The Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell (formerly The Bridewell and the Bridewell Museum) is a museum of the

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

of the city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

in England. Constructed in the 14th century, it was one of the grandest medieval residences in the city. Located next to St Andrew's Church, it is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Over its history, it has operated as a residence, a

house of correction The house of correction was a type of establishment built after the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law (1601), places where those who were "unwilling to work", including vagrants and beggars, were set to work. The building of houses of correctio ...

, and a factory.

Building

The original medieval building survives only in a fragmentary form, as an L-shaped range facing the alley by St Andrew's Church and constructed in three or more stages between the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It has two ranges of brick-vaulted

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...

s, which are the most extensive in Norwich.

History

The building was the home of the Appleyard family during the 14th and 15th centuries, including Bartholomew Appleyard and his son William. Both were city

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

s and William was the first

mayor of Norwich This is a list of mayors and the later lord mayors of the city of Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north ...

and served as

burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

ten times. In 1584, the premises was purchased and converted into the city's

, gaining its name as its Bridewell. In 1751, the Bridewell was badly damaged in a fire, damaging mostly its ground and first floor. It was sold in 1828 following the construction of a prison at St Giles Gate, and the building then became a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

. In 1923, it was purchased by Sir Henry Holmes, and donated to the city of Norwich. In the early 2010s, the museum underwent a major revamp costing £1.5 million. It was reopened in 2012 with 5,000 objects on display, including the last

Jacquard loom The Jacquard machine () is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Ja ...

to have woven cloth in Norwich, hats from

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

hat-maker Rumsey Wells, and a "history wall" mosaic created from over 9,000 photographs of Norwich that were submitted by the public. Following the restoration of the sculpture of Samson that had stood at Samson and Hercules House in Tombland, Norwich, since 1657, the Museum began a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign in 2018 to raise £15,000 to put the sculpture on display. The campaign, nicknamed Saving Samson, was successful, and the sculpture was displayed at the museum in April 2019 inside a custom environmentally controlled glass case.

References

External links

* * at Norfolk Museums {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Norwich Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk Norwich at the Bridewell 14th-century establishments in England

Building

History

See also

References

External links