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St Thomas, Norwich

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St Thomas, Norwich Ewan Christian built this church for the new middle class suburbs off of the Earlham Road in the late 1880s. The busy traffic streams out in the direction of UEA and the A47, and St Thomas sits quietly looking down at it from its imposing site above the road, appearing larger than it is. There is no tower, and there is a restraint in the triple lancet of the east window, and the elegant Decorated style of the aisle. As Pevsner says, it is definitely Late and no longer High Victorian. Unfortunately, this must be a temporary entry, because St Thomas is undergoing a thorough refurbishment at present, and has been closed for more than six months. Coming back in July 2009, I found it still surrounded by builders' fencing, and a sign saying that the work would be completed by May 2009, and so I hope I can go back soon. The glass in the east windows looks particularly interesting. At the east end of the building, facing into Edinburgh Road, the dedication stone reads To the Glory of God in memory of the Holy Apostle St Thomas this stone was laid in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost by John Thomas Lord Bishop of Norwich 28th October 1886 - "Blessed are they who have not seen and have yet believed" - the last bit seeming to reassure me that I ought to put the church on the site even though I haven't yet been inside.

Simon Knott, July 2009

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