Norwich Castle celebrates opening of stunning new entrance as the first phase of the Royal Palace Reborn project is completed
- Stunning new entrance opened to the public on Monday 22 July
- Spectacular views of the east wall of the Keep – hidden for decades – now opened up for visitors to enjoy
- Includes exciting new shop and 60-seat restaurant
- Plus a state-of-the-art new education room for school groups and learning activities
- Completes the first phase of the Norwich Castle: Royal Palace Reborn project
On Monday 22 July the Norwich Castle: Royal Palace Reborn project reached an important milestone when the Castle opens its new entrance to visitors for the first time.
This marks the completion of the first phase of the £18m project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.
The entrance area has been transformed into a light-filled atrium beneath a glass roof providing views of the Keep and its entrance forebuilding, previously hidden to visitors. A brand-new shop and 60-seat restaurant will enhance our visitor offer while a new education room will offer a bigger space and much improved facilities for school groups and learning activities.
The new atrium, shop and restaurant to right Beth Moseley, © Norfolk Museums Service
This new welcoming entrance adapts the existing 1960s block known as The Percival while incorporating elements of the Victorian fabric designed by architect, Edward Boardman, when the Castle site was first transformed from county prison into a museum in the late 19th century. It follows on from the successful completion of new toilet facilities, including a Changing Places facility, which opened last year.
The old entrance and ticket desk. David Kirkham, © Norfolk Museums Service
The new entrance has been designed by architects Feilden + Mawson, experts in the restoration and adaptation of historic buildings, who have worked on many projects in the city and region, including Norwich Cathedral, UEA, Friar’s Quay, Feilden House (the home of Feilden+Mawson), St. James Quay, Royal Norwich Golf Club, Norwich Research Park, Lotus, the Mo Sheringham. Construction has been undertaken by Morgan Sindall Construction.
Robyn Llewellyn, Area Director, Midlands and East at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “It’s fantastic to see the first phase of Norwich Castle’s re-development reach this important milestone. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to support this project with a grant of £13 million, ensuring that Norwich Castle will continue to delight and inspire visitors for generations to come.”
Cllr. Kay Mason Billig, Leader of Norfolk County Council, says: “This is an important milestone in the Norwich Castle: Royal Palace Reborn project. The new entrance is not only a beautiful space which lifts the spirits as soon as you enter but is also a crucial upgrade to our facilities as we prepare to welcome more visitors than ever before in the Castle’s history. It will play an important role in our ambition to establish Norwich Castle as a must-visit destination regionally, nationally and internationally.”
Cllr. Margaret Dewsbury, Cabinet Member for Communities, Norfolk County Council, says: “The new entrance and associated facilities will help generate more revenue for Norwich Castle and our Museums Service, while also meeting the needs of local communities. The new Education Room provides more space and up-to-date equipment which will benefit the 30,000 Norfolk children we expect to welcome each year once the Keep reopens.”
Feilden + Mawson, architects, say: “Feilden+Mawson have taken great pleasure in working on this very special and important project alongside Norfolk Museums Service, Morgan Sindall and a great many other contributors and collaborators. It has been a great deal of hard work, but this milestone in which we provide fantastic new visitor facilities is an exciting one as we look forward to concluding works to the Keep when full public access can once again be granted – giving them an experience which has not been possible for several hundred years.”
Alister Broadberry, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in the Eastern Counties, said: “It’s been a privilege to work on the Norwich Castle re-development, a one-of-a-kind project that will safeguard and revitalise a vital part of the local community and of our national heritage. The historic nature of the building means we’ve frequently faced unique scenarios, as the castle’s secrets have been rediscovered after years – if not centuries – of being hidden away. By taking an agile and collaborative approach, working alongside Norfolk County Council, Feilden + Mawson and Conisbee, we’ve been able to respectfully preserve the castle’s past while creating a facility fit for the 21st century.”
Improving the visitor experience
Anyone who has visited Norwich Castle in the last 40 years may remember that a low-ceilinged corridor led visitors from the main entrance into the central Rotunda, blocking the view of the east wall of the Norman Keep, including the Bigod Tower – the forebuilding or original Norman entrance into the Keep. After buying a ticket, the Keep – that ‘square box on the hill’ so visible from the outside – was largely hidden from view within the museum, to the confusion of many of our visitors.
The old shop and low ceilinged corridor David Kirkham, © Norfolk Museums Service
The Royal Palace Reborn project has addressed this issue, opening up the entrance area to create a more spacious and welcoming atmosphere, while upgrading facilities to make the museum fit for our 21st century visitors.
The most obvious change is the installation of a glass roof which opens up the view to the Keep’s impressive east façade. Visitors will also notice that construction is underway of a new glass bridge which will offer step free access into the recreated Norman room settings of the Keep, once building work is completed.
View through the glass roof showing the Norman forebuilding or Bigod Tower Beth Moseley, © Norfolk Museums Service
A priority for the project is being able to accommodate more school groups when the Keep reopens. To achieve this, a new education room has been designed and fitted out with generous grants from The Norwich Freemen’s Charity and the Educational Foundation of Alderman John Norman.
The new facilities also include a more spacious open plan shop featuring a wide range of carefully curated gifts, many of which feature items from Norwich Castle’s collections. Our retail team has worked with curators to commission bespoke items featuring Norwich Shawls, Lowestoft Porcelain, Taylor’s Seeds, Norfolk’s magnificent archaeology and the natural history of North Norfolk’s Deep History Coast. Also new for 2024 is a range of merchandise featuring the Castle’s award-winning brand identity created by Norwich-based design studio The Click.
Located on the first floor of the atrium the Castle Restaurant features a glass balcony offering visitors a stunning view of the Keep as they dine. With a state-of-the-art kitchen, the restaurant is able to offer a wider range of hot and cold meals and snacks than the old Rotunda café – though the famous Castle quiches will still be available! Our emphasis will be on using the best locally-sourced ingredients with much of the menu freshly made on site. Freely accessible to the public, whether visiting the museum or simply looking for a bite to eat, the Castle Restaurant offers a unique dining experience in the heart of the city.
Revealing new discoveries
Working within a very sensitive Grade 1 Listed building on top of a Scheduled Ancient Monument has inevitably thrown up challenges along the way. Norwich Castle has been in occupation for 900 years, with many changes from previous centuries not always documented. Throughout the redevelopment the building has continued to reveal its secrets and sensitivities.
These discoveries have provided fascinating new information about the Castle’s history but have also necessitated delays to the building timetable to allow proper assessment and conservation. Some discoveries have required the team to change the proposed designs to ensure these previously unrecorded features are carefully preserved for the future.
Recent examples of discoveries include:
- Prison-era architectural remains discovered below the floor of the Victorian entrance requiring extensive excavation and the relocation of the four steel piles which take the weight of the first-floor offices above. These historic features were not recorded in the plans made during the Victorian redevelopment of the site into a museum, nor were they picked up by the ground-penetrating radar which was employed prior to the start of construction works. Oxford Archaeology helped identify various features including the staircase down to the basement of the treadmill house where some of the prisoners were sent to work. Other unexpected discoveries included openings and features in prison walls, remains of wells, heating systems and drainage.
- A prison-era opening with original iron grille still in place discovered during building works next to the Percival Wing. This had been hidden behind a single layer of bricks during the conversation of the Castle into a museum. This meant that plans relating to the location of the steels in this area, designed to support the floor above, had to be modified by our structural engineers and architects. Having carefully recorded the grille for the museum archives, we were then able to preserve the grille and brick it back in. This is just one example of how the architect overseeing the conversion, Edward Boardman, ‘camouflaged’ features from earlier in the building’s history which are only now coming to light.
- The jamb of a Norman opening or niche hidden behind Victorian stonework in the spine wall of the Keep at the Mezzanine level in the Great Hall. This was discovered in the process of creating a new doorway which will provide level access to the mezzanine from the new lift and staircase. The presence of the Norman stonework suggests that the original spine wall may have been decorated with blind arcading similar to the external walls of the Keep. We are working with the conservation officer and architects to find a solution which will give us the width of doorway we need for access, while preserving as much of the Norman masonry as possible.
In each case, the construction, design and curatorial teams, working with statutory bodies such as Historic England and conservation and planning, have taken the time necessary to ensure that any changes to the planned works minimise the impact on the historic fabric of this medieval structure as much as possible. This is a once-in-a-lifetime project and we have to ensure that we are treating this unique building with the care and respect it deserves so the finished development and interpretation does full justice to one of the most spectacular palaces in medieval Europe.
The next phase
Once completed, Norwich Castle will be a true ‘People’s Palace’, and the most accessible castle in the UK, with visitors able to access every floor for the first time ever – from basement to rooftop battlements. A partnership with the British Museum will create a spectacular medieval gallery, showcasing over 1,000 medieval artefacts and treasures.The accurately recreated Norman room spaces, complete with painstakingly researched furniture and furnishings will allow visitors to explore what life was like in a Norman royal palace, while interactive and immersive AV experiences bring will medieval Norwich to life like never before.
Progress to realise this extraordinary project – the largest of its kind currently underway in the UK – continues to be made within the Keep itself. We are working with our project partners on finalising an opening schedule for the Keep which is planned for later in 2024.
