Norwich Guildhall

Norwich Guildhall is a municipal building on Gaol Hill in the city of Norwich, United Kingdom. It is a Grade I listed building.^[1]

Norwich Guildhall
The Guildhall
Location	Norwich, Norfolk
Coordinates	52°37′44″N 1°17′33″E / 52.6290°N 1.2924°E / 52.6290; 1.2924
Built	1413
Listed Building – Grade I
Location of Norwich Guildhall in Norfolk

History

 

The porch added to the south side of the building in 1861

The guildhall was commissioned after King Henry IV awarded a charter to the City of Norwich giving it autonomy from the county of Norfolk.^[2] The building, which was quickly established as the new civic meeting place, was built between 1407 and 1413.^[3] The roof of the Council Chamber collapsed in 1511 but restoration work did not begin until 1537.^[4]

The Christian martyr, Thomas Bilney, was held in the dungeon (now the undercroft) before being burnt at the stake in August 1531.^[5] The clock, by John Moore & Sons of Clerkenwell,^[6] was a gift from Henry Woodcock, the mayor, in April 1850^[7] and a large porch, designed by Thomas Barry, the City Surveyor, was added to the south side of the building in 1861.^[1]

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the guildhall and were shown the Council Chamber on 29 October 1938.^[8] The Council Chamber ceased to be the local seat of government later that day, when the King and Queen went on to open the new City Hall.^[5] In contrast, the Great Chamber was the judicial part of the building: it accommodated the quarter sessions and then the magistrates' courts and continued in that role until the new Law Courts in Bishopgate opened in the 1980s.^[9][10]

In summer 2008 the guildhall became one of the twelve historic Norwich buildings in the Norwich 12 initiative, a project to develop an integrated group of heritage attractions in Norwich.^[11][12] In July 2010 work began on the restoration and strengthening of the guildhall clock tower^[13][14] and, in 2014, the Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust took a 25-year lease on the building with a view to making it more accessible to the public.^[15]

See also

• Guildhall
• Guild

References

1. Historic England. "The Guildhall, Norwich (1187384)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
2. "Norwich Guildhall". Norwich 360. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
3. . Norwich 12. Archived from the original on 17 May 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
4. "The Guildhall". Medieval Stained Glass in Britain. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
5. "Norwich Guildhall". Norwich Heart Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
6. Pickford, Chris, ed. (1995). Turret Clocks: Lists of Clocks from Makers' Catalogues and Publicity Materials (2nd ed.). Wadhurst, E. Sussex: Antiquarian Horological Society. p. 38.
7. "East end of Guildhall, with 1850 clock tower". Recording Archive for Public Sculpture in Norfolk & Suffolk. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
8. "When King George VI came to visit Norwich". Norwich Evening News. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
9. . Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
10. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Wilson, Bill (1997). Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East. Yale University Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0300096071.
11. Ochyra, Helen (24 July 2009). "History by design". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
12. "Heritage Open Days - Get On The Trail Of The Norwich 12". Culture 24. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
13. "Norwich Guildhall to be restored". Evening News. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
14. . Norwich City Council. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
15. "New vision for Norwich's Guildhall as public gain greater access to iconic building". Eastern Daily Press. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2020.