Here are some pictures of Norwich buildings constructed in an era not long out of living memory. They are mostly from the late 19th century and Edwardian era. (Excepting the medieval Castle and the late medieval Guild hall, which I’ve added for comparison) Why did these people build in such a fussy, baroque way? Would we build like this today? What was different then?
Now, you can’t build big in a cramped ex-medieval city like Norwich, a city that as far as its street lines are concerned is effectively a jumped up Saxon village of cart tracks. But you can guild the lily. The ostentation of these buildings suggests the desire to signal high status and wealth. The builders were a confident people who believed in themselves. They were perhaps just a little pretentious: Some of the buildings look really out of place when set against the more cottagey and bucolic buildings of Norwich. The lack of any attempt to blend is perhaps another indication of an almost egotistical confidence
The feeling I get is that that the sleep of these builders was undisturbed by self doubt. The Titanic and the First World War were a few years off.
Best viewed across park land, this grand façade, plonked in a narrow Norwich street, can't be viewed from sufficient distance take it in. Frankly it's a joke; it wouldn't be much more inappropriately positioned if dropped into a bronze age village.
