History of Heartsease Estate
In the Tudor period
In 1549 Robert Kett, rebelling against the Duke of Somerset, led a large group of men who camped for six weeks on the heath before the rebellion was suppressed.
Mousehold Heath was famously painted by a number of the Norwich school artists including John Crome and John Sell Cotman. In his autobiographical work Lavengro George Borrow records his meetings with gypsies on the heath. The Norwich born novelist, and one time Lord Mayor, R. H. Mottram was another artist who valued the open space of Mousehold Heath. He once described it as "the property of those who have the privilege of Norwich birth".
At one time the heath was riddled with pits which were the result of gravel extraction. It was also the site of numerous brick kilns and clay pits.
The heath was given to Norwich City Council (then known as the local corporation) to look after on behalf of the citizens of Norwich in 1880. This was officially recorded by Parliament in an agreement called the Mousehold Heath Confirmation Act. In 1884, Mousehold Heath Conservators, an independent governing body for the heath, was formed.
By the early 1900s, Mousehold Heath was open countryside with virtually no trees - a classic heathland landscape. The area was kept open by grazing animals and by local people collecting bedding and feed for livestock and fuel for the winter. As the way people lived changed, these traditions disappeared. This resulted in a gradual loss of open heath to scrub and woodland.
Today, Mousehold heath covers nearly 200 acres. It is now mostly pleasant woodland with a range of wildlife and is much appreciated by Norwich people as a public open space and 'country in the city'. It contains two football pitches, a pitch-and-putt course, Zaks Restaurant and a band stand where performances are given in the summer. There is a fine view of the city of Norwich and Norwich Cathedral from Brittania Road. The old Brittania Barracks are now the home to the Prison Officer's Association.
The original Rangers house has been bought for renovation and restoration and Gilman Road has been closed to traffic. When it snows, St James' Hill near the barracks becomes a mecca for sledging.
There is a wealth of wildlife on Mousehold Heath, including birds, lizards, butterflies, dragonflies and grey squirrels. As well as common woodland birds, there are green and greater-spotted woodpeckers and numerous jays. In early spring, mating frogs gather around the Vinegar Pond and on warm summer days lizards can often be seen. The Heath is very well used, and is particularly favoured by dog walkers.
In October 1914 an old cavalry training ground was taken over by the Royal Flying Corps and became Mousehold Heath Aerodrome. Amongst other units based here durinig WWI was No 3 Aircraft Acceptance Park, their task being to accept into service aircraft manufactured by several local companies. One of these companies, Boulton & Paul continued to manufacture aeroplanes and use the aerodrome until it moved to Wolverhampton in the 1930s. The Norfolk & Norwich Aero Club was formed at Mousehold in 1927 and in 1933 it became Norwich Airport. With the onset of WW2 the airfield fell into disuse. Some of the buildings associated with the airfield are still in existence on the Salhouse Road Industrial Estate. The whole area is now the Heartsease Housing Estate.
WW2 People's war
An archive of World World Two
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/86/a3335186.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/89/a3130589.shtml
The herb Heartsease will probably be better know to you by one of the following, Wild pansy, love lies bleeding, jack behind the garden gate, kiss me quick, field pansy to name just a few.
Heartsease (Viola tricolor) is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. It has been introduced into North America, where it has spread widely, and is known as the Johnny Jump Up (though this name is also applied to similar species such as the Yellow Pansy). It is the progenitor of the cultivated Pansy, and is therefore sometimes called Wild Pansy; before the cultivated Pansies were developed, "Pansy" was an alternative name for the wild form.Heartsease is a small plant of creeping habit, reaching at most 15cm in height, with flowers about 1.5 cm in diameter. It grows in short grassland on farms and wasteland, chiefly on acid or neutral soils. It is usually found in partial shade. It flowers from April to September. The flowers can be purple, blue, yellow or white. They are hermaphrodite and self-fertile, pollinated by bees.
As its name implies, Heartsease has a long history of use in herbalism. It has been recommended, among other uses, as a treatment for Epilepsy, asthma, skin diseases and eczema. It has expectorant properties, and so has been used in the treatment of chest complaints such as bronchitis and whooping cough. It is also a diuretic, leading to its use in treating rheumatism and cystitis.The flowers have also been used to make yellow, green and blue-green dyes, while the leaves can be used to make a chemical indicator.
Long before cultivated pansies were developed, Heartsease was associated with thought in the "language of flowers", often by its alternative name of pansy (from the French "pensée" - thought): hence Ophelia's often quoted line in Shakespeare's Hamet, "There's pansies, that's for thoughts". What Shakespeare had in mind was Heartsease, not a modern garden pansy.
Shakespeare makes a more direct reference to Heartsease in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Oberon sends Puck to gather a "little western flower" that "maidens" call Love-in-idleness". Oberon's account is that he diverted an arrow from Cupid's bow aimed at "a fair vestal, throned by the west" (supposedly Queen Elizabeth I) to fall upon the plant "before milk-white, now purple with love's wound". The "imperial vot'ress" passes on "fancy-free, destined never to fall in love." The juice of the heartsease now, claims Oberon, "on sleeping eyelids laid, Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees." Equipped with such powers, Oberon and Puck control the fates of various characters in the play to provide Shakespeare's essential dramatic and comic structure for the play.