Tucked away on King Street, Dragon Hall is unique in Western Europe as the only surviving medieval trading hall built by an individual merchant, rather than a guild. Additions to Dragon Hall over the years concealed the building’s true identity, but a restoration programme has returned it to its former grandeur, enabling it to be enjoyed by visitors today.
Written by Sophie Harrison (Norwich HEART) 1
5th century merchant Robert Toppes needed an impressive building to store and display his merchandise; he exported locally produced worsted cloth and
imported luxury goods such as fine clothes, wines and spices, as well as timber, iron and roofing tiles. The Dragon Hall site, sandwiched between the river Wensum and Norwich’s main north-south road, King Street (formerly known as Conesford Street), was the perfect site for his new premises.
Toppes transformed the site from a disparate collection of buildings into a carefully designed trading complex, combining a showroom and warehouse. Finished in around 1430, the centrepiece of Dragon Hall is the impressive 27-metre-long Great Hall, which Toppes built as a showroom to display his wares. The Great Hall has an outstanding timber crown post roof, which originally had fourteen fine wooden carvings of dragons in the triangular spaces between the beams and arch braces (known as spandrels). Only one dragon carving survives, and it is from this that Dragon Hall takes its modern name.
Facts
After Toppes’ death in 1467 Dragon Hall was sold, and for the next century it served as the townhouse of wealthy citizens and the gentry. As trade and industry spread along King Street these wealthy residents moved out to estates in the country, and Dragon Hall was gradually changed and divided into a number of separate dwellings to create more living space for Norwich’s growing population. Extra floors, staircases, windows and chimneystacks were constructed, hiding the timber roof from view. The yards between Dragon Hall and the river were also filled with poor-quality housing. In 1937 the yards and their buildings were demolished as part of a slum clearance programme – all bar one cottage, which remains part of the Dragon Hall site.
First listed as a Grade I historic building in 1954, Dragon Hall’s life story was pieced together by many dedicated historians, archaeologists, architects and enthusiasts. In 1979 Norwich City Council bought the building, which was by then in a poor state of repair, and essential building work was carried out. Since 1987 the Norfolk and Norwich Heritage Trust has continued Dragon
There is evidence that the Dragon Hall site was first settled in Anglo-Saxon times. The first substantial houses, belonging to the Abbey of Woburn, were built on the site in the 13th century. The surviving undercroft beneath Dragon Hall was built in around 1330 by merchant John Page. Robert Toppes, who built Dragon Hall, is buried at St Peter Mancroft church. The building survived the fires which devastated other parts of Norwich in the early 16th century.
10 Fine City Magazine 2010
Hall’s restoration programme, returning the Great Hall to its medieval splendour and revealing the layers of the building’s past.
An extensive redevelopment in 2005-6 saw a new sympathetically designed north wing added,
DRAGON HALL’S LIFE STORY WAS PIECED
MANY DEDICATED HISTORIANS
TOGETHER BY
containing facilities for school visits, meetings and functions. At the rear of Dragon Hall a glass gallery was built, providing a spacious display space which overlooks the courtyard garden.
One of the Norwich 12 family of iconic heritage buildings (
www.norwich12.co.uk), today, Dragon Hall is a well-established visitor attraction, offering interactive displays, guided tours and an extensive education programme. The building plays host to numerous events throughout the year aimed at both children and adults, ranging from textile courses and workshops to comedy nights and a medieval Christmas market. The venue is also available to be hired for weddings, parties, conferences and many other events.
Dragon Hall is usually open Monday to Friday from 10am - 4pm and on Sundays and Bank Holidays from 12 - 4pm (it is closed on Saturdays except for special advertised events or private hire). It will be closed as a heritage attraction from 1 December 2010 to 2 April 2011 but
To advertise call 01362 288084
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