Aylsham Heritage Centre

Aylsham Heritage Centre Opening Hours. (March to end of November)

Monday -Friday 10.30 - 3.30
First Saturday of the month 10.30 - 1.00 Open from March to end of November

We're located in the ground of St Michael's church in Aylsham, just near the war memorial. We have themed exhibtions about Aylsham, and run children's and family craft sessions in school holidays. Visit out website www.aylshamheritage.com for information about upcoming events.

The 29th May was observed as a public holiday and was known as Oakapple day. On this day all the different clubs and soc...
29/05/2026

The 29th May was observed as a public holiday and was known as Oakapple day. On this day all the different clubs and societies would meet at their respective lodge rooms attached to various public houses at about 10am. They joined together in the Market Place to form a colourful procession which paraded through the town before attending a special service at the parish church. After this they retired to their own club rooms for a dinner at around 1pm.
This tradition gradually declined and finally came to an end around 1911. .

Photograph courtesy aylsham town archive aylshamtownarchive.org

Find out more about the history of the town www.aylshamheritage.com

The current exhibition is all about the history of the heart of the town – the Market Place. We thought we would whet yo...
29/05/2026

The current exhibition is all about the history of the heart of the town – the Market Place. We thought we would whet your appetite and share some snippets with you in our A-Z of the exhibition– lots more to discover in the exhibition so why not come and visit!
F is for Flour and Bean
Flour and Bean and Celebrations stand on the site once occupied by the North Norfolk Supply Stores (covered earlier in our slightly dubious ‘E’ entry for Everything under one roof!) After the collapse of the North Norfolk Supply stores, a large part of the south side of the Market Place was rebuilt and now houses several different shop units. Number 4, currently occupied by Flour and Bean, had been Olrich’s a bakers and confectioners, Carman’s bakery and Bake House bakery. Number 5, currently occupied by Celebrations, was Benbow’s Fruiterer and Hallmark cards.
Photographs courtesy of Aylsham Town Archive

Such a great bunch of artists this morning creating some fantastic paper batik art ... signs for doors, bookmarks, cards...
29/05/2026

Such a great bunch of artists this morning creating some fantastic paper batik art ... signs for doors, bookmarks, cards, covers for books and some brilliant pictures too. Well done everyone and thank you for being such a lovely bunch to work with!

All set up for a great paper batik workshop tomorrow at the centre. Because we are welcoming a whole load of budding Van...
28/05/2026

All set up for a great paper batik workshop tomorrow at the centre. Because we are welcoming a whole load of budding Van Goghs in the morning the centre will be closed to the public until 1.30pm.

The current exhibition is all about the history of the heart of the town – the Market Place. We thought we would whet yo...
27/05/2026

The current exhibition is all about the history of the heart of the town – the Market Place. We thought we would whet your appetite and share some snippets with you in our A-Z of the exhibition– lots more to discover in the exhibition so why not come and visit! (apologies for the delay in posting these A-Z posts - happily assumed I had uploaded E - H but obviously the heat had fried by brain!)

Today we bring you (finally!) E is for ‘Everything under one roof!’ The most infamous Market Place shop which sold everything was the North Norfolk Supply Stores which was more commonly known as Pages.
The shop sold everything from clothes, hats and shoes to lino, furniture and crockery. Many residents of Aylsham have clear memories of Page’s stores and many school leavers were employed there. It was named after Henry Page (1857-1940) who founded the shop in the 1880s. The giant lettering dominated the market square. Many residents remember the overhead payment system!
During renovation work in 1960, the front of the shop collapsed. We have a fascinating silent film of the aftermath of this collapse in the Heritage centre, with some interesting Health and Safety precautions! It later became Rusts, Murdoch Norton and then Budgens before the whole site was rebuilt.
Photographs courtesy of Aylsham Town Archive

Join us on our new family History Mystery Walk for all budding history detectives. This family friendly walk takes in th...
26/05/2026

Join us on our new family History Mystery Walk for all budding history detectives. This family friendly walk takes in the Market place, Hungate Street and the Buttlands. Find out about the history of the town and look at some photographs from the archives to see how how the town has changed. Use the information you hear to eliminate all the suspects and find out who committed the crime and solve this 'History Mystery'. Suitable for ages 5+ although siblings younger than 5 are welcome (and are free)! All children must be accompanied by an adult.
We are running this walk twice this year - 14th June and 23rd August - 2pm

Family walks £5

Book Places www.aylshamheritage.com

How do rhubarb donuts, dirty rope and RAF Christmas turkeys fit into the Aylsham story? Find out this, and many other th...
26/05/2026

How do rhubarb donuts, dirty rope and RAF Christmas turkeys fit into the Aylsham story? Find out this, and many other things too, on our popular illustrated history walks around the town. There are 3 running this year on a Friday evening or Sunday morning. All walks are wheelchair and dog friendly and cover a distance of under 2 miles. They all begin and end at Aylsham Heritage Centre and refreshments are included. The first one in June - Workhouse and Railway - takes in the Market Place, Hungate Street, Marriot's Way and the workhouse.
We want to makes sure that everyone is included, so we offer a 'seated' version of these walks too with all the same info but from the comfort of a chair!

Seated walks £5
Walks £7
Book Places www.aylshamheritage.com

Looking for something to do for the half term holiday? Why not join us on our Paper Batik workshop. A really easy and fu...
25/05/2026

Looking for something to do for the half term holiday? Why not join us on our Paper Batik workshop. A really easy and fun technique which uses wax crayon and paint to create a batik effect. Create your own picture or design to turn into a card, use to cover a book or keep as just a picture.
Friday 29th May £5 10.30 - 12.30
All children must be accompanied by an adult
Suitable ages 5+

Address

Market Place
Aylsham
NR116EH

Opening Hours

Monday 10:30am - 1pm
Tuesday 10:30am - 3:30pm
Wednesday 10:30am - 3:30pm
Thursday 10:30am - 3:30pm
Friday 10:30am - 3:30pm
Saturday 10:30am - 1pm

Telephone

+447919962814

Website

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