St Mary the Less, Queen Street, Norwich - C18 memorial

Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 11 Sep 2010

St Mary's church > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1846266 was closed in the wake of the Reformation but did not share the fate of many others that were demolished. Nowadays it is entirely enclosed by houses and the top of the tower is all that can be seen. During its chequered history the building served a variety of purposes, some of them secular. When in 1565 the city authorities arranged for 30 households of religious refugee weavers from the Netherlands to settle in Norwich the church was given to them for use as a cloth hall. In 1637 the church was taken over by French-speaking Walloons for their services which continued until 1832. The building was then leased to the Church of the New Jerusalem, which had been formed in 1787 by followers of the mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg. They remained here until 1852 and the church was subsequently leased to the Catholic Apostolic Church, who gave it up in 1953. After that the building functioned as a parish hall, and from 1959 until 1985 was in use as a warehouse for Robertson & Coleman (a furnishing shop across the street). At present the church is privately owned and used as a Flemish Studies Centre > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2065638 where subjects such as migration, trade, architecture, weaving, land drainage, local dialect, place and personal names, to mention only a few, are being researched. The building retains a couple of memorials and what appears to be consecration crosses > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2065647 and remains of old murals can be seen on the walls. Some of the windows contain stained glass.

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