Norwich

Norwich, city in, and administrative centre of, Norfolk, eastern England, on the River Wensum. Norwich is a university and cathedral city with a financial services sector and industries that include footwear manufacture, engineering, food processing, and publishing. Tourism also is important to the economy. Educational institutions include the University of East Anglia (1964), the Norwich School of Art (1846), and a grammar school dating from the mid-16th century. Principal among the city's many ecclesiastical buildings is its cathedral, begun in 1096, and almost wholly Norman in style except for its 15th-century stone spire. Norwich was founded in Saxon times and received its first charter in 1158. Flemish immigrants introduced the wool-weaving industry in the 14th century, and the town remained a prosperous textile centre until the late 18th century. Elizabeth Fry, the prison reformer, the artists John Crome and John Sell Cotman, and the Victorian writer Harriet Martineau were born in Norwich. Population 121,553 (2001).