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Carrow Works | |
---|---|
Built | 1854-1856 |
Coordinates | 52°37′N1°19′E / 52.62°N 1.31°E |
Products | Mustard, soft drinks, modular buildings |
Area | 40 acres (16 ha) |
Carrow Works is a former factory site in Norwich previously owned by condiment manufacturer Colman's. The site covers 40 acres, [1] and several of the buildings within its bounds are Grade II listed, as well as the Grade I listed Carrow Abbey. [2] [3] In production for 165 years, the site has been referred to as "historic" due to its impact on the industry and character of Norwich. [4]
In 1146, Stephen, King of England granted land in Carrow (then known as Carhowe) to the nuns of the Church of St Mary and St John for the founding of a Benedictine priory. At a point between 1503 and 1535, Isobell Wygun, its penultimate prioress, built a new house for herself, substantially reworking the priory's west range. However, after the dissolution of the monasteries, the priory largely fell into ruin, apart from the prioress' house which had been given to Sir John Shelton by Henry VIII. It came to be known as Carrow Abbey, changing ownership several times before being acquired by a Norwich surgeon, Philip Martineau, in 1811. [2]
Land to the north of the Carrow Abbey estate was purchased from the Norfolk Railway Company by J & J Colman Ltd in 1850, and the business began to move from its former mill at Stoke Holy Cross. Jeremiah James Colman, the son of the business' founder Jeremiah Colman, was influential in the expansion of the business here following his joining of the partnership in 1851. [2] At one point from 1854 to 1856 a mustard mill was erected at the site beginning an official movement onto the site; it is now demolished. [2] [4] Later, flour and starch mills, granaries, warehouses and workshops, and a counting house in 1857, were built. JJ Colman finished building a family home on the site in 1861, and in 1862 the move from the Stoke mill was fully finished. [2]
J & J Colman Ltd acquired further adjacent land in the late 19th century, including the Carrow estate from the Martineau family, and more factory buildings were built, with several being rebuilt after a large fire in 1881. The roof of one of the blocks was replaced after being damaged during World War II, and metal bridges and chutes were added between the buildings during the 20th century. All four blocks that made up the factory seemingly closed during the 1990s. [2]
On 15 December 2017, co-owner of the site Britvic confirmed that it would close its operations at the Norwich factory, where it produced Robinsons and Fruit Shoot drinks, instead moving to Rugby, east London and Leeds. At the time, Britvic employed 249 people at the site. Unilever, which owns Colman's, had already stated that it may close its own operations if Britvic left the site. [5] Modular building construction company Beattie Passive then moved into the site, [6] though the company filed a notice of administration in March 2024 and halted production. [7]
In January 2018 Unilever also announced it would end Colman's production in the factory, which at the time employed 113 people, instead moving to factories in Burton-on-Trent and Germany; this was further confirmed in March of that year. [8] [9] On 24 July 2019 the final jars of mustard were produced by the factory; their best before dates were replaced with "Norwich's Last. By Its Finest. July 24th 2019", [10] and they were gifted to the employees at the site. [4] On 22 May 2020, the site closed, ending over 160 years of production by Colman's in the city. [11]
In August 2023, details were revealed about a new housing development proposed for the site that would have included the building of 1,859 properties, including 143 houses plus business and community space. [12] The plans were expected to cost £460 million. [1] These plans were scrapped in March 2024 by Norwich City Council, which cited a breakdown in communications with developers Fuel Properties and concerns over the project's environmental impact. [13] [3]
Norwich is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about 100 mi (160 km) north-east of London, 40 mi (64 km) north of Ipswich and 65 mi (105 km) east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with one of the country's largest medieval cathedrals, it is the largest settlement and has the largest urban area in East Anglia. The population of the Norwich City Council local authority area was estimated to be 144,000 in 2021, which was an increase from 143,135 in 2019. The wider built-up area had a population of 213,166 in 2019.
The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. Norwich compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian derby since 1902.
Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands.
Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited range of products, almost all being varieties of mustard.
Carrow Road is a football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum.
St Julian's is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Norwich, England. It is part of the Diocese of Norwich. During the Middle Ages, when the city was prosperous and possibly the second largest city in medieval England, the anchoress Julian of Norwich lived in a cell attached to the church. The cell was demolished during the 1530s.
Trowse, also called Trowse with Newton, is a village in South Norfolk which lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of Norwich city centre on the banks of the River Yare. It covers an area of 4.49 km2 (1.73 sq mi) and had a population of 479 in 233 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 862 in 374 households at the 2011 Census. There are approved plans to build a further 770 houses on the outskirts of the village, at White Horse Lane* and the Deal Ground sites.
The Martineau family is an intellectual, business and political dynasty associated first with Norwich and later also London and Birmingham, England. Many members of the family have been knighted. Many family members were prominent Unitarians; a room in London's Essex Hall, the headquarters building of the British Unitarians, was named after them. Martineau Place in Birmingham's central business district was named in their honour.
Jeremiah James Colman was an English mustard manufacturer and the third member of the family in charge of the eponymous company Colman's. He was a popular philanthropist in his home town of Norwich and a Liberal politician who represented the city in parliament.
Carrow Abbey is a former Benedictine priory in Bracondale, southeast Norwich, England. The village on the site used to be called Carrow and gives its name to Carrow Road, the football ground of Norwich F.C., located just metres to the north. Granted by charter of King Stephen, the abbey was founded ca. 1146, and became a Grade I listed building in 1954.
Campsey Priory,, was a religious house of Augustinian canonesses at Campsea Ashe, Suffolk, about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) south east of Wickham Market. It was founded shortly before 1195 on behalf of two of his sisters by Theobald de Valoines, who, with his wife Avice, had previously founded Hickling Priory in Norfolk for male canons in 1185. Both houses were suppressed in 1536.
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant.
Mustard TV was a local television station based in Norwich, Norfolk. It broadcast to over 400,000 people, covering Norwich and much of Norfolk reaching Cromer in the north of the county, Dereham to the west and parts of south Norfolk and north Suffolk. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of regional media group Archant and was one of 19 initial local TV stations awarded licences by UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
County Hall is a municipal facility at Martineau Lane in Norwich, Norfolk. It is the headquarters of Norfolk County Council.
Phillipa Flowerday (1846–1930) was the first nurse appointed to work in connection with an industrial concern, generally considered the first industrial nurse. Phillipa joined Colman's in Carrow, Norwich, in 1878 at a rate of 26 shillings per week as a district nurse. Her duties included visiting the homes of sick/incapacitated employees, in addition to assisting the doctor at the dispensary at Carrow Works mustard factory.
Caroline Colman was the wife of Jeremiah James Colman, the third member of the family in charge of the eponymous company Colman's mustard. Caroline Colman had exerted significant influence over the social welfare of the company and later go on to introduce numerous social measures for the employees of Carrow Works, between 1857 and her death in 1895.
Ethel Mary Colman was a philanthropist and a member of the Colman family who was Lord Mayor of Norwich in 1923–24. Colman is notable for having been the first woman to be a Lord Mayor in the United Kingdom.
Edith Wilton was an English prioress at Carrow Abbey in Norwich.
Margaret Pygot was an English prioress of Carrow Abbey. She put the Abbey on a firm financial footing.