Mile Cross Primary School - House of Dragons

During the school visit to the Assembly House one of the activities we did was to think about the different people's stories which could be woven into our dragon. We thought about the people whose work made the Assemblies possible. Who grew the food? (Farmers, labourers, slaves) Who cooked the food? (Cooks) Who made the fine clothes? (Weavers). As the children answered these questions, they joined this line of 'invisible people' (people you wouldn't normally think about in a 'posh' building like the Assembly House). The presence of these people's stories explains this line of figures linking hands.

The spine of the dragon is decorated with playing cards and musical notation. This refers to the games and music which were part of the great Assemblies of the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth centuries.

Here is the eye of the dragon, inspired by - and 'echoing' - the round 'Rose' window in the Great Hall of the Norwich Assembly House.

Illustration of the Norwich 'Snap' Dragon © Norfolk Museums Service

Medieval Norwich was (and still is) full of Dragons, they were carved in roofs, gates and pews and painted on walls. At certain times of the year they could even be found roaming the streets as an important element of civic processions. In Norwich the dragon was an important symbol of identity, a sign which brought unity to the governing elite of one of a major city.

Dragons are actually extraordinarily common beasties. Dragon-like beings (or at least snake-like - in truth the two are often confused by dracophiles) feature in the beliefs, myths and legends of many different cultures: American, Asian and European.

Dragons appear in many different guises - creator-gods, elemental spirits etc.
However, in medieval Europe the dragon was not a particularly positive role model. He was essentially a symbol of evil, a representation of Lucifer, and was usually depicted in relation to one of a number of saints who had run-ins with dragons.

Dragon-slayers
The most popular dragon slaying saint was St.George. In addition to England, he is patron saint of a host of countries and cities: Aragón, Canada, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Russia, Palestine, Genoa, Beirut, Ljubljana, Freiburg, Amersfoort, Ferrara and Moscow.

St. George is one of the main reasons why dragon iconography is common in England. St. George became patron saint of England during the reign of Edward III 1327-1377 and was put to good use for propaganda purposes during the 100 years war against France. By the 16th century St. George was firmly established as a symbol of national unity. Henry V used the saint in his rallying speech before the walls of Harfleur in Shakespeare's eponymous play and George enjoyed a central role in Spenser's 'Faerie Queen'.

Norwich Dragons
However, although dragons are found throughout the country, it is fair to say that they were particularly prominent in Norwich. The symbol of the dragon was built into the medieval fabric of the city: cathedral cloisters and gateway, Great Hospital refectory and church, St. Gregory's church wall painting and, of course the Great Hall in Dragon Hall. Norwich even had a living dragon, or more precisely 'snap', who brought much-needed chaos to the St. George's Day Procession (and following the Reformation the Lord Mayor's procession).

Not all of these dragons are connected to St. George. St. Michael the Archangel had particularly strong dragon-slaying credentials. He fights against Lucifer in the form of a many-headed dragon in Revelations. It is probably St. Michael who is depicted above the Cathedral's Erpingham Gate.

St. Margaret of Antioch was another saint dedicated to troubling poor dragons. Margaret had the misfortune to be the Christian daughter of a pagan king. One of the torments she was put through was to be swallowed by a dragon. Fortunately, her crucifix irritated the dragon and burst its belly asunder (she was obviously very holy). St. Margaret appears in various locations throughout the city, a pew in the Great Hospital providing a particularly good example of her 'Alien' style chest-burst.

The Guild of St. George
Despite the presence of other dragon-slaying saints, it was St. George who predominated. The Guild of St. George became a powerful religious guild in Norwich (a religious guild as opposed to a craft or trade guild). It was established in the late 14th century to observe the feast day of St. George and provide support for needy members. However, these simple aims appear to have been hi-jacked in the early fifteenth century by a group of merchants and gentry.

Fifteenth century Norwich
Fifteenth century Norwich was a growing city. It lay in the centre of a prosperous agricultural region and profited from the wool and cloth trade. The city was given the right to appoint a mayor in the early 15th century and embarked on a civic investment programme: the Guildhall, Market Cross and New Mills (to grind corn) all date from this time. This sense of civic identity, and the prosperity which underpinned it, resulted in a whole-sale re-building during the fifteenth century. The great majority of churches were re-modelled and both merchants and gentry built themselves fine town houses. It is in the context of this optimism that the trading hall at Dragon Hall must be seen.

Trouble in the city
Unfortunately, this growth brought the city into conflict with county interests. Powerful magnates like the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk wanted to curb Norwich's growing independence, or at least to get a piece of the action. Gentry and merchants with county interests like Thomas Tuddenham, Thomas Wetherby and John Heydon became embroiled in city affairs, attempting to rig mayoral elections and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Critically, this 'county' group used the Guild of St. George as a base to gather support (it was an institution focused on the city but which was open to members from the county). These tensions led to a period of instability within the city as these different groups struggled for control. Riots, electoral shenanigans, death threats etc. followed - sufficiently serious for the King to remove the city's liberties on two occasions but not so serious that anyone was executed (perhaps more like IRA/Unionist posturing in Northern Ireland a few years ago).

Yelverton's Mediation
The trouble was finally resolved in the later 1440s, largely due to the deaths of critical figures on the 'county' side. The victorious city merchants did what any victorious side does, they looked for revenge. Their attention fell upon the Guild of St. George which had proved such an effective base for their enemies. This resulted in the marvellously titled 'Yelverton's Mediation' of 1452. The Mediation effectively clipped the wings of the Guild by linking it with the city government. City officials automatically became members of the Guild and the outgoing mayor was appointed the chief official (alderman) of the Guild when his year of office ended. The City Government and the Guild became as one. City officials were bound by the Guild's rules of brotherhood, worshipped together at Guild services and processed through the city together on St. George's Day. The Guild provided the city elite with a united front with which to face the populace. Not surprisingly, the dragon became an important symbol of civic identity, one which remained strong until the power of the Guild waned in the 18th century but which is still built into the fabric of the city today.

Dragons in the modern world
Snap is still well-known and (after a lengthy period of absence in the 19th century) is once more part of the Lord Mayors' procession. However, the municipal reform act of 1835 stripped the dragon of its civic importance. Today, people know of the existence of the dragon but not the heritage to which it refers. Norwich is undergoing major change during the first decades of the 21st century, with development, cultural and demographic change impacting upon local identities. As such the symbol of the Dragon is a perfect vehicle through which to promote awareness of the civic and standing heritage of Norwich.

This is particularly so because the dragon remains a powerful symbol which has lost none of its fascination in the 600 years since Dragon Hall was built. Dragon-like beings feature in the beliefs, myths and legends of many different cultures: American, Asian and European. They have also become symbols of global culture; seen in Disney's Mulan and Shrek, Harry Potter, Eregon and the video game hero 'Spyro the Dragon' to name but a few.

* The authors of this blog wish to thank Jan Pitman for his generosity in providing this information for this project