Norfolk Heritage Centre

14/04/2026

‼️Please note, the closure of Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library for refurbishment also includes Norfolk Heritage Centre. We will be open as usual until Saturday 25th April and then closed until mid-July.

If you have a research enquiry that you would like support with during our closure, please email [email protected] and we will do our best to help you.

Events and groups will be running throughout the closed period in alternative venues. Please check our Eventbrite page for details (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/norfolk-heritage-centre-7488465877) or get in touch.

Follow the Norfolk Library and Information Service page for the latest updates on the refurbishment and dates of reopening.

Thank you for your patience and we look forward to welcoming you back this summer!

📚 Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library – Temporary Closure 📚

From Monday 27 April until mid‑July, the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library will be temporarily closed while we carry out an exciting refurbishment – the biggest upgrade since the library opened 25 years ago inside The Forum, Norwich.

👉 This work affects the library only – The Forum will remain open throughout.

The changes are based on your feedback, so what’s coming?
• A redesigned early years library (it’s River themed!)
• New, dedicated spaces for 8+ children and teens
• A bookshop‑style entrance for easier browsing
• More study space on the first floor
• Lower shelving, clearer signage and better wayfinding
• Updated lighting, new furniture with built‑in power points
• A new space for events and talks

🛠️ Why a full closure?
We know this will be disruptive for a couple of months. But closing the whole library at once allows the work to be completed sooner, it’s much safer and it’ll come in at a lower cost than closing one area at a time.

But don’t despair! We have worked hard to keep some services going during the temporary closure. That includes…
✅ A borrowing and return service inside The Forum (albeit on a smaller scale)
✅ Some regular groups and activities will continue, hosted in The Gallery at The Forum
✅ Period products and baby weighing facilities still available (baby weigh during Bounce & Rhyme sessions only)

Sadly, some of our usual facilities will be temporarily unavailable:
🚫 Public computers and printing (still available at other local libraries)
🚫 Study spaces and room bookings
🚫 Norfolk Heritage Centre and Business and IP Centre Norfolk.

We’ll share more details over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you for your patience – we can’t wait to welcome you back to a transformed library space 💙📖

15/12/2025

Free talk! Join us tomorrow (Tues 16th) at 1pm to hear Dr Helen Busby discuss the UEA's British Archive for Contemporary Writing, and learn more about the collections of writers including Dorothy Lessing, Lee Child and Roger Deakin. Booking essential.

Join Dr Helen Busby from the British Archive for Contemporary Writing, and learn more about the collections of writers including Lee Child.

23/09/2025

Ever wondered what it’s like to work with a historic book collection? Wonder no more as our fantastic Heritage volunteer Holly gives you a behind-the-scenes peek at her work with us 😎

19/09/2025

We had a fantastic time this Thursday afternoon with Norfolk Heritage Centre’s Young Heritage Collective! Young Heritage Collective, based at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, have started a new project thinking about Norwich, its buildings and their change of use over time.

To kick off the new term they had a guided walk around some particularly notable locations such as The Guildhall, St Mary’s Works, Bacon House and Bullard’s old brewery to see what has changed, what hasn’t - and why!

In the coming weeks they will be looking into our archives, exploring the history of Norwich and thinking about how industry and society shapes the places we live in.

If you or someone you know is interesting in joining our Young Heritage Collective, please email us at: [email protected] for more information.

08/09/2025

We still have a few spaces left for our free talk tomorrow at 1pm at the Norfolk Heritage Centre!

Join Ian Woods, retired manager of Norwich Puppet Theatre, as he explores the history of St James' Pockthorpe, from being a church to its conversion into one of only three dedicated puppet theatres in England. Using images, anecdotes and maybe some animated friends, he will trace the development of this much loved cultural icon in Norwich's artistic landscape.

Book online at norfolkheritagecentre.eventbrite.co.uk or email norfolkheritagecentre.gov.uk

28/08/2025

It's starting to feel very back to school around here - in honour of the end of summer and the return of school we thought we'd share this lovely photo from our P. H Emerson collection entitled 'A Dame's School' from 1887, copied from Emerson's plates in 'Pictures from Life in Field in Fen'.

Peter Henry Emerson was a writer and photographer best known for his extraordinary images of rural Norfolk and Suffolk life. He described himself as an anthropologist, capturing disappearing ways of life. His images are among the first examples of promoting photography as an art form in its own right. Emerson generally chose to publish his work in books or portfolios, creating eight publications (mainly about East Anglia) between 1886-1895. His ideas on naturalistic photography were groundbreaking for the time and were greatly influential: he wanted to show real people, in their own environment and record country life as honestly as possible. The Norfolk Heritage Centre holds examples of the majority of his photographic works as well as his books on billiards, Welsh folklore and the Emerson family.

11/07/2025

We still have some spaces available for our upcoming Heritage Hour talk 'Refugees and Early Modern England' with UEA historian Dr Nailya Shamgunova, which will take place on Tuesday 29th July at 1pm at the Heritage Centre or online via livestream.

Join Dr Shamgunova as she discusses the study of refugee history and the experiences of refugees in early modern England, and explores the ways in which English, Scottish and Irish people left their homelands in search of safe havens in Europe, North America and the wider world.

Booking essential - book online for free at norfolkheritagecentre.eventbrite.co.uk or email us at [email protected]

03/07/2025

Hello, I’m Grace and I work as a Library and Information Assistant at the Norfolk Heritage Centre at the Millennium Library in Norwich. I am really interested in family history, and in our archives we have an abundance of hidden gems, including newspaper clippings. Each month I post about the interesting items or people I’ve found. Hope you enjoy my discoveries this time!

Image 1: 1971. Edwin Gray. Attleborough. Thalassophobia?
Image 2: 1921. Edward Gillard. Horning. Fishy Business.
Image 3: 1974. Ruth Curtis. Norwich. Travels.
Image 4: 1957. Charles Curtis. Kings Lynn. Eye Of the Tiger.
Image 5: 1895. Edward Fawcett. Winterton. Antarctic Expedition.

27/05/2025

Free talk! Join us on Tuesday 3 June, 1pm, for 'How Does Your Garden Grow', when Curator Rachel Kidd will talk through some of the highlights of the collections related to growing and gardening held at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. Booking essential.

Join Curator Rachel Kidd as she talks through some of the highlights of Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse's gardening-related items.

22/05/2025

Hello, I’m Grace and I work as a Library and Information Assistant at the Norfolk Heritage Centre at the Millennium Library in Norwich. I am really interested in family history, and in our archives, we have an abundance of hidden gems, including newspaper clippings. Each month I will post about the interesting items or people I’ve found. Hope you enjoy my discoveries for May!

Image 1: 1970. Jim Curtis. Norwich. Milk.
Image 2: 1994. Dick Cooper. Wangford. Spoons.
Image 3: 1968. Kenneth Courtney. Norwich. Stamp.
Image 4: 1955. Gloria Dallison. Norwich. Trains.
Image 5: 1960. Royal Cooper. Felthorpe. Poems. (Notice the crispy burnt edges from the 1994 library fire!)

08/05/2025

In honour of VE Day today we thought we would share this lovely image from our Picture Norfolk collections of women in Minstergate, Thetford, working for the Royal Ordnance Company in 1945. These war workers did repairs to army uniforms (Singer sewing machines used) and also repaired army tents. It is either Christmas or VE Day here. This image forms part of the collections of the Ancient House Museum, Thetford.