Great Yarmouth Heritage Open Days 11 to 14 September 2014

An exciting programme of free tours and drop in events is on offer in the Borough of Great Yarmouth during Heritage Open Days weekend, Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 September.

Book a tour back to World War II at ‘Blitz Street’ Scratby, or a guided walk discovering the Medieval Town Wall. Go on a tour featuring the story of the Gorleston Dolphins and get behind the scenes in Great Yarmouth Library.

Explore the Masonic Royal Assembly Rooms, visit the Fishermen’s Hospital and see the chapel and former ward in the Royal Naval Hospital. Visit All Saints Church Horsey, which dates back to Saxon times and Hopton Ruined Church.

Walk from Reedham to Polkey’s Mill and Reedham Marsh Steam House, or visit Morse’s Wind Engine Park at Repps with Bastwick, the only collection of historic wind pumps in the UK.

Take a tour of Great Yarmouth Minster, The Norfolk Pillar (Nelson’s Monument). Visit the Elizabethan House Museum and Tolhouse Museum and enjoy East Anglian Practical Classic Club’s classic car display.

Cllr Michael Jeal, Cabinet Member for Tourism & Business, said: “The borough’s heritage is a topic which is extremely close to my heart. Heritage Open Days is an exciting way for us to showcase the fascinating heritage there is in Great Yarmouth, with amazing opportunities for people to get behind the scenes at many of the borough’s wonderful historical buildings.”

Pick up a Great Yarmouth Heritage Open Days leaflet at the Tourist Information Centre, t. 01493 846346,

or view a digital copy of the leaflet by clicking the image below:

 www.great-yarmouth.co.uk/heritageopendays

Full list of Heritage Open Days events follows:

Borough of Great Yarmouth Heritage Open Days events and tours 

Pre-Booked Events​

Blitz Street Scratby (address given at time of booking).

Visits by pre-booked tour only. Open Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 September, tours at 10:30am and 2pm, to book t. 01493 846346.

Hidden away in a garden in the village of Scratby is a life size street scene, made up of garden sheds which transports visitors back to the 1940’s. See Nanny Morrison’s cottage, fitted out to make any wartime housewife proud. Buy sweets by the qtr in the fully stocked corner shop. BBC comedy classic Dad’s Army is brought to life with a full size replica of Captain Mainwaring’s office. There’s also a full size Anderson Shelter. A full size trench has been constructed as a tribute to WWI. Refreshments available from the wartime mobile NAFFI. Children will have the chance to enlist and drill with the homeguard.

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Great Yarmouth Community Library Tolhouse Street, Great Yarmouth NR30 2SH

Tours: Thursday 11 and Friday 12 September at 10am, pre-booking required t. 01493 844551

Get behind the scenes in Great Yarmouth Library. See examples of the local studies, collections and resources currently held in the library basement. Tour specially created for HOD’s visitors; more suitable for adult HOD’s visitors and not suitable for children under the age of 16.

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Guided Walk – Medieval Town Wall

Meet The Fisherman’s Hospital Gates, market Place Great Yarmouth, NR30 1ND.

Thursday 11 September at 2pm, approx 1.5 hrs- 2hrs, to book t. 01493 846346

Discover who built England’s second most complete Medieval town wall, why Great Yarmouth needed it and all about the historic maritime town

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Guided Walk – Gorleston Dolphins

Meet at entrance to Morrison’s, Dock Tavern Lane, Gorleston-on-sea, NR31 6SA.

Friday 12 September at 2pm, length, 1.5-2 hours, to book t. 01493 846346

Explore the ‘west bank’ of the River Yare in Gorleston-on-Sea, the far side of the quay where fishing boats used to moor up to the dolphins. In the mid-1800’s Gorleston changed from a small fishing and farming village into a thriving town.

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The Norfolk Pillar/Nelson’s Monument, Fenner Road, Great Yarmouth, NR30 3PX

Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 September 10am – 3pm. Booking for monument ascents recommended t. 01493 850698.

Guided tours and ascents of the monument. Climb the 217 steps for breathtaking views of the town and surrounding countryside. Discover the history of the Grade I listed monument and its links to Lord Nelson.

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Open Day Events – no need to book

East Anglian Practical Classic Club 

Sealife Centre Gardens, Marine Parade, Great Yarmouth NR30 3AH

Sunday 14 September, 10.30am-4pm

Enjoy this classic car display out on for Heritage Open Days. Chat to the owners and find out all about these magnificent cars.

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Nelson Museum, 26 South Quay, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2RG

Open Friday 12 September, 10am – 4pm

The Nelson Museum celebrates the life and times of Admiral Lord Nelson. Learn about his famous battles and his tangled love life. Experience life below decks. Walk the wobbly plank or dress up as a Georgian.

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Holy Trinity Church, Norwich Road, Caister on Sea, NR30 5JN

Open Saturday 13 September 9am – 4pm

14th century church re-built in the 18th century and later developments; impressive ornate 15th century font, which was brought in from Suffolk. Strong links with Caister Lifeboat throughout its history with memorials inside and outside the church including a stunning stained glass window of Christ and the Fisherman, by Paul Woodruffe, which commemorates the 1901 lifeboat disaster. Volunteers on hand to answer questions and refreshments available.

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The Masonic Royal Assembly Rooms, Albert Square, Great Yarmouth NR30 3JH

Open Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 September. Tours at 11am and 2pm each day

Originally designed to be Assembly and Reading Rooms in 1863, the building was bought from the Norfolk Militia by the Masons in 1919 and has undergone significant refurbishment.

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The Fishermen’s Hospital, Market Place, Great Yarmouth NR30 1ND

Open Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 September, 10am – 4pm. Talk given daily at 11am.

The Fishermen’s Hospital was built in 1762 by the corporation of Great Yarmouth for old or ‘decayed’ fishermen. It could house up to 40 residents, but now only nine cottages remain with eight residents. The hospital Cupola has recently been restored. Tours will include cottage number 8, which will be opened for HOD’s visitors.

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Holy Trinity & All Saints Church, Somerton Road, Winterton-on-Sea, NR29 4AW

Open Saturday 13 September 10am – 3pm.

Winterton Church is renowned for its stately tower, which soars to a height of 132ft. The nave is exceptionally wide and spanned by a magnificent Victorian roof. The church has close connections with the sea: the crucifix that stands in Fisherman’s Corner is carved from ship’s timber, a trawler net forms its canopy; plaques record the deeds of the village lifeboatmen, and a memorial records the sacrifice of Fr Clarence Porter, who died after saving a choirboy from drowning. Restoration work on the 132ft tower has now been completed and an exhibition will be held in the church detailing the process.

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Caister Lifeboat Visitor Centre, Skippers Walk, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, NR30 5DJ

Open Thursday 11 September, 10am – 3pm, tours at 11am and 1.50pm.

See the fastest all weather lifeboat in the country. More than 200 years of lifeboat history is told in the visitor centre. A Liverpool class lifeboat is housed in the old lifeboat station along with the stations service boards. The station has saved the most lives in the UK. Refreshments and children’s quiz boards.

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Great Yarmouth Potteries, 18/19 Trinity Place, Great Yarmouth, NR30 3HA

Open Thursday 11 and Friday 12 September, 9.30am – 3pm.

This unique museum comprises part of the 700 year-old medieval town wall and is full of memorabilia from the days when Great Yarmouth had a huge fishing fleet, bringing in the famed herring. The museum contains many unusual items from the old drifters and an array of items reclaimed from the sea. Look up and see the borks the herring were hung on in the huge chimney to smoke the fish and produce the famed kipper.

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All Saints Church The Street, Horsey, NR29 4EF

Open Friday 12 September 12pm – 5pm, Saturday 13 September 10am – 5pm, Sunday 14 September 12pm – 5pm plus 12pm – 12.45pm, short organ recital.

Ancient Saxon church, with round tower and thatched roof, with the interior woven thatch also visible. Photographic displays of the village and church through the years, including pictures of the Horsey flood. There will also be information and photographs about the restoration projects that have taken place. The surrounding churchyard is a place of particular peace and beauty.

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Quaker Meeting House, Howard Street South, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1LN.

Open Saturday 13 September, 10am – 4pm.

Early 19th century Quaker Meeting House, located in a walled garden that used to be the burial ground. Quakers have worshipped in Great Yarmouth since 1649. Beneath the current building are the remains of a 14th century cell occupied by Augustinian Friars until the Dissolution of the Monasteries c.1536. Guides on hand to answer questions.

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Polkey’s Mill & Reedham Marsh Steam Engine House

Wherryman’s Way (footpath), Reedham NR13 3UB

Open Thursday 11 September, 12pm – 4pm.

The site includes a working drainage mill, which will be working (weather permitting). Beside the mill is an  old steam engine house built in 1880 (no steam engine). Tours of Polkey’s Mill in small groups will be available. It is also hoped to have the mid 1940’s diesel engines working and on show.

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Wind Energy Museum – The Morse Collection

Marsh Road (Off Staithe Road), Repps with Bastwick, NR29 5JU

Open Thursday 11 and Friday 12 September, 12pm – 4pm

The only collection of historical windpumps in Great Britain, demonstrating Norfolk’s drainage systems, includes a full size working scoop wheel. Guided tours & working Demonstrations, cream teas on sale. The museum is suitable for all ages.

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Old Meeting – Unitarian Church, Greyfriars Way, Great Yarmouth NR30 0HG

Open, Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 September, 10am – 2pm and Sunday 14 September, 10am – 1pm.

With its roots in Translyvania from the time of the reformation, the Unitarian Church has had a congregation of Dissenters in the town since1642. The current building dates from 1954 and replaces a WWII bomb-damaged church based in Middlegate. Display about the history of the Unitarian church and some of its more famous members.

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Tolhouse Museum & Gaol, Tolhouse Street just off South Quay, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2SH.

Open Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 September, 10am – 4pm.

Take a journey through crime and punishment in Great Yarmouth in one of England’s oldest prisons. Learn of the fates of thieves, smugglers, witches, pirates and murderers. Hear both gaoler and prisoners tell their stories of transportation, incarceration and execution.

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Hopton Ruined Church, Coast Road, Hopton on Sea, NR30 2QE

Open, Friday 12 and Saturday 13 September, 10am – 2pm.

The Grade II listed ruin is on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register. A double naved, flint church originally built in the early medieval period, burned down in 1865 and has been a ruin ever since. A conservation project is currently being led by the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust to consolidate the ruined church with the ultimate aim of returning it back to community use. Opportunity for limited access in the ruin with a guide.

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Elizabethan House Museum, 4 South Quay, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2QH

Open, Thursday 11 and Sunday 14 September, 10am – 4pm.

The Elizabethan House is probably one of the Great Yarmouth quayside houses Daniel Defoe described as looking like ‘little palaces’. This 6th-century building looks at the lives of the families who lived there from Tudor through to Victorian times. There are dressing up clothes and a toy room.

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Royal Naval Hospital, 17 The Great Court, Great Yarmouth, NR30 3JU

Open Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September, 11am – 3pm.

Dating from 1811, this former naval hospital was built for Nelson’s men. It was never used for them, but treated naval staff who suffered from mental illness. Later it was taken over by the NHS as the St Nicholas Hospital. The building was sold to a developer who sympathetically converted the buildings into apartments and houses, leaving the chapel and the empty ward space in their original condition.

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Great Yarmouth Minster, Church Plain, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1NE

Open Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 September, 10am – 4pm and Sunday 14 September 11am – 4pm. Guided tour on Friday at 10:30am.

St Nicholas’ Minster was built in 1101 and is the largest parish church in the country. It was bombed during WWII, with just the walls and towers left standing. Restored  by Stephen Dykes Bower between 1957 and 1961. Special exhibition on Great Yarmouth during WW1.

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