Historical Norwich " Norwich Red"

https://soundcloud.com/lorelle_11/historical-norwich/s-CN - Interview with owner of a shop is formerly a 600-year-old weavers house. During the 17th century, Norwich was known for its weaving and textile industries. The most  affluent product produced being "Norwich shawls.  It has been said that the noble ladies would drape themselves with beautiful Norwich shawls.  The set of  postcards that are influenced by my imagination will have a deep connection to both the present observations I have made and the historical elements that are still evident. Having said this, I believe "Norwich red " is a crucial element within the design of these postcards.

 Former Norwich duke street dye works

 Former Norwich duke street dye works

 Having visited the Bridewell Museum I gained a significant amount of information, the most being the cultural significance of the colour red. . In order to continue to develop the textile industries in skilled textile workers came to Norwich from Europe they were known as the Strangers.  They bought with them there customs and traditions.  

After visiting the Bridewell my interest in the Strangers developed even further when I came across a official guide of Norwich dated back to 1935.  At first I was interested in the commentary given about the tourist hotspots in Norwich - I thought   about the  comparisons  that could be made between 1935 Norwich and present day. 

Official Guide of Norwich 1935 

It was only till I delved deeper into the guide that I realised Certain elements of Norwich remained the same. In relation to the Norwich shawls I suddenly made the connection to the Stranger's Hall.  I then found an archaic map of Norwich which caught my interest because of the various pathways that  connected the city together.

 In terms of my

Map of Norwich circa 1935 

In terms of my design process I firstly drew out the modern stranger's hall. In comparison to the 1935 version not much has changed apart from the tiling on the roof. initially I wanted to recreate the strangers hall as we'll as the two other postcards of this series in stitch. But due to time restraints I realised this would not be possible.  I wanted to make the  historic connection  evident so I included some red stitching -alluding to Norwich Red.

As a development I decided to include the 1935 map to introduce a sense of place aswell as time.

                       Handling session at The Bridewell Museum 

 in and  during this time the East india company was established as part of the British colonial venture. The trade between Britian and other countries impact is evident through the inclusion of the paisley design that derived from India.