Hidden rivers and an ancient pub.

Alright?

Welcome to readers new and old. By which I mean new and old to the newsletter, not newborns and pensioners (but welcome to them, too).

One of the primary reasons for starting this newsletter was to arm subscribers with facts they could whip out whilst in and around Norwich, blowing minds and winning legions of admirers in the process.

Today’s newsletter should deliver on that promise. Grab a Calippo, place a wet flannel around your neck and slather on another layer of Soltan. It’s time for another Secret Norwich newsletter.

Norwich and its street furniture.

Norwich probably has a more interesting city centre than most. Without meaning to brag, it’s kind of a big deal in the street furniture scene.

In fact, if you visit the BBC article about “The curious world of England's street furniture”, you’ll find a Norwich bollard as the feature pic.

There are plenty of newsletters I could (and probably will) write about Norwich’s street furniture, but today I’m focusing on two street mosaics that serve as a reminder of some of Norwich’s forgotten history.

Norwich’s hidden rivers.

There are two mosaics I want to draw your attention to, which, luckily for us, are located within a 3-minute walk of one another.

The first can be found outside John Lewis. It signals that a “hidden river” called the Great Cockey (behave) flows beneath. In this area, you’ll also find a line of blue tiles marking its route.

As the plaque suggests, Norwich is home to a few of these hidden rivers. For example, there’s also a Little Cockey (come on now).

If you’re interested in this intriguing part of Norwich’s subterranean geography, I’d really recommend this article from Hidden Works. It includes loads more information about the, and a map of where these rivers ran/run.

The unrestrained stallion.

Do you recognise this?

If we play a quick game of 19th-century catchphrase, it should only take a moment to figure out which street you’ll find this on.

I’ll give you that moment now. Remember, say what you see…

…

Yup, it’s Rampant Horse Street.

Unfortunately, this mosaic isn’t currently viewable (at least it wasn’t last time I was in the area) because it sits right on the doorstep of the old Debenhams, which is now boarded up.

As with a lot of streets in Norwich, Rampant Horse Street was named after a pub - namely, the Ramping Horse Inn, which dates back to the 1200s.

It would eventually become the Rampant Horse Inn, a massive pub that had room for “70 or 80 horses” (back in the 18th and 19th centuries, pubs bragged not with the size of their craft beer range, but with the size of their stable capacity).

It closed in the late 1800s, and the mosaic was added to remember the pub at the same time that the Royal Arcade was built in 1899.

For those of you interested in Norwich’s fascinating pub history, you can learn about it with a drink in your hand on a Norwich Pub Tour.

Right, I’ll be back next week to tell you all about fire insurance. I promise it’ll be more interesting than it sounds.

Try not to melt away before then.

Secret Norwich.