Before AD 410
There was no Roman Norwich.
Roman activity reached the area, but the important Roman town was
Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund, south of today's city.
Archaeology within Norwich itself suggests a much less urban landscape.
The city we know as Norwich would take shape later, after Roman rule in Britain had ended.
5th–8th centuries
A settlement begins to gather.
Early Anglo-Saxon occupation was scattered, but by the Middle Saxon period
communities were developing around the Wensum. Archaeology around
Fye Bridge has revealed pits, post-holes, pottery and traces of buildings.
Historians still debate exactly how Norwich formed — whether from one main settlement
or several neighbouring communities that gradually joined together.
9th–10th centuries
Northwic becomes Norwic.
Names such as Coslany and Conesford preserve memories of
early districts. The name Norwich developed from forms such as
Northwic / Norwic. The ending -wic was associated with a trading settlement,
fitting a place whose fortunes depended on the river.
Norwich's name appears on a coin minted in the early tenth century — one of the earliest
written glimpses of the town becoming a recognised place.
10th–11th centuries
The river makes a town.
The Wensum was Norwich's highway. It connected the growing town with trade routes
beyond Norfolk. By the tenth century Norwich had a market — traditionally associated
with Tombland — and settlement expanded on both sides of the river.
Water mattered more than roads. Goods, people and ideas could move along the river,
helping Norwich grow into an important trading centre.
1066
Norwich is already a great English town.
On the eve of the Norman Conquest, Norwich was
one of the largest and most important towns in England.
It had thriving trade, numerous churches and a complex pattern of streets and communities.
Then came 1066. The Normans would reshape Norwich dramatically — clearing homes,
raising a castle, creating a new market and later beginning the cathedral.