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Anne and Patrick Poirer, art, Norfolk, Norwich, polymath, sculpture, Sir Thomas Browne, street furniture
As the weather hasn’t been conducive to photography recently, I decided to find and use some more of the pictures I have taken over the past year on my walks through Norwich.
Next to the Guildhall (mentioned in my recent Norwich post) is Norwich Market and on the further side of the Market Place is Hay Hill.
Sir Thomas Browne, born 19th October 1605 in London, lived and worked in Norwich from 1636 until his death on 19th October 1682. He was a polymath; a physician, a botanist and a writer. He was well-educated, well-travelled, religious and very well-liked and respected in his time. He wrote several important books and in doing so, coined many new words in the English language.
ambidextrous, antediluvian, analogous, approximate, ascetic, anomalous, carnivorous, coexistence, coma, compensate, computer, cryptography, cylindrical, disruption, ergotism, electricity, exhaustion, ferocious, follicle, generator, gymnastic, hallucination, herbaceous, holocaust, insecurity, indigenous, jocularity, literary, locomotion, medical, migrant, mucous, prairie, prostate, polarity, precocious, pubescent, therapeutic, suicide, ulterior, ultimate, veterinarian.
Sir Thomas Browne lived in the Hay Hill area nearly 400 years ago. His house (which no longer stands) was in Orford Yard and he is buried in St Peter Mancroft church. Both these places are next to Hay Hill. He lived and worked slightly earlier in the same century as Samuel Pepys, who lived in London.
In 1671 King Charles II came to Norwich and viewed the city regiments from the balcony of the Guildhall. Whilst he was in the city he knighted Thomas Browne and then dined with him on the first dolphin to be caught off the Norfolk coast. This dolphin had been sent to Sir Thomas for his interest and dissection.
The statue of Sir Thomas Browne (see photo above) is by Henry Albert Pegram and it was commissioned to celebrate the 300th birthday of Sir Thomas. The statue was unveiled on 19th October 1905 and huge crowds turned out to witness the ceremony. Pegram was also commissioned to make the memorial to Edith Cavell which stands outside the gate of Norwich Cathedral.
In the early years of this century the Hay Hill area of the city was looking a little run-down and untidy. The authorities had wanted Anne and Patrick Poirer, a French husband and wife team of artists, to create a sculpture for the Marketplace when it was renovated but this hadn’t worked out. They were therefore then asked to consider a commission for a sculpture on Hay Hill. The couple researched the area and decided on a homage to Sir Thomas Browne. This was a major public art commission, paid for by The Arts Council England East and Norwich City Council with a contribution from Norfolk County Council. It was commissioned in 2005 and installed and opened officially in 2007. The work was intended to be a set of street furniture; a living room for the city.
The sculpture was made in Pietrasanta in the foothills of the Carrara mountains in Tuscany, Italy. This area is famous for it’s beautiful white marble; the granite used in this sculpture came from Zimbabwe. (We visited Pietrasanta a couple of years ago while on holiday and enjoyed the best pizza and bruschetta we have ever tasted in a little café in the market place.)
There are twenty pieces of sculpture and twenty-two lights and all the pieces relate in some way to Sir Thomas. Some of the pieces are made of marble and some of granite. Some are polished and shiny and some are rough and matt. All are intended to be sat upon.
These pieces are arranged in a pattern known as a quinconce or quincunx, a five-pointed diamond shape which Sir Thomas believed existed throughout nature. The pieces are also arranged in line with his home in Orford Yard and the place of his burial in St Peter Mancroft church. Many of these pieces are inscribed with quotes from Sir Thomas using the original spelling. At night the sculptures are lit with coloured lights set in the ground and which are part of the art-work.
The largest pieces are a marble brain and an eye carved in the classical style and refer to Sir Thomas as a thinker and to his approach to philosophy, religion and science. There are five granite chairs, two benches, three tables, six conical seats and two smaller pod seats which represent Sir Thomas’ interest in Botany. The gold design on the back of some of the seats is the artists’ interpretation of the rooms of the brain – memory, creativity and intellect and the way they are linked together.
This area is well-used and in the summer many people sit here and eat their lunch or rest after doing their shopping. Sadly, not many people understand its relevance or know who Sir Thomas Browne was!
Thanks for visiting!
Jill Weatherholt said:
I love the beautiful and bright flowers surrounding the memorial to Edith Cavell. I’m curious, did you take a rest on the street furniture, Clare? 🙂
If I don’t see you before the holidays, wishing you and your family peace and joy in the new year. Merry Christmas! ❤
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jill. No, I never have sat there; perhaps I ought to in the summer. I’m not sure how comfortable the seats would be though! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
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Jill Weatherholt said:
Thank you, Clare!
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Aquileana said:
Hello dear Clare…. thanks for this post… I much enjoyed the reading and learning about Sir Thomas Browne
The twenty pieces of sculpture, alonside the main one are remarkable…
There is a brain shaped marble sculpture, very neat…
Merry Christmas and all my best wishes to you and yours. Much love, Aquileana 🎄
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much dear Aquileana! It is very strange having a brain sculpture in the middle of the city! I hope you also have a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
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susanpoozan said:
Thanks for all the information about Thomas Browne, I shall research him further. You have whetted my appetite to visit Norwich in 2016 too.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Susan.
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colorpencil2014 said:
What a fascinating post with all these interesting stories and photos. I was amazed at the number of words I thought so modern but coined by Thomas Brown!!! Thank you, Clare, when is your “Walking With Clare” published? Xo Johanna
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Johanna! Haha… I think it will be some time before anything of mine is published! I was surprised at all the words he had invented too. Clare xx
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quietsolopursuits said:
Thank you for the information, history lesson, and the photos of the artwork commemorating two of the famous people who lived in your area. It must be quite remarkable to know that you’re walking on the same streets and visiting a few of the same places that some one of Thomas Browne’s stature did.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jerry! I enjoy finding out about these people and am sorry his house no longer exists.
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tootlepedal said:
Are the sculptures comfortable?
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clarepooley33 said:
I confess I have never sat upon them. I wouldn’t have thought them particularly comfortable.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
Imagine just inventing all of those words as if it was as easy as counting your fingers. I doubt that I’d even know where to start something so complicated.
I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of him, especially because of his connection to botany. He was obviously one of the greats, but apparently not spoken of much over here.
Thanks for a very interesting story!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Allen. Poor Sir Thomas isn’t spoken about much over here either! I found him very interesting to research though, and only gave the bare bones of what I found out. I was very surprised at the words he invented as I hadn’t thought a lot of them were that old.
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Elizabeth Melton Parsons said:
Wonderful post. Clare. Love all the photos. I wanted to come by and wish you a very Merry Christmas. HUGS 🙂
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Elizabeth!
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markspitzerdesigns said:
Interesting to see some public art from another country
I would like to know how people react to the pieces in the plaza
We know the Poirersâ work from pieces they have done in the US
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Mark Spitzer
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Mark. I think it has been fairly well received though, as I said in my post, not many people know why it’s there or to whom it is in homage! The fact that it can be sat upon and children can climb and play on it is appreciated by most people.
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Julie said:
Interesting post Clare, although Norwich would not be far for us to travel too, we have rarely visited. I hope you and your family have a happy and peaceful Christmas.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Julie and a very happy and peaceful Christmas to you too!
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Cynthia Reyes said:
A new post! What an interesting story, Clare. And this man coined all those interesting words/ideas? He must have been quite a guy. I’m wishing you, Richard, Alice and Elinor and family joy and peace in this sacred time.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you so much Cynthia! He was a very special man, so I read. May you, Hamlin and your family have a wonderful Christmas full of the Holy Spirit and I hope your New Year is a peaceful and healthy one. With love x
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Ste J said:
If you are gig to be a maker of words, they may as well be big ones! I do enjoy learning about polymaths, they always fascinate me and give me something to aspire to. It is amazing how little we know of our past, even when it is right there for us all to see.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Ste! He was a fascinating man and a very likeable one too from all accounts.
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Lavinia Ross said:
I love the sculptures! It is an interesting post, and I enjoy the history lessons.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, and a peaceful and plentiful new year ahead.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Lavinia! A very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you too.
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Thom Hickey said:
Thanks. It’s been a real pleasure following your blog this year. All the best for Christmas and 2016. Thom.
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clarepooley33 said:
My pleasure and many thanks to you too, Thom. I hope you have had a very Happy Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2016. Clare.
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Lisa G. said:
A very Happy Christmas to you, Clare. I have just finished listening to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from Cambridge – a highlight for me every Christmas – and thinking of my British friends. It’s evening where you are now. A blessed holiday to you!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Lisa! We try to listen to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols every year too. I hope you have had a very Happy Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2016. Clare xx
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greytabby1 said:
This was such an interesting post Clare. What a fascinating story about a very interesting man, and to think all that vocabulary is due to him too! I’m glad that he was honored finally by the city but like you I wonder if many people understand the significance of the sitting area.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family and I wish you all the best for a fabulous 2016! I really look forward to more of your lovely walks!
– Kate
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Kate! We had a lovely Christmas and I wish you a very Happy New Year too. I missed out on a family walk on Monday as I had a migraine! 😦 My eldest daughter was with us and we haven’t all walked together here for years!
I am sure most people have no idea who Sir Thomas was and I’m sure most wouldn’t care about him. At least the seating area is appreciated and used and isn’t covered in graffiti.
Clare
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greytabby1 said:
Oh what a shame 😦 Migraines are the worst. Hopefully it won’t be too long before you can all be together again.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Kate. I hope so too. We saw Alice off at the railway station this afternoon and she has just texted to say she is safely back in Sheffield. Happy New Year to you and your family!
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Jane said:
Hi Clare,
I took a break from reading blogs while recovering from illness and focusing on family over Christmas so I’m late commenting. I do hope you had a lovely Christmas and that 2016 will be a healthy and joy-filled year for you and your family.
I found this post fascinating. Thanks for sharing the information about Sir Thomas Browne and also for the wonderful pictures. It has been a real pleasure to discover you through blogging, Clare. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading about your family life and also about your surroundings. You are a kind soul and I wish many blessings upon you. Best wishes. 🙂
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clarepooley33 said:
Hi Jane,
I hope you are recovering well and have had a lovely Christmas. I also hope 2016 will be a healthier one for you and a happy and successful one too. I am so pleased I found your blog as I feel I have found a friend in you.
I haven’t been on-line much over the last few weeks. There is always so much to do at Christmas-time!
Best wishes, Clare 🙂
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Gallivanta said:
A fascinating place honouring a fascinating man. Glad you had a chance to sit down and tell us about him. 🙂
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you! It was a post I had been working on for a while and I finished it off one night when I couldn’t sleep.
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