Norwich

Sister cities

• Novi Sad
• Rouen
• Koblenz

History

The capital of the Iceni tribe was a settlement located near the village of Caistor St Edmund on the River Tas about to the south of modern Norwich. After an uprising led by Boudica in about 60 AD, the Caistor area became the Roman capital of the Iceni ( in nowadays East Anglia ) named Venta Icenorum, literally "marketplace of the Iceni". This fell into disuse about 450 AD. The Anglo-Saxons settled the site of the modern city some time between the 5th and 7th centuries, founding the towns of Northwic ("North Harbour"), from which Norwich takes its name, and Westwic (at Norwich-over-the-Water) and a lesser settlement at Thorpe. Norwich became settled as a town in the 10th century and then became a prominent centre of East Anglian trade and commerce attested by the presence of a mint. The name Norvic is attested on pennies minted during the reign of Æthelstan. It is possible that three separate early Anglo-Saxon settlements, one north of the river and two either side on the south, joined as they grew; or that a single Anglo-Saxon settlement, north of the river Wensum-Yare, emerged in the mid-7th century after the abandonment of the previous three. Mercian coins and sherds of pottery from the Rhineland dating from the 8th century suggest that long-distance trade was happening during this time. The Vikings were a strong cultural influence in Norwich for 40 to 50 years at the end of the 9th century, setting up an Anglo-Scandinavian district near the north end of present-day King Street. Between 924 and 939, during the reign of King Æthelstan, Norwich became fully established as a town, with its own mint. The word Norvic appears on coins across Europe minted during this period. The ancient city was a thriving centre for trade and commerce in East Anglia in 1004 when it…

Geography

Norwich is north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The city lies at almost the same latitude as Leicester and Shrewsbury. Norwich, like the rest of the British Isles, has a temperate maritime climate. It does not suffer extreme temperatures, and benefits from rainfall fairly evenly spread throughout the year. Coltishall, about to the north-east, was the nearest official met-office weather station for which records are available, although it ceased reporting in early 2006 – Norwich airport now provides readings. Norwich's position in East Anglia, jutting out into the North Sea can produce weather conditions that have less effect on other parts of the country, such as snow or sleet showers during the winter months on a northerly or easterly wind, or sea fog/haar during the summer half of the year. An example of Norwich being afflicted by sea fog is shown in the adjacent image. The highest temperature recorded at Coltishall was during June 1976. However, going back further to 1932, and Norwich's absolute record high reached , while 37.0 °C was reached in July 2022 at Norwich Weather Centre. Typically the warmest day of the year should reach and 9.9 days should register a temperature of or higher. The lowest temperature recorded at Coltishall was during January 1979. In a typical year however, the coldest night should only fall to . On average 39.4 air frosts will be recorded during the course of the year More recently, the temperature at Norwich Airport fell to on 18 December 2010 with unofficial weather stations reporting localised readings of . The nearest sunshine monitoring weather station for which records are available is Morley agricultural research centre, about south-west of Norwich city centre. For the 1961–1990…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,351
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,982
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,478
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,952
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,057
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,679
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,644
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,642

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2015-08-06
  59 km ENE of Mundesley, United Kingdom
• M 2.7 — 2008-08-08
  27 km ESE of Felixstowe, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2007-10-05
  41 km ENE of Hemsby, United Kingdom
• M 3.2 — 2005-08-27
  68 km NE of Mundesley, United Kingdom
• M 3.5 — 2003-09-27
  North Sea
• M 3.4 — 2002-11-22
  55 km ENE of Hemsby, United Kingdom