The Royal Arcade is a grade II* listed

shopping arcade A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

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 ...

's city centre which runs from Norwich Market on its west side to the Back of the Inns. It was architected by

George Skipper George John Skipper (1856–1948) 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 Norwich what Gaudi was to Ba ...

, designed by

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 wo ...

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

James Woodforde James Woodforde (1740–1803) 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 This vivid account of parish life remained unpublished until the 20th century. Early life Ja ...

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