Norwich Castle
Gone Medieval
History Hit
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 December 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Medieval Norwich comes alive as Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega visit Norwich Castle, once a hulking Norman fortress, royal palace and later a Victorian jail. Matt tours the huge Keep with archaeologist Dr Tim Pestell, exploring fire-scarred vaults from medieval sieges and exquisite high-status finds unearthed in recent excavations. Matt also gets to attend Henry I's feasting hall where he spent Christmas in 1121.
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Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the |
| 0:06.5 | greatest millennium in human history. We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking |
| 0:12.7 | details and latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the printing press, from kings |
| 0:18.5 | to popes to the crusades. We cross centuries and continents to delve into rebellions, plots and murders, |
| 0:25.9 | to find the stories big and small that tell us how we got here. |
| 0:30.0 | Find out who we really were with Gone Medieval. |
| 0:38.6 | Welcome to this special episode of Gone Medieval. Welcome to this special episode of Gone Medieval. |
| 0:41.9 | Eleanor and I have jumped aboard a train to journey to the second city of medieval England, |
| 0:47.5 | home to more medieval churches than any other city north of the Alps, and boasting the largest |
| 0:53.1 | and one of the oldest covered markets in Europe, |
| 0:56.1 | open daily for the last 900 years. Have you guessed where we are? |
| 1:01.2 | It's the stunning city of Norwich. |
| 1:04.0 | Yes, but not just Norwich. We're in medieval Norwich, where the Wensom and Year rivers twist together. |
| 1:12.1 | England's cheeky little understudy to London. |
| 1:15.5 | This is a city that punched way above its weight for centuries, |
| 1:19.2 | born from humble Anglo-Saxon routes around the 5th to the 7th centuries, |
| 1:23.7 | when settlers dubbed it Northwick, which translates literally as North Harbour. |
| 1:28.9 | This spot blossomed into a bustling hub thanks to its prime real estate. |
| 1:33.9 | We've got fertile farmlands for grain and wool, easy river access for trade, |
| 1:39.4 | and a strategic perch in East Anglia that made it a natural magnet for merchants, swapping everything |
| 1:45.6 | from pottery to coins across Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and even Viking longships. |
| 1:51.9 | By the 10th century, it had its own mint churning out silver pennies stamped Norvik, |
... |
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