Roger Hermiston and Eileen Wise follow in the steps of CJ Sansom’s detective Matthew Shardlake to explore revolt in Norwich
He’s one of the great popular fictional creations of the last twenty years – Matthew Shardlake, the hunch-back lawyer turned detective at the court of King Henry VIII, tasked with solving grisly murders and mysteries in the brilliantly atmospheric series of novels by CJ Sansom.
Now, not before time, there is a Shardlake tv series in a four-part ITV adaptation of his first adventure, Dissolution. So what better time to follow in his fictional footsteps and take a journey back into the tumultuous world of Tudor England?
CJ Sansom Matthew Shardlake Adventure
And there’s nowhere better to go than Norwich, the setting for the final CJ Sansom Matthew Shardlake adventure, Tombland – the title taken from the area of the city close to the cathedral, known for its picturesque streets and medieval architecture. On our weekend in the city we decided to stay where Shardlake lodged in Tombland, and walk where he walked as he was drawn into the heart of Kett’s Rebellion, an astonishing (but relatively unknown) real-life event in 1549 which shook the British state to its core.
So it was at the Maids Head Hotel at 20 Tombland, just over the road from Norwich Cathedral, where we checked in on Saturday afternoon. In the book Shardlake arrives at the Maids Head hotel on horseback, where he’s greeted by a ‘plump middle-aged man in a fine black doublet, who gave us a pleasant smile … {then} reached up and took my hand. ‘Welcome to the Maid’s Head, sir. I am Augustus Theobald, in charge of the finest inn in Norfolk’.
No stocky doubleted man to welcome us in 2025 – instead a charming (dark blue suited) manager, Rachel Browne, who took us on a fascinating tour of the building before we settled down in our room on the fourth floor – appropriately (in view of our tour to come) named Kett’s Keep.
The Maids Head Hotel Tombland Norwich
Who could blame The Maids Head for exploiting the Shardlake phenomenon (the books have sold millions of copies worldwide)? A blue plaque on the wall outside proudly proclaims “Matthew Shardlake” (note the carefully inverted commas!) stayed here in 1549 – as featured in Tombland by C.J.Sansom’.
But while the novel has certainly drawn many more visitors to the Maid’s Head, the hotel, as Rachel pointed out, had a stellar history even before Shardlake came on the scene. Indeed it lays claim to be the oldest hotel in the British Isles, all the way back to the 12th century when weary travellers visiting the new Norman cathedral checked into a hospice on this site – hospice in those days being a place of food and refuge, rather than a place caring for the terminally ill.
It would become the Murtel Fish Tavern by the late 13th century, and then in the 15th it acquired the title of the Maids Head. With its burgeoning reputation and central position in England’s (then) second city, the likes of Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, and Cardinal Wolsey stayed here. Edward the Black Prince was entertained here in 1350 and, two centuries later, it is rumoured Queen Elizabeth I dined at the Maid’s Head – although she most likely stayed at the nearby Bishop’s Palace. Not to miss a trick though, today’s Maid’s Head has named a suite in the traditional side of the hotel after her.
The hotel, these days spread over six buildings and housing 84 rooms and suites, is a fascinating amalgam of architectural elements and styles from medieval to modern times. Oldest are the cellars, dating back to the 1400s, the elegant, welcoming bar features Jacobean oak panelling, while Tudor and Georgian features abound elsewhere. CJ Sansom’s eyes lit up when he entered the restaurant and saw the outside pretty courtyard area (the latter recently newly decorated), as it had a feel of the 1540s and he immediately imagined a scene with Shardlake sitting down to a hearty meal of bread and cheese with cups of beer.
An ancient supporting wooden beam running alongside our bed in ‘Kett’s Keep’ evoked ancient times, but this was a very modern suite dressed stylishly in muted colours, extremely spacious and comfortable, featuring sofa, double bed and roll top bath. There were a couple of delightful and unusual features – the walk-in shower had a floor-to-ceiling reproduction photograph of one of Norwich’s famous medieval streets, whetting the appetite for the stay, while the wallpaper of one side of the room was a facsimile of a medieval map of England, with villages, towns, cities and roads all displayed in an individual hand.
Breakfast taken in the characterful WinePress restaurant, seated on extremely comfortable high-backed chairs near the oak-panelled sign ‘The Maydes Hedde 1287’, was a fortifying affair of coffee, cereals, fruits and croissants. The restaurant boasts a 2 AA Rosette, and for dinner a six-course tasting menu is available. The staff here are uniformly courteous and friendly and were always keen to go the extra mile for us.
In the novel Tombland, Shardlake comes to Norwich on the instruction of the young Princess Elizabeth, to investigate a murder and hopefully prevent a miscarriage of justice. But while he does that he quickly finds himself in the thick of Kett’s Rebellion, a revolt by an army of 16,000 peasants over the enclosure of common land and government corruption, led by local landowner Robert Kett from Wymondham.
In Shardlake’s Footsteps with Paul Dickson
To follow in Shardlake’s footsteps we turned to Paul Dickson, who runs a whole host of varies guided tours in and around Norwich – ‘Norwich on the Dark Side’, ‘Norwich’s Historic Pubs’, ‘Strangers and Huguenots’, ‘Julian’s Medieval Norwich’, ‘George Skipper in Cromer’ to name but a few.
Paul grew up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but has been in this part of the world now for 37 years, having moved here to continue working with the National Trust before later going freelance. Relaxed, affable, extremely knowledgeable, he was a pleasure to walk with. Paul he took us on a journey to some of the key sites in Tombland and recounted the full story of Kett’s Rebellion – disentangling fiction and fact for us as we went along.
So we first left The Maids Head and ambled through Cathedral Close, onto Bishopgate and up to Bishop’s Bridge, before making the steep climb up to Kett’s Heights, home to the remains of St Michael’s Chapel where the revolt’s leader had his headquarters back in those heady summer days of 1549.
We, as Kett will have done 500 years earlier, enjoyed the most magnificent, panoramic view out over the city. It was a beautiful, bright clear day and you felt could almost reach out and touch the cathedral spire. It was the perfect strategic base for Kett’s vast citizen army – but they would have to come down eventually to fight the King’s forces inside the city walls.
Battle of Palace Plain
Paul then led us back down the hill, along the north bank of the River Wensum where the canoeists were out in force, then across it at Jarrold Bridge and on to the likely site of the Battle of Palace Plain – nothing but concrete and offices these days – where Kett’s men were victorious over the Earl of Northampton’s men on 1 August 1549.
It was a short-lived triumph, however, and on 27 August Government reinforcements led by the Earl of Warwick routed Kett’s army at the Battle of Dussindale. Many of his followers were slaughtered and Kett, captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, was brought back to Norwich and hung in chains from the battlements of the city’s castle.
History tends to be written by the victors, and for centuries little was remembered about Robert Kett and his petition, with its 29 demands, that he submitted somewhat over-optimistically to the authorities. Eventually there was a surge of interest among historians in the 19th century, and today, with the help of Tombland, there is a recognition of the enormity of those events in the summer of 1549 – and how close Norwich came to provoking Tudor England to an all-out class war.
Tombland was was the last of CJ Sansom’s Shardlake books – sadly he died all too young in April last year. But such an exciting book will continue to attract legions of readers who, like us, will come to Norwich to follow in Shardlake’s wake.
