Under the freemen’s governance, Norwich grew to become England’s second city after London for 200 years – 1525 to 1725.

Anybody who wished to trade freely in medieval Norwich had to become a freeman.

The freemen paid to build the city walls in the early 14th century. The idea was to defend the city from attack, but it was much more useful for collecting tolls.

From the early 15th century, the freemen governed Norwich in relative harmony for 250 years – in marked contrast to other large rival towns in England such as Bristol, York and Newcastle.