27/09/2022
Since it follows the line of the river, and most of its houses used to back onto docks and quays, at one time King Street was Norwich's maritime quarter, and by extension its red light district as well. At the height of Norwich's career as an inland port, there were 58 pubs lining the thoroughfare. Sailors would wander the streets late into the night, looking for women, drink or places to gamble.
Behind the fronts of the inns and taverns were a set of typical Old Norwich 'yards'—courtyards surrounded by tumbledown houses, many of them medieval, where poor families crowded into the rooms and shared water from standpipes. The yards would often be named after the public house that backed onto them.
One such yard was named after the Old Barge public house, popular with those rowdy sailors. (See pic 2, from the 1930s.) The building at the back was extended with slum tenements and undercut with cellars. By the Victorian era there were some 150 people living in close quarters in and around the building. By the 1970s, the building was uninhabitable, all but collapsed. Archaeologists took a closer look and discovered the original structure dates back to the 1420s, and this derelict husk was actually one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in the city, which is saying a lot. Today it’s known as Dragon Hall, after the carvings on the ceiling spandrels, of which only one remains.
Since the slum clearances in the 30s and 60s, the raucous late-night street of yore has changed a lot. King Street's red-light district vibe persisted long after the slum clearances, into the 1980s, when women would line up under street lamps waiting for clients. But today the s*x workers have vanished, and there is only one “working” pub left — that’s why it’s called Last Pub Standing. As you pass along King Street, heading towards the factories that have been converted into luxury housing, you might spot the embattled wreck of the Ferry Boat, once a prosperous music venue, popular in the 1980s with the squatters on nearby Argyle Street. During the late 80s the pub was briefly run by the so-called “Ipswich Ripper”.
Photos 1&2 by George Plunkett.
![THE ARGYLE STREET TAPES [i: DAMIEN]From 1979 to 1985, Norwich was home to the largest squat in Europe: the Argyle Street...](https://img4.gluseum.com/966/853/130746099668532.jpg)
