16th Norwich Sea Scouts History from 1925 to the present day 

According to the records held by the Scout Association Archive Department at Gilwell Park, the Group's history is as follow: -

16th Norwich (St Peter's Wesleyan Church) - 1925 ~ 1935 ish

The group was originally registered on 25th May 1925 under the name of "16th Norwich (St Peter's Wesleyan Church)". St Peters Wesleyan's Church (also known as St Peters Wesleyan Chapel) was founded in 1824 and followed the religous societies founded by John Wesley and his preachers, the chapel was located on Lady Lane, (which was also known as Esperanto Way) in the centre of Norwich.

Lady Lane is no longer present in Norwich, it is said that the whole area was obliterated between the 1930s — when the City Hall was built — and the 1960s when the Central Library opened, and now the area is better known as Millennium Plain — where the Norwich Forum is located.

 
Lady Lane, looking towards the City Hall & Bethel Street  c1950

St Peters Wesleyan Chapel

16th Norwich (St. Michael at Thorne) 1935 ~ 1938 ish

The 16th Norwich moved from St Peter Wasleyan's at some time after 3rd May 1932 where they were then re-registered as "16th Norwich (St Michael at Thorne)" on 28th Nov 1935. St Michael at Thorne which was a church which was located on the corner of Thorn Lane / Ber Street in the centre of Norwich, however the stay at St Michaels was rather brief and lasted less than 3 years where the group then moved again.

St Michael at Thorne was badly bombed during World War II and was the most central of the Norwich Churches to be lost in the blitz of January 1942, the Church was in use upto 1940 however there is no trace of it today and the site is now that of the EDP's rear carpark.  Further details about St Michael at Thorne can be found at the Norfolk Churches Website.

16th Norwich (St. Lukes) - 1938 ~ 1939 ish

The group was registered as "16th Norwich (St. Lukes)" on 27th June 1938 and moved further away from its roots outside of the City to "St. Lukes Mission, Philidelphia Street" (which is near Constitution Hill in Norwich), however this wasn't to last long. With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, it is suspected that the group would have ended at this point.

16th Norwich (Costessey) - 1952 ~ Present Day 

After the War, the group was registered as "16th Norwich (Costessey)" on 16th July 1952. At the time of registration the group consisted of 3 "Scouters" (Leaders), these were

Cub Master: Mrs Angela Lince
Scout Master: William Maxwell Morgan
Assistant Scout Master: Michael Douglas

The numbers within the group at the time of registration were

Wolf Cubs: 18
Sea Scouts: 10

Group Timeline

If you have any old photos, memories or details about the group, we would be interested in hearing about them so we can update this page!