THE MUNICIPAL LIFE OF NORWICH 115 
the munificent bequest of Jeremiah James Colman, M.P. for Norwich 
1871-1895, the art of John Crome, John Sell Cotman, James Stark, 
George Vincent, and other members of the School is illustrated by 
authentic examples of their work in oils and water colours. 
The Bridewell Museum of Local Industries —This historic building was 
given to the city in 1925 by the present Deputy Lord Mayor, Alderman 
Sir Henry Holmes, for the purpose of forming collections illustrating the 
past history and present progress of the industries of Norwich and Norfolk. 
The sections include boots and shoes, textiles, milling (mustard, etc.), 
agriculture, building, transport and engineering. 
The Strangers’ Hall—This medieval merchant’s house was one of 
the first folk museums in England, owing to the public spirit of the late 
Mr. Leonard G. Bolingbroke, who acquired the property in 1900 and 
formed the nucleus of the present collections. He presented the building 
and its contents to the city in 1922, and as the Corporation have since been 
able to acquire adjacent property there are 23 rooms at the present time 
furnished to show the evolution of the domestic life of the citizens of 
Norwich from the thirteenth century to Victorian times. 
St. Peter Hungate Church—tIn 1933 the Corporation acquired the 
disused church of St. Peter Hungate situated on Elm Hill, with the idea 
of the utilisation of the church for the exhibition of objects of ecclesiastical 
art. The church is of the Perpendicular period and its most noteworthy 
features are the hammer-beam roof of the nave with its unusual treatment 
at the crossings, and the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century glass in the east 
window and in the window under the tower arch. The Corporation 
have leased the premises to the Norfolk Archeological Trust, and, with 
the co-operation of the Castle Museum Committee, special exhibitions 
are formed in the church during the summer months with a view to 
illustrating Church art in its many and varied forms and its cultural effects 
on the people through the centuries. 
The popularity of the museums is shown by the following statistics for 
the year 1934: 
Number of Visitors. 
Castle Museum and Art Galleries : Habla tr 8 lle 
Strangers’ Hall : : : : Pe gee 
Bridewell Museum . : 2 : . © sor6g2 
St. Peter Hungate Church Museum . . *nosaa4* 
* During period of Exhibition of Church Pewter, 
June 12 to October ro. 
In addition 11,845 school children attended classes at the Castle 
Museum, and 752 unemployed men attended in organised parties for 
talks on the museum collections ; 4,332 visitors and school children visited 
the Strangers’ Hall and the Bridewell in organised and special parties. 
PuBLic LIBRARIES. 
Norwich has the distinction of being the first municipality to adopt the 
first Public Library Act which was passed in 1850. The Corporation 
