Let him still proceed, and, leaving the High street, turn to the right, he will then see the Old Market plain, instead of crossing which, if he keep to the left, he will pass St. Peter’s Chapel.
Still bearing to the left, if he walk along the Beccles road, he will come to Rotterdam house, once a public house, bearing the sign of “the town of Rotterdam.”
If he has not been to the Church, he may get there from this point by a foot path across the fields; or, instead of going to the church, he may take the road opposite Rotterdam house, and either proceed straight forward to the Railway and the various works connected with it, or, vaulting a stile on his left, he may enter a pleasant foot path conducting him towards the town; this path will lead him over a rising ground, from which he may obtain a splendid prospect, (let him turn himself round and admire the views by land and sea!) and will then bring him out upon the turnpike road, nearly opposite the spot from which he started; he may now go in and read what we have further to say about the town.
As perhaps the visitor may wish to make a special pilgrimage to the church, his better plan will be to start off for that purpose from the upper part of the town, where, at the end of the pavement, he will find a lane which leads directly to the building he is in search of. As he walks along this lane he may notice on his right, another leading to the hills (i.e. to the common at the north of the town) which, having found, let him make a note of, and then proceed. After leaving the church he may return by the road, he will then have the piece of ground in which are the Basket Wells on his right, and the Infirmary opposite; he may then enter the High Street again by either of the streets which are before him.
LOWESTOFT AND THE ROMANS.
The Romans had a station in the neighbourhood of Lowestoft called Garianonum; its present name is Burgh Castle. Whilst there, it is probable that they frequented the coast at Lowestoft, as, from its situation, it afforded them a post of observation which they would not be likely to neglect. This probability is strengthened by the fact, that some years ago, a Roman urn containing bones, was found in a piece of ground now traversed by the Railway. It has been supposed that they obtained their knowledge of herrings from their connexion with this spot.
LOWESTOFT AND THE DANES.
The Danes are supposed to have given the town, and island on which the town is situated, a name. The tradition is briefly this:—Lothbroch of royal blood, when hawking on the coast of Denmark, was overtaken by a tempest and driven across the German Ocean, into the Yare, where he was taken and brought before Edmund, King of the East Angles. The King and Lothbroch were pleased each with the other, so much so, that the Dane continued an inmate of the king’s palace. He conceived a great relish for hunting, in which exercise he took lessons from Berno the king’s huntsman, and soon eclipsed his teacher in the chase. Berno, envious on account of his proficiency, secretly murdered him; his body was discovered by means of his Greyhound, which kept watch beside the body, and left it only when, urged by hunger, he occasionally visited the palace for food. The dog was followed, the body found; Berno was suspected, and being found guilty, was put on board Lothbroch’s boat, and committed to the mercy of the winds and waves. He was carried to Denmark, where he affirmed that Lothbroch had been murdered by Edmund, the king of the East Angles. The sons of Lothbroch came over to avenge their father’s death. Edmund was taken prisoner, was bound to a stake, and shot to death with arrows in the year 871, and with him expired the kingdom of the East Angles.
“After the death of Edmund” says Ives, “the Danes settled themselves in Lothingland, to which tract of land they are supposed to have given that name, in remembrance of their ancestor Lothbroch.” The town itself was anciently called Lothu Wistoft, which name may have been given to it as the town of Lothingland—the land of Lothbroch,—at any rate, the three names begin with an L, and that, in an etymological discussion, is something.