In his weekly column, Jeff Hoyle discusses the history behind a pub he has recently stayed in… Just across the road from the cathedral in Norwich, on the corner of Tombland is the Maids Head Hotel. If you linger outside for a minute before entering you may spot the blue plaque by the door which states that Matthew Shardlake stayed here in 1549. The hotel is certainly old enough, with evidence suggesting that the site was used for hospitality by Herbert de Losinga, the first Bishop of Norwich in 1094, though as far as I know, nothing remains of the building from this time. By 1287 it was the Mu…