[16]The outside of the wall at the east end from the north west.

[17]The inside of the wall at the west end from the south west.

Conservation Plan

The present setting:

The area is relatively quiet and is not a part of the city visited by tourists.  The wall is set well back from St Augustine's Street which is relatively busy and is hidden by shops and houses on the street frontage.  Bakers Road is a residential street with Edwardian terraced houses on the north side.  Houses on the south side of Bakers Road, backing onto the walls, have all been demolished and the area is now a broad attractive grassed area with a good planting of specimen trees. [16]

On the south side of the wall is a narrow lane with a tight difficult entrance from St Augustine's Street so it is little used except by local people.  The area in front of the main part of the wall is an unsurfaced parking area.  Between the main part of the wall and the lower section to the west is a brick-built electricity sub station within a walled and fenced enclosure.  The building is of reasonable quality with a pitched roof and does not seriously detract from the appreciation of the walls.  Beyond the sub station, the low section of wall has a broad grass verge on the lane side with a low wood fence to stop cars parking here. [17]

Potential medium or long-term improvements recommended for the surroundings:

This is one part of the city wall were the outer ditch could be re-established at least for part of the length.  The technical problems of ensuring that the ditch drained and remained dry would have to be resolved.  Perhaps a water filled ditch might be considered.  Excavating the ditch should also reveal much more of the north face of the wall particularly at the west end of the section.  Some trees on the north edge of the ditch could be retained.

Trees at the east end should be thinned and the canopy raised to reveal more of the wall.

Lighting of the wall at the east end should be considered.

A low retaining wall 800mm high and set in front of the arches by about a metre should be constructed to reinstate the medieval ground level of the top of the bank.  This would return the arches to their original proportions and would protect the base of the wall and the face of the wall from damage as cars manoeuvre in the parking area.  The wall here faces south and the area could be turned into an attractive area with seating and low level planting though some local people and people working in nearby shops would resent the loss of a free parking area.

Archaeological impact assessment:

If funds should be available for archaeological work here there are several important areas where digs may reveal much, particularly if the ditch is in part reinstated.

• Excavations of the rectangular feature to see what the internal plan was and see if there are the remains of an earlier tower here.  This could be undertaken without disrupting the building of the sub station which is set forward of the line of the wall.

• Excavations along the inner line of the wall to the west of the sub station should determine if the wall arcade continued west beyond the tower.

• The position of the west tower should be sought initially through a non invasive geophysical or resistivity survey.

CONSERVATION REPORT SUMMARY WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION

1. Immediate attention

• No immediate repairs required

2. Requires regular monitoring

• Vegetation on the walls

• Areas of flints on the low section of the wall are loose and should be re-bedded

3. Long term conservation

• The wall top may need consolidation

4. Improvements to the setting

Priority

• Carefully prune back trees on the north side to raise the canopy and reveal more of the wall

• Clear vegetation from the top of the wall, particularly on the square feature to the front of the sub station.

• Construct a low retaining all 800mm high and about 1 metre in front of the arches at the east end to protect them and to reinstate the medieval level.  If the wall had a wide capping this could be used as a seat and the space behind should be filled level with gravel.

Long term

• Consider reinstating the outer ditch.

• Cut a trial trench across the line of the wall to see if the bank on the inner side of the wall should be reformed to reflect the medieval profile.

• If more of the wall to the west is uncovered this should be left on display

• If the ditch is not reinstated then the line of cobbles running west and marking the line of the wall should be widened to give a truer impression of the scale of the wall

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Collins, Arthur E., The Walls of Norwich (City and County of Norwich,
  Norwich: Jarrold & Sons, 1910)
Hudson, William, and Tingey, John C., The Records of the City of Norwich,
  vol. II (Norwich & London: Jarrold & Sons, 1910), pp. 216-22, Extract from
  The Old Free Book

DOCUMENTARY REFERENCES: