The Jenny Lind Play Ground for Children
As you arrive in Norwich from the south, the A11 turns into Newmarket Road and just before you reach the city centre you pass the site of the old Victorian hospital that closed in 2003. Its domed spires (or maybe spired domes) and dutch gabled front still stand today though much of the building was rebuilt as the hospital was converted to flats. A little way behind the flats and the housing that has replaced the rest of the hospital, is a green square that includes a playground for young children and some outdoor basketball courts. On the other side of the path this marble arch stands as an entrance to a small open grass field. The playground, courts and field form Jenny Lind Park.
The name 'Jenny Lind' will also be familiar to many parents whose children have needed medical attention in or around Norwich since 1854. The Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children was the UK's second children's hospital after Great Ormond Street and, as you might guess, it owes its existence to its namesake. Jenny Lind was an opera singer dubbed the Swedish Nightingale partly because she came from Sweden and partly because she was very good at singing. She performed two concerts in Norwich during 1847 when she was at her peak as an artist. She was invited back in 1849 when she played two more performances in St. Andrews Hall. The profits from those performances were set aside for the children's infirmary.
Lind's popularity inspired dedications to her across the world including a Canadian island, a locomotive on the London to Brighton line and an Australian schooner. In Norwich the children's hospital, originally in Pottergate, and the park that I visited both bear her name to this day. Her talent attracted the attention of 'the greatest showman' P. T. Barnum who invited Lind to tour the U.S. Jenny Lind is played by the actress Rebecca Ferguson in the film 'The Greatest Showman'.
There are two plaques on the arch in the playground, one of which flatly contradicts two of my 'facts' in the previous paragraph. First, it says that the arch, just off Vauxhall Street, marks the 'original site of the infirmary for sick children' rather than Pottergate three quarters of a mile away. In the comments section of my last entry, maria-dp kindly brought the Norfolk County Council's photo archive to my attention and happily for me there are a couple of photos in there that explain the discrepancy.
The arch at its original site on Pottergate
Image courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information Service
The arch being transplanted to its new site just off Vauxhall Street
Image courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information Service
Many thanks to Norfolk County Council for their kind permission to include these images from their fascinating archive.
The present day Jenny Lind Hospital is part of the NNUH in Colney on the eastern edge of Norwich. Their History of the Jenny Lind page goes some way towards explaining the differing opening dates:
On 3rd April 1854 The Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children opened it’s doors for the first time.
...
By the end of the 19th century, the original Pottergate building had fallen into disrepair. Mr Jeremiah Colman donated land at Unthank Road and an appeal was launched to build a new Jenny Lind Hospital for Children. The rather grand building was opened in 1900 by The Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VII.
There is still a difference of a couple of years but I've probably spent long enough arguing with a plaque now. Another search of the Picture Norfolk image database turned up some photos that show just how grand the new building was.
Image courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information Service
Image courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information Service
Image courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information Service
The Unthank Road Jenny Lind suffered damage in the Norwich Blitz which was part of the Baedeker raids in 1942.
Image courtesy of Norfolk Library and Information Service
The hospital survived the damage but after the NHS was formed in 1948, its services were gradually transferred to the general hospital for greater efficiency until 1975 when the Jenny Lind became integrated into the wider Norfolk and Norwich hospital.
Many thanks to the present day Jenny Lind at the NNUH for the care and attention that they gave our daughter when she recently became ill. Thanks to their swift intervention she is on the road to recovery.
ARCHIVE IMAGES COURTESY OF NORFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL - ENJOY THOUSANDS OF IMAGES OF NORFOLK'S UNIQUE HISTORY AT www.picture.norfolk.gov.uk.
Each entry comes with a musical accompaniment crowbarred in at the end. Today its Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space by Spiritualized. All the selections to date are available as YouTube playlists.
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