Shirehall, Norwich

The Shirehall is a municipal facility in Market Avenue, Norwich, Norfolk. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Shirehall, Norwich
The Shirehall in 2008
LocationNorwich, Norfolk
Coordinates52.6286°N 1.2974°E / 52.6286; 1.2974
Built1823
ArchitectWilliam Wilkins
Architectural style(s)Tudor Revival style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated5 June 1972
Reference no.1372844
Location of Shirehall, Norwich in Norfolk

History

An early Shirehall was built on the site in around 1270 and rebuilt during the Elizabethan era.[2] The current Shirehall, which was designed by William Wilkins in the Tudor Revival style, was completed in 1823.[1] The design involved a symmetrical castellated main frontage with nine bays facing onto the Market Avenue; the central section, which projected slightly forward, featured an arched doorway, a triple window on the first floor and a shield above the window; there were polygon-shaped turrets at roof level.[1]

Important cases at the Shirehall included the trail and conviction of James Bloomfield Rush for the murders of Isaac Jermy and his son, Isaac Jermy Jermy, at Stanfield Hall in April 1849.[3][4][5]

The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of Norfolk County Council.[6][7][8] An extension to the Shirehall, to the south of the main building and known as Shirehall Chambers, was built using Bath stone and opened in 1909.[9] The education department, and some other departments, moved to new premises at Thorpe Road in Norwich in 1929.[10] After the county council moved to County Hall in 1968,[11] the building continued to be used as a Crown Court until the new Courts Complex in Bishopgate was completed in 1988.[2]

The building became the Regimental Museum of the Royal Norfolk Regiment in 1990.[12] Although archives and the reserve collections continued to be held in the Shirehall, the principal museum display there closed in September 2011, and relocated to the main Norwich Castle Museum, reopening fully in 2013.[12] Meanwhile, the courtroom in the Shirehall was refurbished and re-opened to the public in September 2013.[3]

The Norwich Castle Study Centre, which now occupies the Shirehall, contains a number of important collections, including an extensive collection of more than 20,000 costume and textile items, built up over a period of some 130 years, and previously kept in other Norwich museums. Although not a publicly open museum in the usual sense, items in the collections are accessible to the general public, students, researchers and others by prior appointment.[13]

References
  1. Historic England. "Shire House, Norwich (1372844)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  2. "The Shirehall". Norwich 360. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. "Norwich's historic Shirehall courtroom reopened to the public". Eastern Daily Press. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. "Murder at Stanfield Hall". National Centre for Writing. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. "The Stanfield Hall Assassinations: Authentic Report of the Trial, Conviction and Extraordinary Defence of James Bloomfield Rush". London: Cleve. 1849. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. "Local Government Act 1888". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  7. "History of Norfolk County Council". Norfolk County Archives. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  8. "Last meeting of the Norfolk magistrates held at the Shirehall, Norwich, for the discharge of the general business of the county". Norfolk Chronicle. 3 January 1889. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  9. Historic England. "Shirehall Chambers (1219034)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  10. "Norwich, Thorpe Road, Norfolk County Council Education Offices". National Archives. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  11. "Queen opens new County Hall". Anglia Television. 1968. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  12. "Royal Norfolk Museum Moves to Norwich Castle". BBC Norfolk News. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  13. Norwich Castle Study Centre Archived 20 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine
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