Friars Quay (Norwich) the River Wensum itself. The immediate history however relates to the use of the site as a timber yard until it was made available for development. Jewsons Timber Yard was established by John Wilson Jewson who shipped in timbers by wherries from Great Yarmouth. In 1868 George Jewson purchased a 17th-century house in Colegate which was used as the headquarters of the business. His son Richard (1867 to 1949) established Jewsons as the largest timber merchants between the Thames and the Humber. Richard became Lord Mayor of Norwich in 1917. The land was purchased by Norwich City Council in 1970.
Norwich Over the Water area north of the river gradually became known as Norwich Over the Water. During the Tudor period, the name "Norwich Over the Water" was used in records used for the calculation of taxes and other official documents. The area continued to be known as Norwich Over the Water until the expansion of the city past Magpie Road and Bull Close Road in the nineteenth century. After that, with outlying areas becoming part of the city, Norwich Over the Water gradually became part of the city centre. In 1832, electoral reforms finally ended over 500 years of the name's official usage.