Browne in Norwich

For anyone interested in following a Thomas Browne Trail in Norwich, there are a few places to visit. As his rather grand, original home was demolished to make way for trams in the late 19th century, there is no building to dedicate to his life and work. And in any case, he would no doubt have shrugged off an attempt to memorialise him.
However, there is a kind of home as Browne was buried in St Peter Mancroft Church along with his wife Dorothy Browne (née Mileham) and members of his family. He lived very close nearby, roughly where Pret a Manger is now, and his garden ran along Gentleman's Walk, roughly where Primark stands today. The Lamb Inn is tangled into the footprint somehow and there is a plaque on the wall outside the doorway to the inn yard.

Hay Hill was on his doorstep, and there are many references to Browne there including a large bronze statue on a stone pedestal, as he is depicted contemplating a burial urn, as described in his book Urne Buriall, written about a hoard of Anglo-Saxon and Roman burial vessels  found at Brampton in north Norfolk. In the newly refurbished Hay Hill (2024) there are various references to Browne which are intended to mark his presence following the removal of the set of sculptures known as Homage to Sir Thomas Browne now sited in Eaton Park.

St Peter Mancroft Church holds a number of artefacts relating to Browne including a replica skull (from when his own skull was reburied in 1922, having been dug up and stolen in 1847). There is also a memorial plaque, one for Browne and one for his wife Dorothy. In the treasury, there are various items which change as the vergers see fit
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