What to See in Norwich - Top Sights and Attractions

11th-century building and visitor centre. Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.

The cathedral was begun in 1096 and constructed out of flint and mortar and faced with a cream-coloured Caen limestone. An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings. The cathedral was completed in 1145 with the Norman tower still seen today topped with a wooden spire covered with lead. Episodes of damage necessitated rebuilding and the stone spire was erected in 1480. The bosses of Norwich Cathedral are one of the world's greatest mediaeval sculptural treasures that survived the iconoclasm of the Tudor and English Civil War periods.The bosses in the cloisters include hundreds that are carved and ornately painted.

Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters in England, only exceeded by those at Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at 315 ft (96 m), is the second-tallest in England (also second to Salisbury) despite being partly rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169, 23 months after its completion, which led to the building being set on fire. Measuring 461 ft (141 m) and 177 ft (54 m) wide at completion, Norwich Cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia. It once had the earliest astronomical clock in England.^[1]

Hilltop Norman Castle with exhibitions. Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of England. The castle was used as a gaol from 1220 to 1887. In 1894 the Norwich Museum moved to Norwich Castle. The museum & art gallery holds significant objects from the region, especially works of art, archaeological finds and natural history specimens.

The historic national importance of the Norwich Castle site was recognised in 1915 with its listing as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle buildings, including the keep, attached gothic style gatehouse and former prison wings, were given Grade I listed building status in 1954. The castle is one of the city's twelve heritage sites.^[2]

Tourist attraction in Norwich, United Kingdom. The Cow Tower is an artillery tower by the River Wensum in Norwich, Norfolk, England. Built between 1398 and 1399 by the city authorities in response to the threat from France and indigenous English rebels, the tower was intended to defend the north-eastern approach to Norwich with hand cannons and bombards. It stood apart from the main city walls, close to the river where its height would have allowed it to fire onto the higher ground opposite the city. The tower was designed to hold a garrison when required and was well furnished, probably using different floors for dining and sleeping.

It was maintained throughout the 15th century, and played a role in Kett's Rebellion of 1549, when the rebels attacked Norwich, deploying artillery and damaging the tower's parapets. Repairs to the tower's walls in the late 19th century inadvertently caused long-term damage, and in 1953 it was taken into the guardianship of the Ministry of Works, who stabilised its condition in a five-year conservation project. In the 21st century, Cow Tower is managed by English Heritage and Norwich City Council; the tower is now only a shell, however, as the floors and the roof of the building have been lost.

The circular tower is 11.2 metres (37 ft) across, 14.6 metres (48 ft) high and divided into three storeys. Its walls are 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) thick at the base, with a core of flint stone, faced on the inside and outside with brick; the archaeologist T. P. Smith considers it to feature some "of the finest medieval brickwork" in England. The walls have gunports for the smaller pieces of artillery and the roof would have supported the heavier bombards, with wide embrasures giving the weapons adequate firing space. The Cow Tower was specially designed to support the use of gunpowder artillery, making it a very rare structure in England for this period: the only close equivalents are God's House Tower in Southampton, and the West Gate at Canterbury.^[5]

Market in Norwich, England. Norwich Market is an outdoor market consisting of around 200 stalls in central Norwich, England. Founded in the latter part of the 11th century to supply Norman merchants and settlers moving to the area following the Norman conquest of England, it replaced an earlier market a short distance away. It has been in operation on the present site for over 900 years.

By the 14th century, Norwich was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in England, and Norwich Market was a major trading hub. Control of, and income from, the market was ceded by the monarchy to the city of Norwich in 1341, from which time it provided a significant source of income for the local council. Freed from royal control, the market was reorganised to benefit the city as much as possible. Norwich and the surrounding region were devastated by plague and famine in the latter half of the 14th century, with the population falling by over 50%. Following the plague years, Norwich came under the control of local merchants and the economy was rebuilt. In the early 15th century, a Guildhall was built next to the market to serve as a centre for local government and law enforcement. The largest surviving mediaeval civic building in Britain outside London, it remained the seat of local government until 1938 and in use as a law court until 1985.

In the Georgian era, Norwich became an increasingly popular destination with travellers and developed into a fashionable shopping town. Buildings around the market were developed into luxury shops and coaching inns. The eastern side of the market was particularly fashionable and became known as Gentleman's Walk. The area around the market had become very congested by the 19th century, but the council was unable to raise funds for improvement and few alterations were made. Because many of the market's stalls were privately owned, the council was unable to rearrange the market into a more rational layout.

Following the First World War, the local authority began to systematically buy up all the stalls on the market, eventually bringing the entire market into public ownership. It was radically redesigned in the 1930s: stalls were arranged into parallel rows and a new City Hall was built along the entire western side of the marketplace to replace the by then inadequate Guildhall. This new arrangement survived with few significant changes for the rest of the 20th century. By the 1990s, the market was becoming decrepit and, in 2003, proposals were made for another radical rebuilding of the area. These proposals were extremely controversial and were abandoned in 2004 in favour of a scheme which retained the parallel rows of stalls, but replaced the old stalls with steel units of four stalls each. The rebuilt market was completed in early 2006 and is one of the largest markets in Britain.^[6]

Compound building in Norwich, England. The Forum is a community building in Norwich, Norfolk in England. It stands opposite St Peter Mancroft Church. Built on the site of the previous Norwich Library which burnt down in 1994, the Forum was designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners, and built as a millennium project for the East of England, being finished in October 2001. The Forum is part of Norwich 12, a collection of notable buildings in Norwich spanning the Norman, medieval, Georgian, Victorian and modern eras. It is visited by more than 2.5 million people every year.

The majority of the public area of the building is occupied by the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium (NML) library, which spans across all three floors and has been regularly named as the most popular library in the UK. The building is also home to the local Tourist Information Centre, and the BBC East offices and studios, where the regional television news bulletin BBC Look East and local radio station BBC Radio Norfolk are based. An open mezzanine looks out across the floor and the glass front of the building, and currently houses a Pizza Express restaurant. The amphitheatre-like steps at the front have provided a venue for functions such as amateur theatrical performances, outdoor opera, musical competitions, art exhibitions, processions, and celebrations. Because the Forum is funded partly by lottery grants, they hold certain events which are free of charge for people to attend. The Forum is commonly used as a meeting place, and the plaza area attracts skateboarders and free runners.^[9]

Park in Norwich, England. Waterloo Park is a Grade II* listed public park in Norwich, Norfolk. It forms one of a set of public parks established in Norwich in the 1930s by Captain Arnold Sandys-Winsch that were built by unemployed men using government funding. The original park, known as the Catton Recreation Ground, was opened in May 1904. When the redesigned park was opened in 1933, it was considered to be the finest in East Anglia, with a pavilion in the style of Moderne architecture, a bandstand, sports facilities, gardens and a children's playground. The herbaceous border is one of the longest in the United Kingdom located within a public space.

The layout of Waterloo Park has remained largely unaltered since the 1930s, although changes have since been made to the original children's garden, the bowling greens and most of the grass tennis courts. Following years of relative neglect, the park's main buildings were restored in 2000, and the long-closed pavilion was reopened as a café in 2017; after being forced to close three years later, it reopened in November 2021. The park is maintained by Norwich City Council. In 2021, the park was awarded Green Flag status.^[11]

Historical landmark in Norwich, England. Norwich War Memorial is a First World War memorial in Norwich in Eastern England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the last of his eight cenotaphs to be erected in England. Prior to Lutyens' involvement, several abandoned proposals had been made for commemorating Norwich's war dead, and by 1926 the newly elected lord mayor was determined to see the construction of a memorial before he left office. He established an appeal to raise funds for local hospitals in memory of the dead as well as a physical monument. He commissioned Lutyens, who designed an empty tomb atop a low screen wall from which protrudes a Stone of Remembrance. Bronze flambeaux at either end can burn gas to emit a flame. Lutyens also designed a roll of honour, on which the names of the city's dead are listed, which was installed in Norwich Castle in 1931.

A local disabled veteran unveiled the memorial on 9 October 1927. It was moved from its original location to become the centrepiece of a memorial garden between the market and the City Hall in 1938. The structure on which the garden is built was found to be unstable in 2004 and the memorial was closed off pending repairs which began in 2008. The work was completed in 2011, during which time the memorial was restored, having fallen into disrepair while it was closed off, and rotated to face the city hall rather than the market place. It was rededicated on Armistice Day 2011 and is today a grade II* listed building. In 2015, it became part of a "national collection" of Lutyens' war memorials.^[14]

Theatre in Norwich, England. The Theatre Royal is an art-deco theatre in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It celebrated its 250th anniversary on the 31st of January 2008 and is one of the country's oldest established theatres. Many well known acts have played here over the years, including Debbie McGee, Ching Lau Lauro, William Charles Macready, Charles Kean, Tom Thumb and his spouse, Paganini, Donald Sinden, Bernard Cribbins and The Bolshoi Ballet.

It hosts a large range of touring productions. The theatre had a £10m refurbishment in 2007, designed by Tim Foster Architects.

In 2015, plans were launched for the new £15m Stage Two building under the direction of the then CEO Peter Wilson MBE. The new building was to house one of europe's most technically advanced arts education facilities, and a new 200 seat auditorium.

In 2016, it was announced that Peter was to depart the Theatre Royal, after 25 years at the helm. It was later announced that the new auditorium would be named the Peter Wilson Studio.

In mid 2016, Stephen Crocker, a former deputy CEO of The Lowry theatre was announced as the new Chief Executive.

In 2019, Norwich Theatre Royal was rebranded to become the Norwich Theatre group alongside Norwich Playhouse.^[16]

Event venue in Norwich, England. Dragon Hall is a Grade-1 listed medieval merchant's trading hall located in King Street, Norwich, Norfolk, close to the River Wensum, and since 2018 home to the National Centre for Writing. It is thought to be unique in being the only such trading hall in Northern Europe to be owned by one man. The building stands on what was the main road through the city in the 15th century, with river transport links via Great Yarmouth to the Low Countries. Dragon Hall is now acknowledged as one of Norwich's medieval architectural gems and an iconic building in the city.

The Great Hall on the first floor was built in the 15th century, but some parts of the site are older. Archaeological research shows evidence of an Anglo-Saxon hut c.1000 beneath the Hall. On the northern part of the site, in the late 13th century, the abbey at Woburn, Bedfordshire, had a fish processing operation with various outbuildings and a track to a staithe or quay. There was also a boundary wall with a large brick arch to give access to King Street. In about 1330 an L-shaped domestic 'hall house' owned by John Page was built on the southern part of the site with an undercroft and an entrance on the south side from Old Barge Yard.

In about 1427 Robert Toppes, a Norwich merchant, re-developed the site as a commercial complex. He built his first floor trading hall on top of part of the 14th century domestic hall house and on top of the existing boundary wall and brick arch. He retained the 14th century entrance to the hall house for his customers. From the entrance passage his customers went up a new staircase to the first floor trading hall. This was a timber construction of seven bays with a crown post roof, decorated with carvings in the spandrels of 14 dragons. The hall was constructed with English oak, using some 1,000 trees. At the rear of the building he created a yard space with access to the river for his imports and exports, a warehouse area under the hall and a new stairway down to the extended undercroft from the yard. Part of the hall house was retained as a ground floor reception area.^[22]

Auditorium in Norwich, England. The Norwich Puppet Theatre is a nationally unique venue dedicated to puppetry housed in the medieval church of Saint James the Less a Grade 1 listed building, in the city of Norwich, England.

It currently houses a 165-seat raked auditorium, a 50-seat studio, workshops, an exhibition gallery, a shop and a licensed bar. It is the only theatre in the eastern region of the UK which has a year-round programme of family-centred entertainment. It plays host to a variety of touring companies from the UK and overseas, and provides regular educational workshops for children and adults, as well as training opportunities for theatre practitioners.

The theatre continues to be supported by Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council along with contributions from foundations including: Garfield Weston Foundation, Geoffrey Watling, Norwich Town Close Estate and the John Jarrold Trust.^[26]

Nature preserve in Norwich, England. Mousehold Heath is a freely accessible area of heathland and woodland which lies to the north-east of the medieval city boundary of Norwich, in eastern England.

The name also refers to the much larger area of open heath that once extended from Norwich almost to the Broads, and which was kept free of trees by both human activity and the action of animals grazing on saplings. This landscape was transformed by enclosure during the nineteenth century and has now largely disappeared, as almost all of it has since been converted into farmland or landscaped parks, reverted to woodland, or has been absorbed by the rapid expansion of Norwich and its surrounding villages, where new roads, shops, houses and industrial units have been built. The present Mousehold Heath consists of mostly broad-leaf woodland, with isolated areas of heath that are actively managed. It is home to a number of rare insects, birds and other vertebrates.

A chapel dedicated to William of Norwich (a local child who was murdered in 1144) was erected on the heath, of which little remains today. In 1549, Robert Kett camped on the heath with his followers, days before their uprising was suppressed by the authorities. The heath was in the past used by the local population to collect fuel, food and housing materials, as well as to extract sand, clay and gravel. Parts of it have previously been used as a cavalry training ground, a race course, a United States Army Air Forces base, an aerodrome and a prisoner-of-war camp. Nowadays the last remnant of the original Mousehold Heath, managed by Norwich City Council, is surrounded on all sides by housing and light industry.^[33]