The city consisted mainly of Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Normans. In the year of the Norman Conquest, 1066, it was one of the largest in England, based mainly on the wool trade. The navigable river Wensum was very useful for exporting the goods to the sea. In the Middle Ages, the city's territory was bigger than that of London. Norwich has remained a major provincial capital in terms of industry, trade, and transportation.

The Norwich canary bird was first introduced into England by Flemish immigrants fleeing from Spanish persecution in the 1500s. They brought with them not only better and more diverse working skills in textiles, but also their pet canaries, which they began breeding very rapidly. Nowadays, the canary is the emblem of the city's football team, Norwich City F.C., nicknamed 'The Canaries'. Norwich has also long been associated with the manufacture of mustard. Colman's mustard factory was founded in 1814 and continues to operate from its factory at Carrow.

The University of East Anglia, situated at the outskirts of Norwich, was one of the New Universities established in 1963. UEA adopted the city's motto, "Do different!", and is especially well-known for its creative-writing program, which was established by Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson, and among its graduates are Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan. The university campus also proudly welcomes the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. The city also has an art college, the Norwich School of Art & Design, situated in the city center. In addition, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on the city's periphery at Colney was opened in 2001.