Everywhere, Everywhere
Those historical plaques, the round ones, yes usually blue but sometimes grey, brown, maroon seem to be everywhere. Briefly describing information about people, usually of some social standing. They are informative, physical, no Internet connection required, low tech and therefore immediate. They also relate to the context in which they are found, they are all about location and activities. I quite like them and of course Gavin Turk’s classic work Cave http://gavinturk.com/artworks/image/10/ is well worth a look as well.
The plaques vary in colour, text, design and size and are a number of different schemes, some local, some national. They build on historical traditions of marking places and buildings, like the one found on Norwich University College of the Arts Building in George Street. Where as this plague would have been installed when the building was completed the circular plaques are later additions.
I had no idea how old ‘The Blue Plaque’ scheme was until I looked at the English Heritage website. In fact the first plaque was maroon with a highly patterned border. First proposed in 1883, the premise was to make a link between building and person http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-p… . There is a comprehensive procedure for proposing a plaque and focuses on the person being an ‘eminent figure (as considered by members of their own profession or calling), having made an important positive contribution to human welfare or happiness’ and so the list goes on. It takes between four – six years from initial proposal to its installation (if successful) but anyone can make a suggestion.
I’m unsure what scheme the Henry Ninham plaque belongs to, but its located on a building on Chapelfield North Road. In a book Wendy was looking at last week at NRO, A Prospect of Norwich by George Nobbs there is a work by Henry Ninham of 18 Elm Hill, which was described as the home of Elisha De Hague. Our information shows he lived at number 5, we shall investigate tomorrow as we will go that way on our walking tour part 2.
