the Salon d'Aeronautique in Paris of 1919. It also built the airframe for the largest airship in the world at the time in 1925, the R101. The company is most famously known for the wartime nightfighter the Boulton Paul Defiant.

London Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Paston House In the 14th-15th centuries a house on this site belonged to members of the Paston family, who wrote the famous Paston Letters which chronicle the lives of a wealthy Norfolk family during the Wars of the Roses. After the fire of 1507, the present house was built by Augustine Steward, three times Mayor and also Sheriff of Norwich.

The Strangers' Club, 22-24 Elm Hill, Norwich, United Kingdom

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Wrights Court The only remaining example of a residential court leading off Elm Hill, and one of only a handful to survive in Norwich. These courts or yards were a common form of habitation for working people in the City from Medieval times until the 1920s, but many were demolished during slum clearance. Several families lived in each house, sharing one pump and a privy in the yard.

Wright's Court, off Elm Hill, Norwich, United Kingdom

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The Bell Hotel With its origins in the late 15th century, the Bell (originally the Blue Bell) retains much of the character of an 18th century coaching inn. Its most notable associations are with 18th century and 19th century clubs including the French inspired Revolution Club (1793); the anti Methodist Hell Fire Club, which victimised Charles and John Wesley in 1754; the Eldon Club, which included the Duke of Wellington among its members; and a Lilliput Parliament for young people in 1837.

Bell Hotel, Red Lion Street, Norwich, United Kingdom

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