Work begins to upgrade roof of the Guildhall in Norwich

The Guildhall is England’s largest medieval city hall and has stood in Gaol Hill for more than 600 years.

However, the building will only be partially visible over the coming months as work begins to upgrade its roof.

Scaffolding on Norwich Guildhall (Image: Eleanor Storey) Norwich City Council has arranged to upgrade the roof fall arrest system, a barrier designed to stop the fall of any maintenance workers on the roof, as well as a wire system and shock absorbers.

Work started at the site several weeks ago and could be ongoing until summer next year - meaning scaffolding can be expected to obscure the building for many months to come. 

The project was given the green light despite concerns that the work could cause a "level of harm" to the historic site.

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Scaffolding on Norwich Guildhall (Image: Eleanor Storey) However, it was decided that the level of harm was mitigated by the need to create safe access to the roof for future maintenance.

The Guildhall was the local seat of government until 1938 when City Hall was built. 

The judicial part of the building remained operational as the Magistrates' Courts until 1977, and has since been home to a number of different tenants.

Currently, it is being used by the Norwich and Norfolk Festival as offices as well as having rooms for the sheriff and mayor of the city.