piano with a chiroplast used for pianoforte instruction. 
A “ hurdy-gurdy ” and “ serpent ” are interesting, the 
former being the beggar’s lyre, in which the tones are 
produced by the friction of a wheel acting as a bow on the 
Fireplace in Panelled Room. 
34 
string. The “ serpent ” served as a bass to the cornet, 
to sustain a chorus of singers in a large building. There 
is a complete set of puppets, etc., for a Punch and Judy 
Show, a favourite amusement at the Norwich Tombland 
Fairs in earlier days. Dresses of various periods are shown 
in the adjoining rooms and include the costume of the boys 
of Anguishs Charity,'Norwich, with its quaint red Tudor 
cap which is perpetuated to this day in the red caps worn by 
the boys of the City of Norwich Secondary School. A black 
silk dress worn by Queen Victoria and a high Court Dress 
are also of interest. 
In the next room is an Elizabethan oak four-poster with 
woven rush mattress on which rests a bed waggon of 
unwieldy size for supporting the pan of glowing charooal 
which v/as placed inside. The food cupboard, sometimes 
called a “ dole cupboard ” and the wide oak floor boards 
should be noticed as well as the oak cradle. 
Ascending again we reach an oak panelled room in 
which is some of the most valuable furniture in the building. 
The splendid oak Armoire with its pierced iron work 
hinges and lock was probably made for the Strangers’ Hall 
by a Flemish craftsman in the time of Nicholas Sotherton, 
about 1500. It is a rare instance of an article of domestic 
furniture surviving in its original home since the date of 
its manufacture. The early chest with Gothic carving 
has been figured by Cescinsky. On the walls is a bead 
work panel of the Stuart period and other early examples 
of needlework. 
Descending by the 17th century carved staircase, the 
visitor enters the Georgian and Victorian Rooms, both 
typical examples of their respective periods. In the 
Georgian room the oak panelling of earlier times has 
given way to large panels of white wood with carved 
35 
