Walking around the medieval streets that still make up a large part of Norwich city centre, it is perhaps not surprising that the museum telling the stories of its people and its industries is tucked away in an alley, only a short walk from the main shopping centre.
From the outside there is not a lot to see, which is a real shame, since the casual visitor might not be tempted to step inside. But the entrance foyer itself is bright and inviting.
One side of the space is dominated by an impressive “history wall”, a mosaic of more than 9,000 pictures of Norwich landmarks submitted by local people using social media. The foyer also features an old fire pump and stationary steam engine from a local factory, which does not give an impression of the treasures inside.
It is only when visitors step into the museum proper that they begin to get a feel for what lies within.
Built around 1325 as a merchant’s house, the Bridewell has been a museum since 1925 but also spent time as a house of correction, leather warehouse and boot and shoe factory. The museum reopened last year following a £1.5m refurbishment.
This has seen the building restored and its social history collections redisplayed and given a broader context than before, with far more emphasis on the stories of Norwich people. The exhibition winds its way around a courtyard and extends over two floors and is quite simply crammed with objects.
The architecture of the building means that visitors takes a real journey through the history of Norwich. It feels like a Tardis at times but it is a shame that people have to walk some way into the displays before finding any proper introduction to what was once seen as the England’s second city.
An airy ground-floor room provides chronological context to the exhibitions through graphics and images while on a table in the middle of the space are a number of reproduction maps of the city that visitors can pore over. The story of Norwich and its people is told through a series of thematic and historic displays.
The earliest history of the city is dealt with downstairs. Bridewell’s role as a house of correction in 1385 provides sobering evidence of life then; the bread and water diet of inmates, who worked from 5am to 8pm, and the punishments inflicted on them, which are highlighted in a room dating from that period.
The story of Norwich and its trades provides some modern context to the effects immigrant communities can have on a place, as the influence of “strangers” from the Low Countries is explained.
Flemish weavers arriving in Norwich 400 years ago brought cage birds with them as pets, explaining why today the city’s football club is nicknamed the Canaries.
Along with more conventional showcases, the museum uses a number of striking reconstructions to showcase collections. A 1920s pharmacy is simply stunning, containing more than 2,500 objects from over 60 shops.
A clever touchscreen interactive gives more access to the displays and individual objects, while a set of drawers contain samples of some of the ingredients making up remedies and cures, which can be sniffed by the visitor.
There are also reconstructions of an 18th-century coffee house, a public house, and a smaller 1960s living room with TV showing video footage of the changing postwar city. Upstairs, Made in Norwich highlights the huge range of local industries and their products.
A number of famous companies started life in the city, such as mustard producer Colman’s and shoe manufacturer Start-rite. Others are less familiar, although Boulton Paul, probably best known for building aircraft, also made the sledges used in Scott’s 1910 expedition to the South Pole.
In one graphic, Norwich is described as having been a “noisy city” for more than 500 years because of its industry.
This was not apparent in the exhibition spaces during my visit, and it would have been good for the settings to have been complemented by some background noise to provide some atmosphere.
However, the quality of design and interpretation is superb, with ordinary and extraordinary objects, such as the world’s first machine for “knitting” wire netting, complemented by copious and imaginative use of oral history testimony in audio and video formats.
Norwich has been a centre of shoemaking for more than 700 years and one section of the displays is simply crammed with shoes and shoemaking technology backed by the voices of those who made them.
As the galleries unfold, visitors are drawn into broader historical displays on life in Norwich from 1900 to 1950. The quality of objects and interpretation is undiminished with treats around every corner.
A video about Victorian yards where generations of Norwich people lived in squalor until well into the 20th century is particularly effective, with the pride of the people who lived in such difficult circumstances very apparent.
Norwich was very badly bombed during the second world war, suffering many casualties during the Baedeker raids of 1942. Many children were evacuated from the city and an evacuee’s suitcase, left open for visitors to look at, provides a touching exhibit.
The exhibition concludes with a room bringing the story up to date. I thought this was the least convincing of all the displays in the museum. While it contained some interesting objects, it felt somehow incomplete, and seemed to lack the depth of interpretation elsewhere.
This minor quibble should not detract from my overall impression of the Bridewell Museum. It presents a fascinating local story with all the verve and quality of the best national museum.
The excellence of its collections and imaginative design has created a museum that brings the history of Norwich and its people to life in a way that its residents should be very proud of.
Tim Bryan is the head of collections and interpretation at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon
From the outside there is not a lot to see, which is a real shame, since the casual visitor might not be tempted to step inside. But the entrance foyer itself is bright and inviting.
One side of the space is dominated by an impressive “history wall”, a mosaic of more than 9,000 pictures of Norwich landmarks submitted by local people using social media. The foyer also features an old fire pump and stationary steam engine from a local factory, which does not give an impression of the treasures inside.
It is only when visitors step into the museum proper that they begin to get a feel for what lies within.
Built around 1325 as a merchant’s house, the Bridewell has been a museum since 1925 but also spent time as a house of correction, leather warehouse and boot and shoe factory. The museum reopened last year following a £1.5m refurbishment.
This has seen the building restored and its social history collections redisplayed and given a broader context than before, with far more emphasis on the stories of Norwich people. The exhibition winds its way around a courtyard and extends over two floors and is quite simply crammed with objects.
The architecture of the building means that visitors takes a real journey through the history of Norwich. It feels like a Tardis at times but it is a shame that people have to walk some way into the displays before finding any proper introduction to what was once seen as the England’s second city.
An airy ground-floor room provides chronological context to the exhibitions through graphics and images while on a table in the middle of the space are a number of reproduction maps of the city that visitors can pore over. The story of Norwich and its people is told through a series of thematic and historic displays.
The earliest history of the city is dealt with downstairs. Bridewell’s role as a house of correction in 1385 provides sobering evidence of life then; the bread and water diet of inmates, who worked from 5am to 8pm, and the punishments inflicted on them, which are highlighted in a room dating from that period.
The story of Norwich and its trades provides some modern context to the effects immigrant communities can have on a place, as the influence of “strangers” from the Low Countries is explained.
Flemish weavers arriving in Norwich 400 years ago brought cage birds with them as pets, explaining why today the city’s football club is nicknamed the Canaries.
Along with more conventional showcases, the museum uses a number of striking reconstructions to showcase collections. A 1920s pharmacy is simply stunning, containing more than 2,500 objects from over 60 shops.
A clever touchscreen interactive gives more access to the displays and individual objects, while a set of drawers contain samples of some of the ingredients making up remedies and cures, which can be sniffed by the visitor.
There are also reconstructions of an 18th-century coffee house, a public house, and a smaller 1960s living room with TV showing video footage of the changing postwar city. Upstairs, Made in Norwich highlights the huge range of local industries and their products.
A number of famous companies started life in the city, such as mustard producer Colman’s and shoe manufacturer Start-rite. Others are less familiar, although Boulton Paul, probably best known for building aircraft, also made the sledges used in Scott’s 1910 expedition to the South Pole.
In one graphic, Norwich is described as having been a “noisy city” for more than 500 years because of its industry.
This was not apparent in the exhibition spaces during my visit, and it would have been good for the settings to have been complemented by some background noise to provide some atmosphere.
However, the quality of design and interpretation is superb, with ordinary and extraordinary objects, such as the world’s first machine for “knitting” wire netting, complemented by copious and imaginative use of oral history testimony in audio and video formats.
Norwich has been a centre of shoemaking for more than 700 years and one section of the displays is simply crammed with shoes and shoemaking technology backed by the voices of those who made them.
As the galleries unfold, visitors are drawn into broader historical displays on life in Norwich from 1900 to 1950. The quality of objects and interpretation is undiminished with treats around every corner.
A video about Victorian yards where generations of Norwich people lived in squalor until well into the 20th century is particularly effective, with the pride of the people who lived in such difficult circumstances very apparent.
Norwich was very badly bombed during the second world war, suffering many casualties during the Baedeker raids of 1942. Many children were evacuated from the city and an evacuee’s suitcase, left open for visitors to look at, provides a touching exhibit.
The exhibition concludes with a room bringing the story up to date. I thought this was the least convincing of all the displays in the museum. While it contained some interesting objects, it felt somehow incomplete, and seemed to lack the depth of interpretation elsewhere.
This minor quibble should not detract from my overall impression of the Bridewell Museum. It presents a fascinating local story with all the verve and quality of the best national museum.
The excellence of its collections and imaginative design has created a museum that brings the history of Norwich and its people to life in a way that its residents should be very proud of.
Tim Bryan is the head of collections and interpretation at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon
Project data
- Cost £1.5m
- Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund; Norfolk County Council; Norwich City Council; Arts Council England; Friends of Norwich Museums; various other charitable trusts
- Project architect Lucas Hickman Smith
- Building contractor Draper and Nichols
- Exhibition design in-house
- Concept design Ugly Studios
- Fit out The Exhibition Factory
- Project team Rachel Kirk (project leader); Hannah Henderson (project curator); Jenny Caynes (project officer)
