Who financed the new Halls?

Who Financed the New Halls?

In this part of the website you will discover some of the famous names in Norwich Blackfriars' history, such as Sir Thomas Erpingham and the Paston family. You can also learn more about  who left money to Blackfriars in their wills.

Who was Sir Thomas Erpingham?

• Sir Thomas Erpingham (c.1355–1428), a celebrated soldier, administrator and diplomat, was the son of Sir John Erpingham of Erpingham and Wickmere, Norfolk, the head of an established East Anglian gentry family.
• In 1415 he joined the King Henry V’s expedition to France, serving as a banneret with a company of twenty men-at-arms and sixty archers, and played a prominent part in the campaign.
• Following the siege of Harfleur, Erpingham was one of the negotiators who secured the surrender of the town, while at Agincourt he was responsible for commanding the famous English archers.

[Close-up of Sir Thomas Erpingham, Erpingham Gate, Norwich Cathedral. Photographer: Christopher Bonfield]

• Sir Thomas Erpingham died on 27 June 1428. In his will he made extensive bequests of money and property to the religious houses and recluses of East Anglia and asked to be buried in Norwich Cathedral. He was a generous public benefactor, paying for the construction of the ‘Erpingham Gate’ at the entrance to the Cathedral precinct, as well as financing the west tower at Erpingham parish church.
• Sir Thomas also gave a new east window to the church of the Augustinian friars at Norwich depicting the coats of arms of leading East Anglian families that, like his, failed for lack of children.

Who were the Pastons?

• The beams for both the hammerbeam roof in the nave and the roof in the choir were a gift of the famous Norfolk family, the Pastons. They are perhaps best remembered today for a collection of remarkable letters, now known as the ‘Paston Letters’, which consist of the correspondence of members of the family, and others connected with them, between the years 1422 and 1509.
• The Pastons, who owned a town house in Norwich, worshipped at the church of St Peter Hungate, just across the road, and were neighbours of the black friars.

[The hammerbeam roof in the nave. Photographer: Christopher Bonfield]

• An original oak door survives in the south porch, and bears the arms of the Pastons and the cross of Mautby. Margaret Mautby married John Paston in about 1440.

[The arms of Paston and Mautby on the Paston door in the south porch. Photographer: Christopher Bonfield]