the old n&n is a very fine building imho

and it got me to thinking it must have been bunged up a few hundred years ago, before the NHS anyway, and so i wondered why they would have gone to such expense to create such a splendid hospital instead of spending more on healthcare.

I surmised from such a fine and dandy building that healthcare must have only been for the well-off back in the day. Wiki states though that it was built in 1771 when George III was on the throne and turns out the hospital was actually a charitable institution for the care of the poor and the sick of the City.

The wiki linked me to the "Norfolk Annals" which is a fantastic archive that gives a glimpse back into the past of the City.

In 1801 "Great scarcity prevailed throughout this month. About £1,500 was prescribed for supplying the poor of Norwich with soup and upwards of 247,000 quarts were distributed" and "Nurses were advised to use Linseed meal and water instead of bread and milk in making poultices".

There was a whole lot of f**king around in those days as well "A Quartermaster of the 13th Light Dragoons rode a certain distance up Thorpe Road in a given time with his face to the horses tail, and afterwards up the sand hill near Kett's Castle, and won both wagers".

Anyway, historylinky User Posted Link

Posted By: Tombs, Jan 31, 15:33:13