The Heartsease is a

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

located in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and takes its name from the heartsease, a common

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an wild flower.

Location

The estate is approximately north-east of the city centre and is bounded by Heartsease Lane to the west, Woodside Road to the east, Plumstead Road B1140 and Salhouse Road form the southern and northern boundaries respectively.

History

Heartsease estate was originally agricultural land close to

Mousehold Heath Mousehold Heath is a freely accessible area of heathland and woodland which lies to the north-east of the Middle Ages, medieval city boundary of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. The name also refers to the much larger area of open ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century it was used by the Norfolk Regiment as a drill ground. In October, 1914 it was taken over by the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

to become RAF Mousehold Heath. By 1933, it became the first

Norwich Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Norfolk, England, north of the city of Norwich. In 2023, Norwich Airport was the 25th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in East Anglia. Norwich Airport has a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA ...

, however by WW2 it had fallen into disuse. Several local companies manufacturing

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

were based at the aerodrome including Boulton and Paul. Work began building the estate after WW2 and was completed by the mid-1950s. Much of the housing is terraced, mixed with two-storey blocks of flats and maisonettes. With the addition of three tower blocks built in the 1960s and some infilling in the subsequent years.

St Francis church

The church is dedicated to St Francis of Assisi and was designed by J P Chaplin and opened in 1957. Located in the centre of the estate at Rider Haggard Road, the church frontage is adorned with a bronze sculpture depicting St Francis.

Schools

Heartsease High School was part of the original design for the estate and was later replaced by the Open Academy which relocated to new buildings in September 2010 at the cost of £21 million.

Amenities

Amenities on the estate included shopping parades, two churches, schools, pub (closed) Evening News item-Canary pub closure
Retrieved 27 March 2013 and essential services.

Notable people

* Stuart Ashen, comedian, reviewer of mostly low-quality products, writer, actor, animator and internet personality.

References

{{Coord, 52.643, 1.334, display=title Areas of Norwich Buildings and structures in Norwich Housing estates in England