Norwich, Norfolk

England’s biggest city is London but where comes next? Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool all have strong claims. For over 500 years though the answer was…Norwich.

Today Norwich is often portrayed as a backwater. Without a motorway and within a National Park, it can seem quiet and provincial. Yet from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was a thriving powerhouse famed throughout Europe.

This short walk visits some of Norwich’s most attractive sights and explores why the capital of East Anglia was once England’s second city.

View and print off the route for free at Discovering Britain.