One of the five largest cities in Norman England, NORWICH once served a vast hinterland of cloth producers in the eastern counties, whose work was brought here by river and exported to the continent. Its isolated position beyond the Fens meant that it enjoyed closer links with the Low Countries than with the rest of England - it was, after all, quicker to cross the North Sea than to go cross-country to London - and by 1700 Norwich was the second richest city in the country aft... [More]