The Ferry. S. Read. 1868. Source: the 1868 Illustrated London News. Click on image to enlarge it

Perhaps the sight from the outside of the city is preferable as a matter of taste. “Distance lends enchantment to the view; ” and this is peculiarly so as wo survey the fair outlines of our cathedral cities from the pleasant meadows aroimd them. The scene from this point of view is picturesque and suggestive in the extreme. In the centre rises the graceful spire of the cathedral, and high above the tallest houses appears the dorsum immaue of nave, and transept, and choir, looking so peaceful and yet so grand; while the city, clustering around it, and, as it were, leading up to it, seems to suggest that above the din and bustle of life there is a calm and a resting-place for the weary soul of man. But it is to the interior of the cathedral that the Erpingham Gate is now leading us; and, passing in, we stand in presence of a mass of arches and columns which, in solidity and grandeur, are amongst the best extant types of that sturdy Norman race “ who thus could build.” The nave and aisles are, generally speaking, the same as they were left so far back as the reign of Henry I. The roof is of more recent date, though vene-rablo with age, and remnrkable for its workmanship [170].

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Bibliography

"Leaves from a Sketchbook: Norwich." Illustrated London News 53 (1868): 169-70. Hathi Trust online version of a copy in the Princeton University Library. Web. 25 May 2021.


Last modified 27 May 2021