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PREFACE : THE NORWICH BLEND 5 
to the city, where racial mixture and long independence had fostered a 
feeling for religious toleration. Dutch and Walloon refugees were allowed 
to settle and rejuvenated not only the weaving, but allied trades such as 
dyeing, and gave the city much wealth and many prominent citizens. 
The cosmopolitan atmosphere and strong appeal of local tradition is 
shown by the fact that the sometime chancel of the Black Friars’ church 
was, until the twentieth century, the place of worship of the Dutch 
Congregation, and an apprenticing charity founded by the French- 
speaking community still gives preference to those of French descent in 
Norwich. 
The prosperity of the weaving industry made a solid basis for the 
golden age of Norwich in the latter half of the eighteenth century, when 
alongside the splendid cathedral presided over by many a distinguished 
ecclesiastic and the thirty-five remaining parish churches, many very 
beautiful, grew up the meeting-houses of Dissent. Partly around these, 
and partly in the Close, around the ancient grammar school of King 
Edward VI, were fostered the only distinct provincial school of English 
painting, the musical activities of Crotch and Buck, the inception of the 
Tonic Sol-fa system, and the literary circle embracing Amelia Opie, 
the Martineaus, the Taylors, Sarah Austin, Mrs. Barbauld, Dr. Parr and 
many others. Philanthropy may be represented by Elizabeth Fry and 
her brother J. J. Gurney, and medicine, always distinguished since the 
days of Sir Thomas Browne, has many prominent names. Science is 
represented by the remarkable family of Hooker and for a short interval 
the Linnzan collection was housed in Norwich. 
About 1830 fell a blow as shrewd as the old city has ever suffered. 
Partly on account of international complications, partly from the progress 
of the industrial North of England, in about a decade the whole of the 
textile industry left Norwich. The population became stationary, and 
very great distress supervened. Nevertheless, the inherited skill of 
generations of weavers, the accessibility by water, and central position 
in the county, began to attract new industries. To-day, the works 
of J. & J. Colman, the two world-renowned insurance societies, and 
a fair section of the boot and shoe trade are centred in Norwich. The 
local bank of the Gurneys provided a large element in Barclays Bank. 
Large packing and hardware industries have settled here. The market 
has never ceased to have considerable regional importance, and to-day it 
is one of the largest corn and cattle markets outside London. On 
Saturdays the broad expanse below the Castle and the surrounding 
streets give the impression that Norwich is a purely agricultural town. 
But an entirely different aspect of the city’s life is shown in the industrial 
quarters along the river, and in the neighbourhood of its two main rail- 
way stations, and on its outskirts. 
Yet a third side of local activity caters for the resident, the visitor and 
the sightseer. Local and foreign influences have moulded its archi- 
tecture and lay-out. It is the natural distributing point of the greatly 
extended transport facilities of the twentieth century. It is an air-port 
with daily service, a sea-port, a yachting station, and the means of access 
to a wide district by road and rail. While voluntary effort jealously 
