Norwich Cathedral: building a cathedral - by canal

How did the Normans bring in the vast amount of material – stone, wood, iron and lead – which they needed in order to construct our city’s iconic Romanesque cathedral? The rivers were the obvious routes for delivering the bulk of the heavy materials which had arrived to the sea ports. But the city’s Wensum river was not quite close enough to the proposed building site - so a hand-dug, purpose-built, canal was excavated, from Pull’s Ferry up into what is now the Close.
This tour starts at the river, where you'll learn about the history of the waterway and the buildings along the route of the man-made canal. The tour will then walk through the Cathedral Close, focussing on buildings that stand on the footprints of older dwellings, built to service the newly-built cathedral. The tour route stretches to the Ethelbert Gate, where you will learn more about the walling-off of the cathedral grounds and the impact that this had on England's third-most important borough – and the cathedral’s relationship with the medieval city-dwellers.

Timings & Tours

Wednesday 17 September:

Tour 1030 | Fully booked

Friday 19 September:

Tour 1030 | Fully booked

Location & directions

The Dean & Chapter of Norwich Cathedral, Chapter Office, 65 The Close, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 4DH

Directions:

Meeting point and directions will be issued on booking

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking required

Booking conditions:

If you can no longer fulfil your booking, please cancel this by emailing [email protected] to provide others with the opportunity to attend.

Booking contact name:

The Forum

Booking website:

https://norfolkhods.ticketsolve.com/

Booking opens:

27 Aug 2025 10:00 AM

Booking closes:

16 Sep 2025 03:00 PM

Accessibility details

Disabled parking must be pre-booked by telephoning 01603 218300.

Additional information

Max no of people per tour:

20

Est. tour duration:

1 hour(s) 15 minute(s)

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