The Royal Arcade is a

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

shopping arcade An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians; they include many loggias, but here arches are not an esse ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

's city centre which runs from

Norwich Market Norwich Market (also known as Norwich Provision Market) is an Market square, outdoor market consisting of around 200 market stall, stalls in central Norwich, England. Founded in the latter part of the 11th century to supply Normans, N ...

on its west side to the Back of the Inns. The architect of the Arcade was

George Skipper George John Skipper (6 August 1856 – 1 August 1948) was a leading Norwich-based architect of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Writer and poet, John Betjeman said of him "he is altogether remarkable and original. He was to Norwic ...

, the designer was

William James Neatby William James Neatby (24 May 1860 – 20 April 1910), often W. J. Neatby, was an English architect, designer and artist. He is best known for his designs of architectural ceramics and was Doulton and Co.'s chief ceramic designer. His standout wor ...

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

, and it was built in 1899 on the site of the former Royal Hotel and Angel inn.

Architecture

The white surfaces of the arcade are largely made from Carrara Ware ceramics from Royal Doulton. Above the east entrance of the arcade, on the site of a former inn named the Angel, sits Parson Woodforde's Angel, an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style depiction of an angel also sculpted from Doulton's Carrara marble. The Angel is named after

James Woodforde James Woodforde (27 June 1740 – 1 January 1803) was an English clergyman, mainly in Somerset and Norfolk, remembered as the author of ''The Diary of a Country Parson''. This vivid account of parish life remained unpublished until the 20th cen ...

who, in his diaries in 1775, described Norwich as "the finest City in England by far". Woodforde, when he travelled to London, set off from Norwich from the Angel, and often took coffee or supped at the inn also.

References

{{Reflist Shopping arcades in England Buildings and structures in Norwich Grade II* listed buildings in Norfolk 19th-century establishments in England Art Nouveau architecture in England George Skipper buildings