Crowded, poor, insanitary - but the yards of Norwich were home, sweet home

In the 19th and early 20th century, thousands of Norwich people lived in dirty, crowded and insanitary yards and courts - like Mancroft Yard, right. There were 750 of them, approached through archways and narrow alleys off the city's bustling streets. Life was tough but there was a sense of community. Most are now gone, but one or two, like Wright's Yard, left, have survived and prospered. Now - with your help - DEREK JAMES investigates the yards and courts of Norwich

Looking around Norwich today it is difficult to imagine that 100 years ago there were nearly 750 yards and courts in the city where life for many was a daily struggle against all the odds.

Some yards were better than others, but many men, women and children lived in real squalor and misery. They were poor people, very poor, and in those days public handouts were few and far between.

A few years ago the late and great Norwich historian Geoffrey Goreham published a booklet called Yards and Courts of Old Norwich.

The booklet is a gem, shining a light on a slice of our history now fading in time. Geoffrey sets out to record the rise and fall of the Norwich yard and recalls this description of a yard in Barrack Street at the turn of the century.

"This yard is approached through a very narrow entrance and has a labyrinth of passages and openings leading from it. On the wall of the house opposite the pump from which the water supply is derived there were marks of accumulation of filth two feet high.

"At the time of the visit there was refuse and decaying matter around the pump and dirty water standing around the drain, in at least half a dozen places. In the middle of the passage was a drain blocked with refuse, very close to a bake office. No lighting…"

So many of the history books concentrate on the fine Norwich houses with their vast gardens where the rich lived but Geoffrey takes a walk around the corner to a very different Norwich.

The "yard areas" appeared to have been concentrated in three districts of the city - Coslany, Pockthorpe and St Martin's where the density was staggering.

But they were also spread all over the city - especially in the King Street and Ber Street areas. It was not uncommon to find a family of up to eight people living in two rooms and, even in the one room courts, five or six people shared a single room.

Many of the names changed over the years - often because the court or yard took the name of the oldest inhabitant or the more remarkable of its characters.

For instance, in Magdalen Street, Zipfel's Court was named after the watch-repairing family. Some yards were named after trades, such as Pipe Burners Yard in Pottergate.

But generally they took their names from the Norwich pubs which they adjoined - pubs such as the Queen of Hungary Yard in St Benedict's and the Bathhouse in Oak Street. Then there were others such as Boarded Entry Yard in Ber Street, Mint Yard, Soup Office Yard and Ragged School Yard.