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Having thus brought down the political history of the city to the present time, we propose to offer a review of the origin and progress of the manufactures of Norwich, on which its prosperity has so materially depended, and indeed still depends.

As a manufacturing city, Norwich first comes into notice in the reign of Henry I. In 1108 an inundation in Flanders induced many of the sufferers to try their fortunes in England; some of them settled at Worstead, (whence the name “worsted”) and afterwards at Norwich. In the following reign more Flemish emigrants came over; and they introduced the weaving of wool. The weavers, in Henry the Second’s reign, formed themselves into guilds, and obtained charters; but it was not till the time of the third Edward that the next great advance was made. This wise king invited into the kingdom a large number of the countrymen of his consort, Philippa of Hainault, who were skilled in weaving woollen and worsted. They were principally located in the eastern counties; Norwich was fixed as the staple for Norfolk and Suffolk; and an act was passed prohibiting the wearing of any but English cloth—a piece of protectionist policy at which we may smile, but which was no doubt then very commendable. In several following reigns great complaint was made of the “craft and deceit” practised in the making of serges, says, fustians, &c., and wardens were appointed to supervise the “true making thereof.” Trade in these articles seems to have declined about the period of the Reformation, and attention began to be paid to dornecks and coverlets; and in the reign of Mary, the manufacture of “light stuffs”—the same fabric as the Naples fustians, and resembling the bombazines of later years—was introduced. In 1565, however, there was much distress in the city through the decay of the worsted trade, and the corporate body obtained permission to “import” 300 Dutch, but too glad to avoid the persecution of the merciless Alva, who brought with them the art of weaving with a warp of silk or linen, as well as of dyeing and other processes. In five years their numbers increased to 3000, (in London there were nearly 4000) and in 1575 their elders exhibited to the authorities a mixed fabric of silk and worsted, termed bombazine. Religious persecution, however, drove many back to their fatherland, now liberated from the intolerant Spaniard; but Cromwell’s policy of liberty of conscience and unfettered trade, remedied the mischief thus occasioned. In Charles the Second’s reign, the lower west room of the Guildhall (the Criminal Court) was the Cloth Hall, and the chamber over (now Sword-room) was devoted to the sale of wool and yarn. Wool-combing was now a source of great employment, (it was carried on here until 1808,) and the anniversary of its patron saint, Bishop Blaize, was celebrated with much pomp; while the manufacture was so extensive as to be described as “such as England never knew in any age.” Shortly afterwards an additional branch of industry was opened, the French refugees introducing the making of crape, which soon became very popular, and under Sir Robert Walpole’s administration, a public mourning was ordered to be in Norwich crape. About the middle of last century the trade of the city is generally supposed to be at its zenith, its productions being exported to all the continental markets; after this period the increasing use of cotton goods inflicted a heavy blow on the manufacture of woollen fabrics, while even in the latter, Norwich became exposed to the competition of Yorkshire mills, which occupied vantage ground from their proximity to iron and coal mines. In 1776 there were alarming riots on the part of the weavers, owing to lack of employment and the dearness of provisions. The American and French wars supervened in rapid succession—the latter closed most of the foreign markets, and thus inflicted incalculable injury on the city. Broad bombazines, poplins, camlets, fillover and other shawls, have been introduced at different periods since 1780; the bombazines are nearly superseded by paramattas, &c., and bareges, balzarines, &c., in every variety of design, are now manufactured. Of the yarns chiefly used, the wool is mostly from Australia, the silk from China, (though some from India and Italy) and the mohair from Angora; an inferior description is, however, obtained from Asia Minor.