Hauntings, history, and high society: 12 facts you didn’t know about Earlham Hall
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Step inside Earlham Hall and you’ll be experiencing nearly four centuries of fascinating history.
From its earliest beginnings during the reign of Elizabeth I, to its modern role in training tomorrow’s legal eagles, this grand Norwich building has seen it all.
Whether you’re a history buff, or just love a good mystery, these tales of paranormal activity, pop stars, and prison reformers will make you see Earlham Hall in a whole new light.
1. The Angel of Prisons
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Earlham Hall was the childhood home of notable prison reformer Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney), a major influence behind new legislation to improve the treatment of prisoners, particularly for female inmates.
Fry was known as the ‘Angel of Prisons’ and appeared on the £5 note first issued in May 2002, which was withdrawn from circulation in May 2017.
2. Dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light
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In 2015, Earlham Hall was used as the green room for the stars of Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
After performing, Taylor Swift left behind her fridge in the building, which is currently being used by the Law School’s postgraduate research students.
3. Private estate to public park
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In the 1920s, the Franks family sold Earlham Hall and 365 acres of farmland, gardens, and parkland to Norwich City Council for £20,000 – around £1.4 million today.
4. A supernatural secret in the wall
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During renovation works in the 2010s, a mysterious ‘witch brick’ was found.
Featuring a crudely scratched pentacle and the number 666, it is possibly from the 1640s – around the time of the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins.
‘Witch marks’ such as pentacles were used to trap evil spirits and witches, and to protect the occupants of a building. Some have suggested the ‘666’ is a more contemporary addition.
5. Fairways to faculties
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In the 1960s, the City Council gave more than 160 acres of the former Earlham Hall estate to UEA for the development of the University, part of which was in use as a golf course at the time.
6. Babies, books and blackboards
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Following the bombing of the city hospital in June 1942 as part of the Baedeker raids (named after a famous guidebook and targeting England’s most historical cities), Earlham Hall provided a safe space for maternity beds.
During its history, it has also been a school, accommodation for nurses, a library, and was home to the fledgling UEA’s administrative offices.
7. From fields to finance
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The Gurney family, who leased Earlham Hall for more than a century, made their money in wool and then banking.
Gurney’s Bank was one of those that merged in 1896 to become Barclays – now one of the largest in the world.
8. A home for law in Norwich
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As well as being home to UEA’s Law School since 1977, the building now also hosts UEA’s Law Clinic, a free legal advice service for the local community, covering everything from welfare benefits to family laws.
Support is delivered through partner organisations and UEA student volunteers.
9. The lady in the window
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There have been a number of ghostly experiences reported over the years in Earlham Hall.
The most famous is reported to be that of Catherine Gurney, older sister of Elizabeth Fry, who is said to appear serenely looking out of an upstairs window, especially around the time of her death in June.
10. Putting Norwich on the botanical map
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In the early twentieth century, gardeners George Henley and Jack Fitt developed Royal Horticultural Society award-winning crocosmias, such as ‘Queen Alexandria’ and ‘Nimbus’, which became known as Earlham Hybrids.
Although not reaching the fever pitch of the seventeenth-century ‘Tulipmania’, individual corms of the prized plants could fetch more than a gardener’s weekly wage.
11. Cross-Atlantic associations
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Earlham College, a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana that was originally founded as the Friends Boarding School, is named after Earlham Hall.
Built for the education of Quakers, one of its early supporters was Norwich’s Joseph John Gurney.
12. Hosting voices for change
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Earlham Hall played host to some of the most famous slave trade abolitionists of the nineteenth century.
Guests include poet, novelist, and playwright Amelia Opie, politician and philanthropist Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, and one of the most famous names in the abolitionist movement – William Wilberforce.
One of the paths in the gardens of Earlham Hall is still called Wilberforce Way.