Norwich Shirehall subsidence probe to continue into 2025

Subsidence at Norwich's Shirehall - which served as the city's court for more than 180 years - was spotted earlier this year during work to tackle dry rot in the Victorian, Grade II-listed structure.

Museum bosses say the investigations into the issue will not be completed until next year - and the cost of tackling it will not be known until then.

Stuart Garner, operations manager for Norwich Museums, said: "Work to ascertain the extent of any potential and historic subsidence within the Shirehall is ongoing and includes monitoring the building’s movement.

"By its nature, this work is expected to take several months.

But another discovery is also set to add more to the bill for work at the Market Avenue building.

Wet rot has been found in some sections of the costume and textile store in the building, where work will be needed once the area has been dried out.

Mr Garner said: "The affected areas need time to completely dry out before remedial works can begin. We expect this element of the project to continue into 2025.

"Cost estimates for the works will be updated once all the investigations are complete."

The courtroom in The Shirehall (Image: Denise Bradley)

The good news, however, is that £500,000 of work to tackle the dry rot in the wood-panelled Victorian courtroom, which started a year ago, should be completed next month.

Stuart Garner, operations manager for Norwich Museums (Image: Dan Grimmer)

Mr Garner said: "All of the roof and external building fabric works have been completed and work is now under way on the internal timber works.

"This involves removing affected timbers and replacing them, while also putting in steels that will protect the timbers from future dry rot exposure.

"All works associated with the courtroom are expected to be completed by the end of October and we expect to be able to reopen it for venue hire and tours after this point."

HISTORY OF THE SHIREHALL

The Shirehall was built in 1822-24 as the county courtrooms for Norfolk and is attributed to architect William Wilkins.

The building is constructed in a neo-Tudor style and is two stories tall, with red brick and limestone dressings.

Major structural work was carried out in 1846 and the building was refaced in 1913-14.

The Shirehall Chambers were built to provide extra offices in 1907.

The Shirehall was listed as Grade II in 1972.

It ceased to be used as a court in 1988. The courtroom was then restored in 2013 and in recent years it has been used for 'living history' performances, as well as for public and private events.