Norfolk Historic Buildings Group

• arranges winter talks and summer activities about churches and chapels, grand country houses, medieval guildhalls, schools and houses built in timber, flint, brick, and clay lump;
• publishes spring and summer newsletters for members;
• conducts research on houses and other buildings;
• offers opportunities for members to survey and study buildings;
• attracts funding for research and publications;
• surveys houses at their owners’ request;
• maintains a data base of properties surveyed- over 300 reports currently

For information about how to join the Group go to membership.  
For NHBG Privacy Policy click here.

To explore current activities and issues relating to historic houses go to NHBG Facebook group  (click on icon at top right) and/or Twitter page https://twitter.com/NHBGroup. These give information about current talks. 

Diane Barr has put together information about documents used to research the history of a building, most recently a piece about Land Tax Assessment. See the Sources page. 

NHBG lectures, activities and visits 

Unfortunately, NHBG's Summer 2020 & 2021 visits and events had to be cancelled. 

In April 2022 NHBG finally welcomed Vernacular Architecture Group members to Norfolk. The visit was delayed by two years and eventually happened as a mix of virtual and live visits. The zoom visit consisted of a series of six talks on aspects of vernacular architecture of Norfolk. These were:

Tom Williamson: Norfolk’s geology and landscape and their effects on the county’s vernacular architecture.

Ian Hinton: A ‘stills’ tour of two timber framed houses in South Norfolk

Jess Johnson: Some buildings in South Norfolk town of Diss

Dominic Summers: Two churches in Southern Norfolk

Anne Woollett: Smaller houses of Norwich

Chris King: Some 17th Century Norwich Merchants Houses.

These talks can be seen on VAG’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/VernacularArchitectureGroup
or 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP-ojFvaknzVgiSGfBTsVocEpq1Lu_JRd

In addition Chris King’s fascinating book about Norwich houses Houses and Society in Norwich, 1350-1660: Urban buildings in an age of transition published in 2020 explores in greater detail some of the issues raised.

Andrea Kirkham’s talk on some Norfolk Wall paintings is not yet available.


The second – live- part of the visit was a self-guided tour of Kings Lynn following the map, plans and notes (right) provided by Ian Hinton, drawing on Vivien Parker’s 1971 book Making of Kings Lynn: Secular buildings from 11th to 17th centuries.











In May and June 2022 NHBG visited two houses in south  Norfolk, in Bunwell and Fritton. Both were complex buildings with many changes and developments- including the chimney stack. At both we were provided with excellent teas- many thanks to the owners of the houses.

   

   

2022 AGM was held in Mileham in July. Members were taken round the castle (left), houses in the village (middle) and farms (right- barn) by an excellent local team. 

  



The annual NHBG Churches day in August visited Pulham St Mary with its splendid porch, Tivetshall St Margaret (tympaneum) and Tivetshall St Mary (now in ruins). 

   

Winter lectures.
These have been zoom sessions with some available more widely via youtube. The talks offer an opportunity to get close to some historic buildings even if you cannot meet up with others with a similar interest. Information about other 'historic buildings' talks are also advertised on Facebook Page. If you know of any events which might be of interest, please add them to the Facebook Page. For information about lectures go to Events. 

The lecture start again in Autumn 2023. These will be on Eventbrite, who also host lectures by many other groups. Autumn lectures to include: In October Lynsey Mclaughlin on Castles - Fortress or Status symbol?; November Nick Hill on Browne's Hospital, an Almshouse Establishment in Stamford; December Peter Wade Martins on the use of iron-bound conglomerate and the re-use of Roman tiles and stone in Norfolk's early churches; January Sarah Pearson on Norfolk Brutalism; and later Alison Yardy on the Waterside Heritage of the Broads and Members' Evening.

2023 Summer events were circulated to members in Spring 2023 Newsletter. Visits include Cavick House, Wymondham, The Thatch Attleborough and Billington Mill. Planned visits include Manor House, Litcham, Wangford Hall Suffolk and finally churches day in September. 

Winter lectures and summer activities are reported in NHBG's newsletters.  


Research and Publications

Hempnall- Volume 7 of NHBG's Journal published in 2020. 

The result of many years of researching the documentary evidence and undertaking detailed work on 45 houses in Hempnall. The Journal provides an historic background to Hempnall and its houses and a detailed analysis of each of 45 houses. It considers the houses in relation to WG Hoskins’ theory of ‘The Great Rebuilding’ in the late C16 which argued that the old medieval style of open-hall houses gave way to houses with chimneys and floors throughout. The volume is 200 pages long, with over 800 colour photos, maps and measured drawings. 

It is now available to members for £8 per copy and £15 to non-members. It can be posted at a cost of an additional £4. To purchase a copy, email maggy6@btinternet.com or write to The Treasurer at 134 Yarmouth Road, Norwich NR7 0SB with a cheque made out to ‘NHBG’ and your address. 

The cover of Hempnall Volume and two Hempnall houses- 

  

  

Boulton and Paul (B&P) Buildings.

Boulton and Paul, a Norwich based company, manufactured a wide range of buildings for about a hundred years from the 1860s. These included large residences, bungalows, village halls, mission rooms, churches, hospitals, glasshouses, boathouses and revolving shelters. They were produced in small sections and transported all over the British Isles and exported abroad - including to Antarctica.

Five years ago, NHBG commenced investigating the survival of B&P buildings erected in Norfolk. Groundwork began with the Documentary Research Group searching through the Boulton and Paul archive kept at the Norfolk Record Office. The group had been photographing pages from over 100 catalogues and other related documents, when the project had to be put on hold due to the pandemic. Now the restrictions have been lifted the group hopes to recommence its research at the NRO and elsewhere. The next step will be identifying and recording buildings in Norfolk which are still standing.

  

  


Some B&P buildings discovered in Norfolk include: Mundesley Hospital (top left), 1908 catalogue entry for Mundesley Hospital (top right), a type B93 bungalow (bottom left), 1926 catalogue entry for the bungalow (bottom right).
     
Spotted recently in George Plunkett website (www.georgeplunkett.co.uk). A photograph of Tin Hut, Market Square Norwich which served as police station until it was demolished in 1938 when City Hall was opened and Market area was redeveloped. It features in the B&P catalogue for 1913. 
For more information see featured event.

Members who are interested in getting involved in the project please contact nhbgboultonandpaul@btinternet.com 

Little Walsingham. 
Volume 6 of NHBG Journal exploring the North Norfolk Pilgrimage Centre of Little Walsingham was published in 2015. 
 
   

Ian Hinton gave a talk to NNAS (Norfolk and Norwich Archaelogical Society) about Walsingham Project on Saturday November 4th 2019. NNAS provided support towards the publication of this Journal. For more information go to  NNAS site.