Boardman's idea was pretty much what we are now doing inside the keep. He planned to re-insert the Great Hall, King's Chamber and Chapel, thus returning the keep to its original incarnation as Henry the First's Royal Palace of 1121.
However, tragedy struck within months of the project getting under way. At the age of only forty-one, Boardman's strongest supporter John Gurney shuffled off this mortal coil, supposedly due to heart failure during an earthquake when on a trip to Cannes, ironically for his health.
Without Gurney's robust support, both financially and on the design of the new museum, Boardman was helpless against the penny-pinching squabbling of the committee. Out went the Great Hall. Out went the King's Chamber. Out went the Chapel …
Out indeed went the entire floor. The committee insisted that he instead put in a gallery around the walls. Boardman was furious; he argued that the grand main entrance through the magnificent Norman arch of the Bigod Tower needed to actually lead somewhere. Losing that argument he insisted that the gallery be at least fifteen feet wide to allow room for exhibits.
He lost that one, too, which is why we ended up with the paltry walkway around the keep at what should be the main floor level.
At least by the time the committee overruled Boardman he had managed to erect the great stone arcade and a rather splendid (if Victorian in style) glazed roof.
He complained bitterly to John Gurney's widow that the cost-cutting had ruined both his and John's plan to return the keep to its 1121 arrangement when Henry the First and Adeliza of Louvain had spent their Christmas at the castle, feasting on swan, peacock and porpoise (see Part the First).
Every large construction project has to have a fire at some point and Norwich Castle Museum wasn't going to miss out. In March 1892 builders' negligence led to a fire in the panopticon. By good fortune a passing Police Constable (sadly not named in the Mercury's report) saw the light of the fire, ran up the mound, shinned up the castle walls (no mean feat in itself, especially in starchy uniform and hobnail boots) and extinguished the blaze. A shame we do not know his name as he deserves at least a plaque at the museum.
The damage was limited to "tools and some bushels of coke" (not the drink … or for that matter the drug).
At last, on October 23rd 1894, Norwich Castle Museum was opened by the then Duke and Duchess of York in front of a great crowd of the "better sort" of Norwich society.
The total cost of the museum, including fixtures and fittings ran out at £26,474. Our partial refurbishment, the Royal Palace Reborn project will cost in the region of £13.5 million, a figure certain to have given dear Mister Boardman the screaming abdabs and which causes me stomach ulcers and anxiety attacks as work progresses.
Next time, we'll look at some of Edward Boardman's working drawings and see the worst located benches in the history of human sitting-down.
Sources:
The Annual Register: A View of the History, Politicks and Literature of the Year: Edmund Burke (ed) and successors: 1758 to Present
Norfolk Museums Service and the Norfolk Archæological Society
East Anglian Archæology Vol. 132: Norwich Castle: Excavations and Historical Survey: 1978-1988: Part II: c.1345 to Modern: Elizabeth Shepherd-Popescu: 2009
Norwich Since 1550: ed: Carole Rawcliffe & Richard Wilson: 2004
Norwich Mercury Archives.
Norwich Records Office: Slum Clearance Photograph Archive.
4 comments:
Very unfortunate about the untimely demise of John Gurney, and how that led to the disappearance of important features of the museum. And yes, that walkway is rather underwhelming. Try not to catch the screaming abdabs as your work continues on this amazing project!
Alas, poor Mister Gurney. If nothing else his sad demise teaches me to be wary of heading to Cannes for my health.
The screaming abdabs come and visit with every phone call or email or video call from the Castle Team. I shall tempt fate, however, and report that all is going rather splendidly. Thanks to Covid we were spared the ridiculously unachievable deadline of opening for Christmas, 2021 (nine-hundredth anniversary of Henry the First's big party), so the archæologists have had all the time they need and as a result we will have far greater knowledge about the early castle than we would have without the pandemic.
Gotta have a Covid silver lining somewhere.
As you say, it's an impressive space. If I had visited the Castle say, five years ago, I'd have wondered what it would be like with floors without thinking of the walkway as a missed opportunity. Now I can't wait to see it in its future splendor. I'm glad to hear it's going well.
I can't wait for you to see it finished in person, Petrea, and maybe enjoy a cosplay feast in the Great Hall (though no porpoise will be on the menu). Just remember to only drink from wooden vessels now you know how drinking horns are made!
Post a Comment