The park in the 20th and 21st centuries
In the years after its foundation, Sewell Park tended to slumber on as the city council, particularly after 1919, concentrated much of its efforts on extending and developing the larger parks of Norwich. Under the expert direction of Captain Sandys-Winsch, Eaton Park, Waterloo Park, Heigham Park and Wensum Park were expanded as large public spaces and playing fields for the citizens of Norwich.
The city corporation did lay down bye-laws governing the use of Sewell Park. Amongst these, no beasts of draught or burden could be brought into the park, no farm animals grazed there, preaching was not allowed on pain of a £5 fine and no large balloons could be used as vehicles. Taking of birds’ eggs from nests on the park was frowned upon.
The Parks and Gardens Committee planned a drinking fountain, a water closet, urinal accommodation and a children’s shelter in 1912 ; Mr Cunningham, who lived on St Clement’s Hill, objected to the position of the proposed convenience and it was agreed that it be moved to a ‘more northerly position’.
In 1917 Ada Sewell donated a water fountain in memory of her aunt, Anna Sewell, and Ada’s sister, Edith, who had died in 1914. The inscription describes both Anna and Ada as “lovers of animals”. The fountain replaced a horse trough, built in 1908 outside the gates to the park.
Local residents have many memories of Sewell Park of the years that followed. Kathleen Bidewell was born at 24, Sewell Road. Now 91 years of age, she remembers the park mainly as a place where older people promenaded. She played with other children in the street in Sewell Road and on the North Walsham Road, as she still calls Constitution Hill. It was safe in those days, she recalls, there were very few cars, only the occasional horse - drawn vehicle to the joy of ever vigilant gardeners. Her greatest fun was to walk with her sisters down Massingham Road to catch the tram at the junction of Denmark Road and Silver Road into the city.
As war threatened in 1938 and 1939 the city council
began to make preparations by issuing gas masks and
Anderson Shelters and by constructing air raid
shelters. Shelters were built under Sewell Park and at
neighbouring schools .During the Baedeker raids in
April 1942, many of the nearby streets and houses were
bombed. George Cooper was the park keeper in Sewell
Park from 1938-1962. His son, Cliff Cooper, recalls how
his father was in sole charge of the park during those
years, and among his jobs, which he undertook
willingly, was to help people to get to the shelters in
the park during the Blitz. As well as taking care of
the park, George Cooper was an ARP warden and also took
nightshifts as a fire watcher on the roof of Norwich
Cathedral. Mr Cooper cut the grass with a push mower,
tended the shrubberies and the flower beds and managed
the huge holly hedge with shears. His son recalls that
his father loved Sewell Park and was determined to see
it at its loveliest and in pristine condition at all
seasons of the year.
Mick Smith, who lives in Lawson Road, remembers taking a tent up to the park for the day, camping out with his friends and playing cricket - when the sun shone. Margaret Grove, who lives on St.Clement’s Hill, remembers the park as a place where she and her girlfriends played and talked with the boys. Tommy Pye tells of playing football with jackets as goal posts – being the smallest boy, he was the one sent by the bigger boys to retrieve the ball from the undergrowth or the nearby road!
Up until the 1970’s the park remained one large, open space. However, concern grew about the problem of disease being spread by dogs. An experimental dog toilet was installed but, as Councillor Don Pratt remarked, the use of sand caused problems as children sometimes tried to play in it and cleaning it was very difficult. Eventually, in the 1980’s, as a result of pressure by Councillor Harry Watson, a children’s play area was established and sectioned off by hedges. The remaining areas of the park were left for the enjoyment of everyone, including dog owners. Harry Watson is commemorated with an oak tree in Sewell Park opposite De Caux Road.
Arthur Ward, fondly remembered by many, was Sewell Park’s last uniformed park keeper. After he retired, it was decided that the park should remain open at all times. The park has continued to change in the 21st century. The air raid shelters have been dismantled and filled in and more trees and shrubs planted. The Blyth Jex School is being renamed Sewell Park College this summer, enhancing further the significance of the park to our community.
The late Geoffrey Goreham lamented that New Catton was being swallowed up by creeping suburbia. The factors that contribute to the essential identity of any locality are complex. Certainly the people who live there, their diversity, the social networking of individuals, groups, clubs and societies are important. Its schools, buildings old and new, its streets, houses, and alleyways all play a part in shaping the character of an area as do its churches and its public houses. We would argue that Sewell Park, a jewel of a green, open space, fulfils a pivotal role in helping to define the identity of New Catton in Norwich.
