NHER 657 (Building record) - The Guildhall, Guildhall Hill

Guildhall of St George's Company. Built 1407-13 on site of old tollbooth of which crypt survives.
R. R. Clarke (NCM) 1938.

14th century undercroft survives under 15th century Guildhall.
R. R. Clarke (NCM).

February 1954. Listed, Grade II.
Former Guildhall, now magistrates court.
15th century onwards with major additions in 1861 by Thomas Barry. Flint with stone and brick dressings. Low-pitch lead covered roofs. South façade: two and three storeys. Six bays with the right-hand two bays recessed and dropped. 19th century two-storeyed additions across four-and-a-half bays with central entrance. (Porch is reworking of 17th century porch).
Information from (S1).

Undercroft beneath of side compartments of quadrapartite vaulting, with single order ribs springing from two central piers. The pattern of the vaulting shows the entry was centrally placed in the east wall, with direct access to the pavement. Island site.
R. Smith.

The undercroft is discussed in reference (S2).
See file for further details.

March 1997. Descheduled.
This building has been descheduled but remains protected as a Listed Building (S1).
Information from (S10).
H. Mellor (HES), 6 June 2018.

November - December 2002. NAU watching brief during repair work. From context 10.
Work by contractors to repair buttresses included removing parts of the flint facing, exposing loose post medieval brickwork.
See (S2) for further details.
See also (S8).
J. Allen (NLA), March 2003 and T. Sunley (NLA), 7 November 2007.

The building retains rosettes for tram wires.
See (S3).
E. Rose (NLA) 24 June 2003.

See press cuttings (S4) in file.
T. Sunley (NLA) 7 November 2007.

2008. Norwich HEART (S5, S6).
England's largest and most elaborate provincial medieval city hall. Norwich Guildhall was the centre of city government from the early 15th century until its replacement by City Hall in 1938. The exterior provides an excellent example of the flint work that the city of Norwich is so famous for. The Assembly Chamber (or Sheriff's Court) was designed for meetings of the full medieval Council. It now contains a virtually intact late Victorian courtroom.
D. Gurney (NLA) 27 January 2009.

October 2009.
£43,000 has been spent to preserve and promote the Guildhall. The building has 11 different floor levels. The original parts of the Guildhall were erected between 1407 and 1424, while a lot of the interior dates from the Georgian period. There was also a significant refit in 1911. As part of the restoration work, carved stone angels have been stripped of paint and the Oak Room at the top of the building has been repaired and reopened for use by volunteers and staff.
See (S7) for further details.
H. White (NLA), 5 October 2009.

Work to restore and uncover an historic mosaic floor in Norwich Guildhall has been completed, leaving it on display for visitors to the building. The mosaic has been hidden from view in the ground floor Guildhall lobby under carpet tiles since the 1980s. The mosaic depicts the City Arms, the castle and lion on a red circle with a laurel wreath around it, set on a white background with a coloured striped border. It was created at the turn of the last century by Italian mosaic artists, economic migrants to the city who lived in the Ber Street area. They also made mosaics which can be seen in Norwich Castle, Shirehall, Norwich University College of the Arts, City of Norwich School as well as some city shops. The restoration was financed by contributions from Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART), Caleys Cocoa Café (both of which are housed in the Guildhall) and the Norwich Society, with the support of Norwich City Council which owns the building.
See (S9).
S. Howard (HES), 15 November 2011.